What can be said about William Wyler's evergreen comedy that has not been said before? Suffice to state that it never loses its luster, even though it is over sixty years since its original release.
Every element of the film seems perfectly shaped, from the memorable Hollywood debut of Audrey Hepburn, to the nuanced support offered by Gregory Peck; a witty script by John Dighton and Ian McLellan Hunter, based on a story by the then-blacklisted Dalton Trumbo; beautiful black-and-white photography of a Rome that no longer exists by Henri Alakan and Frank F. Planer; and taut direction by Wyler that gives plenty of opportunities for the actors to flourish while retaining the mystique of the Eternal City as a place where romance can occur, however briefly.
The film has memorable nuanced moments, from the opening sequence where the Princess (Hepburn) undergoes an apparently endless series of presentations, while trying to stretch her feet under her voluminous dress; the sequence where she wears pajamas for the first time and falls asleep in Peck's bed during a chaste night away from the palace; the sequence taking place in the sidewalk café where Peck keeps telling his witless sidekick Nathan (Eddie Albert) to shut up about the Princess's true identity; and the memorable moment at the Bocca della Verita (aka the Mouth of Truth), where Peck puts his hand in and brings it out abruptly, scaring the living daylights out of the Princess as he does so.
Nothing actually happens during the Princess's night away from her royal duties; her virtue remains intact, and she has a merry time dodging the Carabinieri and her Secret Service officers, in a comic fight sequence taking place near the Castel Saint'Angelo, which culminates in Peck and herself diving into the river and swimming to safety.
ROMAN HOLIDAY conjures up a world that simply does not exist today of comic Italians waving their arms about expressively, of obliging cab-drivers and locals selling everything on the street from water- melons, flowers, and other junk. In these days of mass tourism commercial interests have taken over, and Rome's innocence - as well as a lot of its allure - has been lost in the process. Nonetheless we can enjoy a nostalgic wallow in the past through this film.
Every element of the film seems perfectly shaped, from the memorable Hollywood debut of Audrey Hepburn, to the nuanced support offered by Gregory Peck; a witty script by John Dighton and Ian McLellan Hunter, based on a story by the then-blacklisted Dalton Trumbo; beautiful black-and-white photography of a Rome that no longer exists by Henri Alakan and Frank F. Planer; and taut direction by Wyler that gives plenty of opportunities for the actors to flourish while retaining the mystique of the Eternal City as a place where romance can occur, however briefly.
The film has memorable nuanced moments, from the opening sequence where the Princess (Hepburn) undergoes an apparently endless series of presentations, while trying to stretch her feet under her voluminous dress; the sequence where she wears pajamas for the first time and falls asleep in Peck's bed during a chaste night away from the palace; the sequence taking place in the sidewalk café where Peck keeps telling his witless sidekick Nathan (Eddie Albert) to shut up about the Princess's true identity; and the memorable moment at the Bocca della Verita (aka the Mouth of Truth), where Peck puts his hand in and brings it out abruptly, scaring the living daylights out of the Princess as he does so.
Nothing actually happens during the Princess's night away from her royal duties; her virtue remains intact, and she has a merry time dodging the Carabinieri and her Secret Service officers, in a comic fight sequence taking place near the Castel Saint'Angelo, which culminates in Peck and herself diving into the river and swimming to safety.
ROMAN HOLIDAY conjures up a world that simply does not exist today of comic Italians waving their arms about expressively, of obliging cab-drivers and locals selling everything on the street from water- melons, flowers, and other junk. In these days of mass tourism commercial interests have taken over, and Rome's innocence - as well as a lot of its allure - has been lost in the process. Nonetheless we can enjoy a nostalgic wallow in the past through this film.