12.Roman Holiday
Princess Ann (Audrey Hepburn who won an Oscar for this role) is touring Europe and is tired of living a sheltered and structured life. When Princess Ann makes a stop in Rome, she plans an escape. She makes it out of the palace at night and onto the streets, where she can finally enjoy life as someone who is anonymous.
Joe Bradley (Gregory Peck) is an American journalist who is also not looking forward to a very “vanilla” interview with the Princess.
Unbeknownst to Joe, he runs into the Princess, who is under the influence of a sleeping pill she took earlier in the night. Thinking he has found a helpless drunk woman on the streets of Rome, Joe places her in a cab. Joe tries to leave her in the cab and tells the cabbie to take her home. The cabbie doesn’t want the responsibility, so Joe allows Princess Ann to stay in his room.
The next morning Joe learns the identity of his mysterious woman and promises his editor a real news story. What Joe doesn’t count on is falling in love with Princess Ann, and along the way the two have quite the adventure.
Roman Holiday is one of the greatest romantic comedies of all time. Anchored by its charming stars, the film is a breezy, fun-filled romp. Hepburn is so great, Roman Holiday is considered her breakout role and it’s easy to see why. Hepburn, like in so many of her films is charming, beautiful and willing to make fun of herself. Gregory Peck is at the top of his game as well. Handsome and funny, Peck is one of the greatest actors of all-time as well and he puts in the charm throughout the film.
The locals also add so much to the film. The real life streets of Italy come to life with traffic, people and sounds. Director William Wyler keeps the film moving and makes the City of Rome a character as well. The whip smart script by Dalton Trumbo (who was blacklisted and left of the credits. According to Wikipedia he would not receive credit until the DVD release in 2003 and not full credit until 2011, yikes) Ian McLellan Hunter (who fronted for Trumbo and actually received the Oscar for the screenplay, man Hollywood was messed up in the 40’s and 50’s) and John Dighton has so many great moments Roman Holiday requires multiple watches.
Grade: A+
Roman Holiday Video Quality
Roman Holiday is stunning on blu-ray. Paramount did a fantastic job cleaning the film up as part of their Paramount Presents series. The film is presented in its original 1.37:1 aspect ratio, the black and white film looks completely natural. The details are exquisite and well defined. An absolute stunner of a transfer.
Grade: A+
Roman Holiday Audio Quality
The Vespa’s are alive and well with a n awesome Dolby TrueHD 2.0 lossless. And while Roman Holiday won’t punish your sound system, it is a great sounding film. Dialogue is front loaded which is good became the ambient sounds of Rome would drown them out. The music, the sound effects are all crystal clear with no age or other hiccups to distract the viewer.
Grade: A
Roman Holiday Bonus Features
In a shocking turn of events, Paramount actually gives Roman Holiday a truly special release on their Paramount Presents line. This disc is loaded.
Filmmaker Focus: Leonard Maltin on Roman Holiday-I love Maltin. I could listen to him talk about movies all day long. I wish his features on Paramount Presents were longer, but I will take what I can get.
Behind the Gates: Costumes-A truly fascinating look at the costumes that appear in classic Paramount films and the important work that Archivist Randall Thropp does.
Rome with a Princess-A look at the filming locations.
Audrey Hepburn: The Paramount Years-A look at the iconic actor’s iconic work at the iconic studio. A nearly 30 minute documentary that covers not only her films but also her life and charity work.
Dalton Trumbo: From A-List to Blacklist-My personal favorite feature on the disc which details Trumbo’s political views and how it landed him on Hollywood’s blacklist.
Paramount in the 50’s-A look at the studios most loved films from the 1950’s.
Remembering Audrey-A neat interview with Hepburn’s son Sean Hepburn Ferrer and her partner Robert Wolders as they discuss Hepburn’s life including her childhood in Nazi occupied Holland.
Trailers and Galleries
Grade: A+
Roman Holiday is one of Hollywood’s greatest romantic comedies. It’s funny and charming with an unexpected ending. The stars are stunning, the direction first class. Paramount delivers one of their best blu-rays ever for one of their finest films.
Overall: A