Bardlerx Strictly average movie

Maidexpl Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

Aspen Orson There is definitely an excellent idea hidden in the background of the film. Unfortunately, it's difficult to find it.

Staci Frederick Blistering performances.

daoldiges Even though I like both Hepburn and Peck I've always kind of resisted seeing this movie for some reason. It was showing at Film Forum here in NYC the other day and I figured it was time that I checked it out. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it. I think all of the performances are good, not just Hepburn. Peck and Albert were both good and I think the Albert character was funny and provided an essential element to the success of this film. The only part of the film that does not work are the end scenes where the Hepburn character is publicly shared/introduced as a real princess. Royalty was viewed and revered differently when this film was originally released, but today those scenes feel stilted. Otherwise this is a light, carefree, and fun film.

gkeith_1 Spoilers. Observations. Opinions. Delightful. Nice scenery. Charming, if light, story. Black and white makes it lose one point for me. Poor Eddie Albert is the loveless sidekick. He gets things spilled on him. He gets knocked on his backside. He is the unfortunate second banana in the background, off to the side. I never heard much adoration about Audrey Hepburn in her lifetime, but for some years now I've heard many nice things said about her. She wears the costumes well, here. There is the regal princess gown, the casual town ensemble and then there is the white suit at her ending interview. Gregory Peck was fine. He had a lot of tongue in cheek humor. Some of his winks and nudges didn't quite hit well with the slow witted character portrayed by Albert. Nice scenery and location shots. This was post-World War Two Italy. There was an outdoor market. People looked a little more prosperous than in the recent wartime. The Vespa scooter looked good, plus the tiny little car Albert drove. Tourism was rampant. Peck was always broke, yet he could afford to get a new living space with a kitchen. I am a degreed historian, actress, singer, dancer, stage makeup designer, film critic and movie reviewer.

Antonius Block Audrey Hepburn burst onto the movie scene with this film, her first role. She plays an English Princess traveling in Rome who is bored with her official duties and the tight schedule she's on. One night after getting a tranquilizer to calm her from the stress of it all, she sneaks away into the streets of Rome. She's found by a newspaperman played by Gregory Peck, who takes her to his place to sleep it off. When he finds out who she really is, he realizes he's on top of a gold mine of a story, and enlists his photographer friend (Eddie Albert) to get candid shots of the two while they sightsee. Hepburn and Peck are such an attractive couple, and director William Wyler gets lots of beautiful shots of Rome, including the Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, Castel Sant'Angelo, and of course the classic scene they have at the Bocca della Verità. It all makes for a very romantic film. Hepburn played her part perfectly, expressing frustration and joy with such economy, as well as the restraint that comes from being a royal. Among several others, the scene with her getting her hair cut short is captivating, and it's no wonder that she won an Oscar for her performance. Peck's performance is also excellent, and Eddie Albert pulls off the part of a young rogue quite well despite being 47 at the time. I won't spoil the ending, except to say it's touching and poignant, and so perfectly shot in the Palazzo Colonna. At the end of the day this is 'just a romantic comedy', with its share of silliness, but it's so mature and magical, and with these stars in this setting, it stands head and shoulders above so many others.

l_rawjalaurence 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.