Roman Holiday (1953)
I know Roman Holiday won Audrey Hepburn an Oscar and made her an instant star, so I might be the only person in the world to say this, but I wish the producers had won out on their original choice to play the princess: Elizabeth Taylor. The second choice was Jean Simmons, but she couldn’t get out of her studio contract, so I’ve read, and William Wyler became attached to Audrey Hepburn’s screen test. The rest is history.
Think about it, though. Elizabeth Taylor would have been perfect! She absolutely could have handled the royal scenes, and when the princess runs away from the palace in search of adventure, young Liz would have given a wonderful, wide-eyed, innocent, curious, charming, mischievous performance—a performance I didn’t feel from Audrey Hepburn. Audrey came across as entitled, snobby, and worst of all, knowledgeable. The princess is supposed to be innocent, with a thirst for knowledge. She wants to see Italian landmarks, smoke her first cigarette, go to a nightclub, and get her hair cut. Audrey seems like she’s already done all those things. Liz would have been better. And Jean Simmons would have been perfectly fine.
Audrey’s performance aside, there are two other actors who share the screen with her: Gregory Peck and Eddie Albert. They play a slacking reporter and photographer who discover the runaway princess and plan to write a front page news story about her. The rapport and snappy dialogue between them is pretty funny, but overall, I find Roman Holiday an overrated film. It’s a light romance, and somehow was elevated to multi-Oscar winning, ultra-classic status. Whenever I watch it, I try and take it for what it is.
Want to watch it? Click here to watch it on ok.ru. And thanks "Classic Cinema Central Seleus B" for posting!
More Audrey Hepburn movies here!
More Gregory Peck movies here!
Think about it, though. Elizabeth Taylor would have been perfect! She absolutely could have handled the royal scenes, and when the princess runs away from the palace in search of adventure, young Liz would have given a wonderful, wide-eyed, innocent, curious, charming, mischievous performance—a performance I didn’t feel from Audrey Hepburn. Audrey came across as entitled, snobby, and worst of all, knowledgeable. The princess is supposed to be innocent, with a thirst for knowledge. She wants to see Italian landmarks, smoke her first cigarette, go to a nightclub, and get her hair cut. Audrey seems like she’s already done all those things. Liz would have been better. And Jean Simmons would have been perfectly fine.
Audrey’s performance aside, there are two other actors who share the screen with her: Gregory Peck and Eddie Albert. They play a slacking reporter and photographer who discover the runaway princess and plan to write a front page news story about her. The rapport and snappy dialogue between them is pretty funny, but overall, I find Roman Holiday an overrated film. It’s a light romance, and somehow was elevated to multi-Oscar winning, ultra-classic status. Whenever I watch it, I try and take it for what it is.
Want to watch it? Click here to watch it on ok.ru. And thanks "Classic Cinema Central Seleus B" for posting!
More Audrey Hepburn movies here!
More Gregory Peck movies here!