Roman Holiday (1953) [VHS]

Roman Holiday (1953) [VHS]
by William Wyler

Roman Holiday (1953) [VHS]

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Product details

Actor: Audrey Hepburn, Eddie Albert, Gregory Peck, Harcourt Williams, Hartley Power
Director: William Wyler
Cinematographer: Franz Planer
Cinematographer: Henri Alekan
Producer: William Wyler
Producer: Robert Wyler
Writer: Dalton Trumbo
Writer: Ian McLellan Hunter
Writer: John Dighton
Edition: VHS Tape
Audio: English (Original Language), Analog; Italian (Original Language)
Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, HiFi Sound, NTSC, Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered
Running Time: 118 minutes
Release Date: 2001-04-10
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Publisher: Paramount
Studio: Paramount

VHS Movie Reviews of Roman Holiday (1953) [VHS]

Movie Review: Delightfully empty...
Summary: 3 Stars

`Roman Holiday' is certainly entertaining and enjoyable and, thanks to Audrey Hepburn, very charming, but to say that it is a good film is not something I would be quick to do. The fact remains that, while it is a likable film, `Roman Holiday' is a rather vacant effort. Sure, the backdrop is pretty, and Audrey is pretty, and the whole premise has that familiar tinge of delightfulness (I mean, who doesn't get wrapped up in this kind of a fairytale), but in the end `Roman Holiday' lacks any real meat to satisfy this film fanatic.

The story is simple and familiar. A young princess, tired of her boring and detached existence, runs away from her duty's to embark on a day of unrestrained frolicking. She meets a reporter named Joe who sees the princess as his big ticket and so he accompanies her in order to write the ultimate insider story.

Yes, they fall in love.

I told my father shortly after seeing this movie that, had I seen it in 1953, I probably would have a different opinion of it now. I'm sure that at the time this type of story was fresh and exciting (thus all the baffling Oscar nominations, and wins), but this story has been so overdone today that watching this movie felt rather boring to me. Add to that the fact that there is nothing really profound here and you have a seemingly halfhearted attempt at cinema. A big issue I have with this movie is that we never really get to know Princess Ann. She remains an enigma to us, even though the whole purpose of Joe's following her around is supposedly to write this detailed piece on the `real Ann'. She never lets us (or Joe for that matter) in enough to give us any idea of who she is as a person.

This film is not concerned with giving us a deeply moving character portrait. It is more concerned with becoming another empty romantic comedy.

That is another issue I have. The film is not really that romantic. Because we never get to know her, we never really understand why these two fall in love so quickly. Yes, I know that there are far too many films where `boy meets girl and loves her instantly', but most of them (at least the good ones) give us some sort of common ground between the characters to justify the mutual attraction (even if it is just a shared respect for an obscure band). Here, there are no meaningful conversations or shared interests to back up the spontaneous attraction. And Gregory Peck is sorely miscast here, even if it is his performance that carries the second half (the most important half) of the film. His final scene (walking away from the press interview) is the most powerful scene, and he sells it gloriously, but he is far too serious and brooding for a film this light and jovial. If this film had taken a deeper tone then his performance would have been just right.

Truth be told, he is the best part of the film, but sadly the film makes him appear almost awkward and out of place.

I'll never understand Hepburn's Oscar win. The performance is hollow. Sure, she is her usual charming self (I love her in everything), but there is no meat to this performance, at all. I blame the script, because Hepburn certainly had the demeanor and presence to sell this part, but the part was just so amateur.

Alas, this is a beloved film and I'm sure many will hate me to discrediting it like I have, but I must speak my truth. I liked it, and I'd probably watch it again, but I cannot praise this film, for it is far from praiseworthy.

Movie Review: Most favorite movie ever
Summary: 5 Stars

Of all movies, and especially of Audrey Hepburn movies, this is my very favorite. Can I tell you why? Probably not. I do love her character's mischievousness nature! And the movie isn't full of caricatures, they seem a bit more real than in say "My Fair Lady" and "Breakfast at Tiffany's." Now don't get me wrong, big fan of those as well. But this is wonderful! Doesn't necessarily end the way you think it might, or want it, but it is a satisfying and logical ending. Being in black and white does not detract from the scenery, either. Just a lovely, simply classical movie!

Movie Review: classic hepburn
Summary: 4 Stars

Received within a week of placing the order. Classic story. Sound quality not the best, but for an old movie, still enjoyable. We'd just spent a week in Rome and it was fun to watch this movie and to re-visit the sites we'd seen in person.

Movie Review: Roman Holiday Review by Jim McCutcheon
Summary: 5 Stars

In these days of crash bang wollop films that go overboard in reality cinematics it is a pleasure to view a light hearted story such as Roman Holiday, and come away with a feel good glow. The plot is quite simple of the princess who just wants top break away from civic duties and have some fun. Gregory Peck is the perfect foil as a journalist who discovers the princess (Audrey Hepburn) is the basis to make a "few bucks"; whilst not giving away the fact that he knows who the princess really is. This is still a story worth watching.

Movie Review: 24 hours far from the stifling rules!
Summary: 5 Stars

A newspaper man in Rome will meet without realizing himself, a Princess who slips away from her Palace to travel of incognito in one of the most romantic cities of the world.

The very nature of this romantic-comedy-fantasy engages to everybody. There are five fundamental reasons that support this timeless classic: The presence of the most lovable, tender and charismatic Audrey Hepburn who spells the viewer since her first appearance on screen; Rome itself, its streets, historical monuments and sympathetic people; the fluid direction of William Wyler who must have found inspiration around the greatest exponents of the Italian neo realism; the presence of Gregory Peck whose touch of class and refinement makes he was the perfect counterpart for her and finally the marvelous script, which never falls in common places.

As you and me are well aware, this brief space of twenty fours in the life of a Princess must be lived with frantic intensity, breaking the rules here and there. And spite we are conscious they will never become a permanent couple makes us conscious about the brevity of the life and how every little and insignificant moment must be lived - for better or worst.

The final sequence in which the Princess receives the set of photographs accents still more the beginning of the nostalgia for those moments that will never come back.

API chose labeled it among the four best romantic films ever. But far from this fact, Miss Hepburn won the coveted Academy award in 1953 when most of people thought the Prize would be for Deborah Kerr for he role in "From here to the eternity."

But finally What about Hollywood `s charm without Miss Hepburn? What about the proud of the cinema without "Sabrina" "Breakfast in Tiffany" and "Two for the road" (a film that personally love it)?

Wherever she is, Audrey will always be the timeless bride of Hollywood.

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Summary of Roman Holiday (1953) [VHS]

Maybe it doesn't quite live up to its sterling reputation, and maybe the leading man and director were slightly miscast. But who cares? Roman Holiday is the film that brought Audrey Hepburn to prominence, and the world movie audience went weak at the knees. The endlessly charming Hepburn had her first starring role in this sweet romance, playing a European princess on an official tour through Rome. Frustrated by her lack of connection to the real world, she slips away from her protective handlers and goes on a spree, aided by a tough-guy news reporter (Gregory Peck). Director William Wyler, more at home with such heavy-going, Oscar-winning classics as The Best Years of Our Lives and Ben- Hur, doesn't always keep the champagne bubbles afloat, and the Peck role would have fit Cary Grant like a silk glove. But the film is great fun, the location shooting is irresistible, and Hepburn embodies an image of chic style that would rule for the rest of the fifties. No coincidence: she won an Oscar, and so did veteran costume designer Edith Head. --Robert Horton

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