Movie Review: Roman Holiday

 For Christmas my parents gave my sisters and I Audrey Hepburn's very first movie: Roman Holiday.
Thanks to my dear friend Abigail, we saw the movie earlier this year and loved it to death, so I was very excited to see that it was ours to own now! :)
The plot of the movie is as follows:

The Princess Ann (Audrey Hepburn) is tired of the political poses and duties required of her position in life. A whirlwind tour of Europe has brought her to Rome where her schedule is jam-packed with dull duties and debts to Society. After an especially hard burst of hysterics, the royal physician gives her a sedative, but before it takes effect, the Princess sneaks out of her mansion and into the streets of Rome among the common people. There, her sedative medicine finally begins to work and she falls asleep on a city bench. Later she is picked up by Joe Bradley, (Gregory Peck) a dashing, young, American journalist, who can't bear to leave her sleeping alone on a park bench. He thinks she is intoxicated, and so takes her back to his apartment to let her sleep it off on the couch, hoping to be able to return her to wherever she belongs in the morning. But while Ann is sleeping, Joe Bradley goes to work and discovers that the girl he has left sleeping in his apartment is the Princess! He hurries back to the apartment, determined to follow her all day learning the "Secret Mind of a Princess", without ever letting on that he knows who she is. The plan works. Bradley takes Ann on a Roman Holiday. They have adventures, see the sights, go dancing, cause a major traffic problem, and end up with a dunking in a river. They make a holiday of it and have a grand time. But the days is waning. Their true identities will have to come out soon, and it is all the harder because they have fallen in love.....

:) A fabulous movie, in my mind! Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck had real chemistry in this movie. They were the Princess Ann and Joe Bradley. The smiles are real, the laughter is real, the tears are real. You will not soon find a sweeter, funnier, or more adorable little movie.

Pros: This movie is clean. I can't recall a single bad word, or anything else questionable. They don't turn Ann's night at Joe Bradley's into anything scandalous, as a modern movie-maker might do. Bradley treats Ann with gentlemanliness seldom seen nowadays on the silver screen. The romance is sweet and innocent, and absolutely adorable.

The costumes are so wonderfully vintage.

 

Hahaha! I love this scene, when he's trying to figure out if she's the princess or not! :)

 

The adorable trio: Irving, Anya (Ann) and Joe...

 

The hilarious "Mouth Of Truth" scene whose premise has been pirated and copied into SO many movies, including National Treasure 2... :) 

 

Can you think of anything more hilarious than buzzing around Rome on a vintage motor-scooter? :D 

 

"Soooooo happy!" :)

Awwww....

I'm warning you, it's a bit of a tear-jerker at the end....especially when you keep thinking...."Surely she'll look back....she has to look back..." :D

But it is a dear, dear movie all the same and I urge you to watch it! :)

Cons: Very few. The only ones I can think of is that if you are prone to sleeping on park benches, it suggests that being taken to a stranger's apartment will end up perfectly safe and happy. ;) There is short gambling scene, as well as mentions of champagne, wine, etc. Princess Ann tries a cigarette but can't smoke it... :)

Plot Strength: **** (nothing super intricate, just sweet and happy)
Character Strength: ***** + (5+ stars!)
Overall Rating: ***** (5 stars!)