8.1/10
110,136
245 user 107 critic

Roman Holiday (1953)

A bored and sheltered princess escapes her guardians and falls in love with an American newsman in Rome.

Director:

Writers:

(screenplay), (screenplay) | 2 more credits »
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3,518 ( 341)
Won 3 Oscars. Another 7 wins & 15 nominations. See more awards »
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Cast

Complete credited cast:
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...
...
Hartley Power ...
...
Ambassador
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...
Paolo Carlini ...
Claudio Ermelli ...
Giovanni
Paola Borboni ...
Charwoman
Alfredo Rizzo ...
...
Hennessy's Secretary
Gorella Gori ...
Shoe Seller
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Storyline

Joe Bradley is a reporter for the American News Service in Rome, a job he doesn't much like as he would rather work for what he considers a real news agency back in the States. He is on the verge of getting fired when he, sleeping in and getting caught in a lie by his boss Hennessy, misses an interview with HRH Princess Ann, who is on a goodwill tour of Europe, Rome only her latest stop. However, he thinks he may have stumbled upon a huge scoop. Princess Ann has officially called off all her Rome engagements due to illness. In reality, he recognizes the photograph of her as being the young well but simply dressed drunk woman he rescued off the street last night (as he didn't want to turn her into the police for being a vagrant), and who is still in his small studio apartment sleeping off her hangover. What Joe doesn't know is that she is really sleeping off the effects of a sedative given to her by her doctor to calm her down after an anxiety attack, that anxiety because she hates her... Written by Huggo

Plot Summary | Plot Synopsis

Taglines:

Audrey Hepburn at her Oscar-winning best in an immortal comedy-romance! See more »

Genres:

Comedy | Romance

Certificate:

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Parents Guide:

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Details

Country:

Language:

| |

Release Date:

2 September 1953 (USA)  »

Also Known As:

Xufsha B'Roma  »

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Box Office

Budget:

$1,500,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$5,000,000, 31 January 1955

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$12,000,000, 31 January 2004
See more on IMDbPro »

Company Credits

Production Co:

 »
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Technical Specs

Runtime:

| (cut)

Sound Mix:

(Western Electric Recording)

Color:

(archive footage)|

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1
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Did You Know?

Trivia

Audrey Hepburn was performing on Broadway in "Ondine" with her future husband Mel Ferrer when she won best actress for "Roman Holiday." Later that year, she won the Tony for her performance in "Ondine," making her one of only two actresses to win the Oscar and the Tony in the same year. Ellen Burstyn is the other, winning the Oscar for Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974) and the Tony for "Same Time, Next Year." See more »

Goofs

The photo Irving takes during the fight at the dance, of Ann smashing the secret service agent over the head with the guitar, is not the one taken at the moment indicated in the film and shown later as the photograph. Supposedly, when Ann first hits the agent, Irving has missed it and calls out for "Smitty" (Ann) to hit him again - and Ann obliges, striking the agent on the head a second time as Irving shoots the picture. But a look at the subsequent photo clearly shows that it was in fact taken at the moment of the first blow, not the second. In the action, when Ann hits the agent the second time, the guitar appears already broken, and the agent is turned almost 180 degrees away from Ann's face and is already sinking down from the first blow, his face barely visible. But the photo - supposedly the only one Irving got - clearly is of the first, not second, blow. There, in both the live action and the photo, the agent is facing to his left and has not sunk so far down, his face is mostly visible, and the guitar is not as damaged as in the second blow. That the photo was actually taken of the first blow is further indicated by a close viewing of the live action of Ann hitting the agent the first time. At the moment of impact the film has a brief jump-cut, indicating that a frame has been deleted from the film, and in addition the tail-end of a flash from a camera's flashbulb can be seen very briefly immediately after the cut frame. The missing film frame coincides exactly with the instant Ann hits the agent with the guitar, and is the identical shot that was used as Irving's "photograph", which he later presents to Ann in the packet of pictures he'd taken. But it's a photo of the supposedly un-photographed first blow with the guitar, not of the second blow, the only photo Irving was actually seen taking. See more »

Quotes

[first lines]
News announcer: Paramount News brings you a special coverage of Princess Ann's visit to London, the first stop on her much-publicized goodwill tour of European capitals. She gets a royal welcome from the British, as thousands cheer the gracious young member of one of Europe's oldest ruling families. After three days of continuous activity and a visit to Buckingham Palace, Ann flew to Amsterdam, where Her Royal Highness dedicated the new international aid building and christened an ocean liner, ...
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Connections

Featured in L.A. Confidential (1997) See more »

Frequently Asked Questions

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User Reviews

 
Unabashed innocence
26 May 2002 | by – See all my reviews

Audrey Hepburn doesn't have a vulgar bone in her body: she breezes through this comedic romp with the spirit of a saint on holiday. When a princess escapes the castle while touring Italy, a down-on-his-luck American reporter chances to meet her and smells a good story. A joyful fairy tale, but with the heartbreak of reality at the finale, and what sweet sadness there is in those final shots! Hepburn won an Oscar for Best Actress, and deserved it. Gregory Peck is almost playful in his scenes with her, and Eddie Albert is a perfect buddy-match. Director William Wyler sets up the story very gingerly, but he cuts loose as well, and the whole picture plays like a delectable dessert. ***1/2 from ****


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