Roman Holiday, 1953.
Directed by William Wyler.
Starring Gregory Peck, Audrey Hepburn, and Eddie Albert.
SYNOPSIS:
Roman Holiday finally showed up on Blu-ray disc just three years ago, and now it’s celebrating its 70th anniversary with its debut on 4K Ultra HD from Paramount. A code for a digital copy is included too, along with that 2020 high-def platter with a solid lineup of bonus features.
I try to maintain a mix of old and new films in my review diet, but lately I’ve been on the side of older classics. Not that there aren’t plenty of good new films out there, but when you get a chance to revisit a movie that has stood the test of time, why not go for it? (The fact that this isn’t a full-time job for me also factors into my review request decisions.)
So, here I am with a review of William Wyler’s classic Roman Holiday, out now for the first time on 4K Ultra HD via Paramount. It actually just debuted on Blu-ray in 2020, so it was a very late arrival on modern physical media formats. I’d imagine the tight window between releases is because the movie is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year.
When it comes to romantic comedies, Audrey Hepburn was right up there with the best rom-com actresses of recent decades; you could even argue that she set the tone for the female leads in these kinds of movies.
In this instance, she plays crown princess Ann, who sneaks away from a tightly scheduled European trip to explore Rome on her own. Gregory Peck is an ex-pat newspaper reporter, Joe Bradley, who helps Ann when she passes out in public from the effects of a drug given to help her relax after a difficult day.
Joe doesn’t know who she is at first, but when he sees Ann’s photo in his employer’s newspaper, he realizes he has an opportunity to score an exclusive interview with her. He enlists a photographer friend to secretly take pictures while he escorts “Anya,” as she calls herself, on a sightseeing tour of the city.
He pretends to not know who she is, but, of course, he begins to fall for her, and those feelings get in the way of his unethical plan. Will he do the right thing in the end? It’s not hard to answer that question, even if you haven’t seen Roman Holiday, but the fun of these kinds of films is in the dynamic between the characters, and this story showcases a pair of talents at the peak of their abilities.
The film has been restored in 4K, of course. I don’t have the previous Blu-ray, but I assume it was based on the same 4K restoration and is thus the same disc also included here. It looks great in 4K Ultra HD, and there are no supplements on that disc, allowing it to maximize the storage for the best image quality possible. A code for a digital copy is included too.
Over on the Blu-ray, we have the same extras included in the 2020 release. They are:
• Filmmaker Focus: Leonard Maltin on Roman Holiday (7 minutes): The film critic gives an overview of the movie, with a focus on Wyler, Peck, and Hepburn.
• Behind the Gates: Costumes (5.5 minutes): Costume designer Edith Head won one of her eight Oscars for this movie (she was also nominated for many more), and this is a tour of the outfits stored in Paramount’s archives, with an emphasis on Roman Holiday. (Fun fact: Superhero suit designer Edna Mode of the Incredibles movies is said to have been based on her.)
• Rome with a Princess (9 minutes): A look at the famous historical sites featured in the movie.
• Audrey Hepburn: The Paramount Years (30 minutes): This is a comprehensive overview of the actress’s life, with a particular focus on the movies she made for Paramount.
• Dalton Trumbo: From A-List to Blacklist (12 minutes): The McCarthy hearings of the 1950s were disgraceful for the way they dragged so many people through the mud, including, unfortunately, many prominent Hollywood talents. Those who had been named before the committee were put on a blacklist and could only work on movies in an uncredited status. Famous screenwriter Dalton Trumbo was one of them, and his Oscar-winning work on Roman Holiday was credited to Ian McLellan Hunter for many decades until that wrong was fixed.
• Paramount in the ‘50s (9.5 minutes): That decade was a good one for the studio, so here’s a look back on it.
• Remembering Audrey (12 minutes): Another look back at Hepburn’s life.
Theatrical trailers and image galleries out the platter.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Brad Cook
Originally published August 26, 2023. Updated April 22, 2024.
