Roman Holiday -
Audrey Hepburn, a young stressed princess, experiences life without schedules and guards when she sneaks outside her country's embassy in Rome after being given sleeping medication. Gregory Peck, a poor newspaper reporter trying to earn enough money to get back to NY, thinks she is drunk and doesn't want her to be picked up by the police.

Thereafter follow several comedic scenes. He follows her around to get a real inside scoop on the life of a princess... His friend (Eddie Albert)brings a hidden camera. They tour several famous places in Rome, ending up back where she started in the shadow of the embassy on a boat and suddenly surrounded by several secret service agents from her own country. They end up falling in love and hence the interesting ending when she discovers who he really is.

The extra material, some told by Eddie Albert's son, tells you interesting side lights as to what part each of the actors put into making the movie unique. I had already seen the movie when I purchased this... It is a classic Audrey Hepburn film.

Princess Ann (Audrey Hepburn) is tired of the royal life. She is required to behave in such a silly way and she has no time to enjoy herself. She visits city after city without any real change of scenery and she's tired of it. No one in her employ will help her achieve any excitement, so she takes matters into her own hands and escapes. Reporter Joe Bradley (Gregory Peck) finds her, and recognizes her for who she really is. What a story! He takes her home and plans his story, but can't let her know that he knows. The two spend a perfect day together on the town experiencing life as neither have done before.

This movie is brilliantly executed. The cast is perfect and William Wyler's stylish direction puts Roman Holiday a cut above ordinary romantic comedies. The story is innocent enough for children to relish, but it rings true for adults too. Every new endeavor is a little adventure, so this film is exciting again and again even with repeated viewing.

I love this movie. I watched it right before my trip to Rome. The sights have not changed a bit and it's such a cute story line. Old black and white movies are so classic and so is Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck. It portrays Rome so well.

The DVD arrived quickly and in new condition.
We enjoyed reviewing it very much. It was Audrey Hepburn's first starring role in a movie and the first movie shot on location. Great movie.

This movie is not the best work for either Hepburn or Peck, but it is fun to see and shows some great scenes of Rome from that time. If you are a fan of either star it is worth owning.

Roman Holiday is an incomparable romantic comedy; truly one of the most enjoyable films of all time. It is also Audrey Hepburn's debut starring role, for which she won a Best Actress Oscar. At just 24, Audrey was young, stunning, talented, charming, radiant, majestic, cute, elfin, and clearly at the top of her game. Rumor has it that the credits originally were to have Gregory Peck's name first, then the title of the film, then the statement "and introducing Audrey Hepburn." After the first week of filming, Gregory Peck called the studio and the director, and told them something along the lines of "Audrey Hepburn IS this movie; her name needs to appear above the title with mine." How noble and gallant. Mr. Peck, himself, is top-notch in this role; I fall in love with him a little more each time I watch it.

This movie was filmed on location in Rome, and the scenery is breathtaking, making this movie all the more romantic. My husband and I have fun pointing out all of the places we have been. The restoration is very impressive; the print looks fresh and clear; the details are vivid. It is also interesting to notice the play of light and dark, of shadow and bright. These techniques are used at their best in this film, and are lost (and perhaps unnecessary) in color films.

We recently showed this film to our 11 year old daughter. It was a lazy, rainy Sunday morning, and she "didn't have anything better to do." She started watch with some token protest, and then watched quite intently. At the end, she said, "Hey, that was pretty good...and I didn't even really notice that it was in black and white!" There is hope, yet, for younger generations!

This film is romantic, playful, sweet, fun, delicious, beautiful, and charming. I give it my highest recommendation for anyone.

I love this movie, and that's why I was disappointed when I went to watch it and found that it was in full screen format.

I suppose it's my fault for not looking carefully enough at the info here, but I assumed that the "Special Collector's Edition" would be in widescreen - special editions are almost always in widescreen (at least, I've never found or bought one that wasn't).

And what would possess them to chop off part of the screen for a film that has such excellent cinematography of Rome? The movie begs to be in theatrical form.

OK, I'm done whining. Just know that if you buy this version, it's full screen.

My wife and I saw this wonderful movie on DVD last night for the very first time, eventhough we are both old enough to have seen it in a movie theater in the 50s. The storyline has been explained many times here, so I'll not go into it again. Audrey Hepburn was simply beautiful and played the role perfectly of a princess wanting to live a "normal" life and do all of the things she wanted to do, dreamed of doing, for just one entire day. Peck was typically restrained as the man who wanted that one BIG SCOOP to further his career as a newspaperman and land himself his dream of working in New York City. Her dreams come true and is surprised to find love among them, if only for twenty-four hours, he sacrifices his dream of being a star reporter for love of her.

This was the perfect movie for two romantics who are generally unimpressed with today's lifeless actors, four-letter-word infused dialog, and plotless movies. Highly recommended.

For anyone that isn't familiar with Audrey Hepburn's movies, this is the best one to start with... in my opinion this is her best work. Roman Holiday is the movie that started it all for Hepburn, and you'll see why. This is one of those movies that you can just escape in... it brings you into a fun, safe, playful world. Hepburn and Peck are a perfect romantic match in this classic movie. I whole heartedly recommend this film to anyone!

Roman Holiday is my favorite Audrey Hepburn movie! I was so excited when my brother, knowing how much I loved it, gave it to me for Christmas!
In her screen debut, Audrey Hepburn won an Oscar for her performance as Princess Ann. Tired of all the obligations and duties of being princess, she runs away while on a goodwill tour in Rome. She meets Joe Bradley (played by Gregory Peck), an American newspaper man, who offers to show her all the sights of Rome - with the intention of getting an exclusive interview. (I love the part when Audrey walks into his tiny apartment looks around and says, "Is this the elevator?") She agrees and they spend the day together "just doing whatever they'd like" - riding mopeds, dancing, getting caught in the rain and (I like this part) their visit to the "Mouth of Truth." As the two spend the day together they realize they are falling in love.

The part of Joe Bradley was originally offered to Cary Grant who turned it down (he didn't make a movie with Audrey Hepburn until 1963's Charade). I think Cary Grant would have been better for the part, and as he is so good at comedic roles he would have seemed more natural for the part. But I can see why he didn't take the part - the movie is about the princess and he didn't know then what a great actress Audrey was. Elizabeth Taylor was also considered for the part of Princess Ann, but she was already making a movie and the director, William Wyler, decided to use a new actress. And lucky for us he decided to use Audrey Hepburn! In my mind, no one but Audrey could play the part of Princess Ann! What an incredible actress!

Roman Holiday is a beautifully bittersweet romance starring Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck (originally, it was optioned by Frank Capra, who had hoped to cast Cary Grant and Elizabeth Taylor in the lead roles). Hepburn plays the spoiled Princess Ann, who is fed up with palace life and the endless protocol. After being given a sedative, she makes a run for it and ends up out cold on a park bench in Rome, where newspaper man Joe Bradley discovers her and begrudgingly takes her home with him, fearing for her safety.

He quickly pieces together her formal, outdated manner of speaking and the disappearance of the princess (official reason: sudden illness), and his first inclination is to cash in on her secret identity by writing a tell-all story for $5000. He enlists his friend Irving as photographer. But as Joe indulges Ann's simple wishes for gelato, sightseeing, and a dash of adventure, he finds himself genuinely falling for Ann. The two engage in a complicated tango of avoidance; Joe hides the fact that he's press, and Ann tells him that she's run away from school. Irving uses a camera hidden in his lighter to snap impromptu photos. Poor Irving is tripped and spilled on by Joe in a none-too-subtle attempt to shut him up before he spills the beans on more than one occasion, and I felt bad for Irving's bewildered expression as Joe keeps taking him out.

Pandemonium breaks out as the palace sends out secret police to retrieve Ann, and the film falls into near-slapstick in the final third at a barge dancehall. The ending is bittersweet yet appropriate, neither too much nor too little. Roman Holiday is a stunning vehicle for the luminous Audrey Hepburn, who won an Oscar for her performance, was the first comedy for Gregory Peck, and most of all, serves as a showcase for the timeless wonders of Rome. It was the first American film to be shot entirely in Italy (Paramount had frozen assets in Italy). Real Italian nobility and real international press corps were featured in the film. Most of the locations exist, and the colorful, authentic backgrounds and ethnic faces add a degree of authenticity that could never have been matched in a California studio.

There are several extras including a documentary on the film's restoration, a stills gallery, and the original trailer. The transfer is crisp enough and looks fresh despite its age. Roman Holiday will appeal to fans of romance, comedy, and travelogues, and is a mesmerizing blend of all three elements.

A princess (Audery Hepburn) is petty much a prisoner of her position; she is on a European tour. While in Rome she has an opportunity to escape her overseers and join the local festivities. A freelance reporter (Gregory Peck) accidentally spots her hand knows who she is. Out for an exclusive interview he pretends to be a businessman and befriends her. Together they see the real Roam accompanied by his incognito photographer pal (Eddie Albert.)

Does the reported get his exclusive and a ticket back to the states?
Or do they setup house?
Will the princess ever get caught?

Everyone has fun and you will too.

I LOVE THIS MOVIE! ! ! Gregory Peck is my FAVORITE ACTOR, ALONG WITH AUDRY HEPBURN (Actually making her DEBUT IN THIS and GOT EQUAL BILLING with MR. PECK!) That joke he played on her, was his idea and they filmed it and included it in the movie! I am SO GLAD THEY DID THAT! I am an OLD MOVIES fan BIG TIME and LOVE having those GREAT CLASSICS IN DVD FORM! ! !

This is one of those movies you'll watch and feel good about later. It is sweet and simple!

A young princess named Ann has been a slave to duty all her life, to the point of utter unhappiness. All she longs to do is live a few moments without being poked, prodded, dressed or directed. One night while on tour in Rome she slinks away in the wee hours to have some fun as someone else.

Audrey Hepburn is simply divine as the princess who is so tired she can't sleep and Gregory Peck is dashing as the young reporter who shows her a good time on the town.

The film is black and white but it doesn't matter because Hepburn is so captivating you quickly forget. The princess now going by the name Anya wanders around Rome experiencing the people, culture and sites. She also chops off her hair, tries some ice-cream and gets involved in some roughhousing.

Reporter, Joe Bradley encourages her to take some time for herself, all the time pretending he doesn't know who she really is; with the intention of getting a personal story for his employer. But of course he begins to regret his underhandedness.

Roman Holiday doesn't have your typical boy meets girl (or vice versa) and lives happily ever after romantic ending, which I was expecting, but it is not disappointing. It was a good ride while it lasted and I recommend you take it for a spin. Reviewed by M. E. Wood.

I received this DVD very soon after I ordered it and was in very good condition. Great movie! I've watched it 3 times already.

I'm too young to remember Hepburn or Peck in their movie-making days, and I'm too modern to enjoy many black and white films. Often times, movies of that era have a certain stiltedness in the acting, or a clear use of sets and backdrops which I find distracting.

"Roman Holiday" was a pleasant surprise. Not only is the film shot on location in Italy, giving it a realism and vibrancy missing from many movies of that period, it is also written with a sensibility for dialogue and character development that still rings true, for the most part.

A pampered, but overburdened princess, Audrey Hepburn's character is about to have a breakdown. She wants so much to experience life as a normal person that she decides to escape one night, during her entourage's visit to Rome, the Eternal City. Still suffering the effects of a sleep aid from her doctor, she finds herself on the streets late at night and in the arms of Gregory Peck, a conniving and penniless reporter. Peck realizes he has stumbled upon the story of a lifetime. Even as he conceals his purpose from the princess, she tries to conceal her identity from him, in hopes of enjoying the city life as a commoner.

Although the story has no major twists, it uses its simple devices to great effect, for humor and romance. I think the acting and casting is brilliant, and I felt a chemistry between the two leads that resonates through the final bittersweet scenes. This is a timeless romance, and one I'm sorry I didn't pay attention to earlier. Hepburn deserves her place as an icon, and Peck is a worthy foil for her charm and beauty.

What can be added about this delightfully romantic and funny film and Audrey Hepburn's luminescent performance? I fell in love with the film at the age of 18, and have never fallen out of love with it. The story of the princess who takes a Roman Holiday from duty and falls in love with a handsome journalist of the "Daily American" who begins by exploiting her for a hot story and then falls in love with her himself is one that the city of Rome--magical even in black and white--makes plausible. Rome is a city of promises where anything is possible.

When I first saw "Roman Holiday" (and I believe I saw it a dozen times when it came out), I had no idea that my own road would eventually lead to Rome where I was to live nine years studying and writing ancient history, art history, and archaeology. I may not have found the handsome journalist, but I didn't need to. I found Rome, and it kept its promises!

William Wyler's "Roman Holiday" is one of the very best, most charming fantasy/romantic comedies ever made. It is sweet, funny, simple, beautiful, and tender. It takes place in the eternal city of Rome during 24 hours that its heroine as well as every movie lover in the world will cherish for as long as they live. The heroine is a young princess, the sole heiress to the throne of an unnamed European country. One evening while visiting Rome, she decides to take a holiday from her royal duties and stiffing life style and explore Rome as one of commoners on her own. She is accompanied by an American newsman, Joe Bradley (Gregory Peck) and his cameraman and sidekick, Irving Radovich (Eddie Albert).

Everything and everyone is perfect and highly enjoyable in "Roman Holiday". Wyler's idea to direct the film entirely in Rome proved to be extremely successful. The script by Dalton Trumbo is terrific. Peck as a handsome journalist who seems to hit a jack pot with the story about a runaway princess that can make him both famous and rich but whose plans collapsed when he fell in love with her was perfect for a role. So was Eddie Albert in his Oscar nominated performance.

The film belongs to Audrey Hepburn. With her blend of innocence, vulnerability, inner strength, and real class, she was perfectly cast in her first Hollywood role that brought her the Oscar. Hepburn was the daughter of a Dutch Aristocrat mother and a British father. She spent the WWII years starving and hiding from Nazis in occupied Holland. The article from the time of "Roman Holiday"s release describes Audrey as an original, "A thin child-woman with irregular teeth, wide jawbone, flaring nostrils and upswept brows, yet she carries herself with ethereal grace and entrances with a smile both wistful and radiant, and has remarkably large and expressive eyes." Gregory Peck predicted from the very first day of the shooting that Hepburn would win Academy Award for her performance and she'd become a huge star. She went to many screen successes including "Sabrina", "Breakfast at Tiffany", Charade, and "My Fair Lady" among others. Her death from cancer in 1992 at the age of 63 left a gap that will never be filled. There will never be another Audrey Hepburn but the final scene of her first film with the close-up of her marvelous face and that "wistful and radiant smile" will live forever as one of the cinema's most precious images.

DVD was received in good order and played well. Good shots of Rome, Italy. I liked the acting and the actors had good chemistry.

I have watched this movie at least a dozen times and it still never fails to enchant me. This may not be the best love movie of all but it is definitely one of the greatest and most enduring!

Audrey really looked fresh on the screen, Roman Holiday being her debut American film. Gregory Peck was really good as the newspaper guy contrary to what others think that he was a miscast. Regarding the ending, I admit I was really upset when I first watched it, but then I thought it was really the perfect ending. I would not have loved it so otherwise.

I recommend this to everyone who loves classic love stories and realistic endings!

My wife and I recently visited Italy, including several days in Rome. We thought watching this old movie (and Three Coins in a Fountain reviewed elsewhere) would be a pleasant way to relive some of the visit. My mother-in-law watched with us. Of the three of us, I was the only one who wanted to watch the whole movie (but I am a die-hard fan of old movies, generally of a different sort). It has not aged well. We were disapponted in the sparsity of scenes of Rome, that being our main reason for watching it. The story line was implausable in the 1950s and more so today, but the acting was okay, the storyline sufficient to keep my attention (if not that of my wife or mother-in-law) and I've always enjoyed Gregory Peck and Audrie Hepburn.

I remember being dragged to this movie as a young boy by my mother who could not get anyone else in the family to go with her. I was too young to protest successfully. Now that I am in my 60s, I think my earlier reluctance was not misplaced. However, it is harmless and pleasant enough in its own way and has an 1950s mildly uplifting theme. I can imagine a more modern treatment of this theme (princess wants to escape her life in the eye of the media and royal obligations and experience the common life for a while, then has to make a choice between "true love" and family/state obligations), but I doubt I would want to watch that either.

What an amazing delight!
I think Audrey Hepburn is sensational but I had never seen this film. My husband who had suffered through years and years of romantic movies on Saturday afternoons at the Capitol with his mother started off hostile and set to be dismissive. Well within minutes we were bewitched, charmed and delighted. Audrey Hepburn was so fresh and unselfconscious - it was as if she had forgotten the cameras were there and she was just having fun with these great grownups. There is one scene where her laughter is as thrilling and unconditional as a child's - lovely and poignant.
And Rome, that other character in the film! Well I found myself thinking - this movie was made in 1953 - that is well over a century ago and I know that the past is a foreign country and all that but this was as good as a holiday in Rome and in the past.

The quality of this movie was great. It's a movie that spans time and is great for all generations.

This is a classic film anD while watching it is like having a tour of Rome, all the sights and famous monuments . If you have ever been to Rome it brings back all the memories of your own Roman Holiday.

This film is the sweetest, most lovable romantic film ever. This film encouraged my uncle to become a reporter!

I remember the first time I saw this movie, as a child, with the absolutely radiant Audrey Hepburn in her first major role as the naive, protected Princess determined to have her day of freedom and to escape from her overscheduled, dreary routine.
How lucky Hepburn was to have Gregory Peck as a costar, a man who was gallant (and wise) enough to insist she be listed as a costar, right up there alongside him in the credits. The studio wanted to use the words "and introducing Audrey Hepburn" in the credits but Peck believed -and turned out to be right- that she would win the Academy Award for her excellent portrayal, which may seem a bit over the top to today's audiences but absolutely charmed viewers at the time (I still love the movie).
The story behind this movie is nearly as fascinating as the movie itself and it is worth buying this Collector's Edition to get some of that behind the scenes info in the special sections. Frank Capra was set to direct the movie but when he found out that the blacklisted Dalton Trumbo was the scriptwriter, he bailed. That's when Wyler stepped in, letting Trumbo do the writing but having another writer "front" for him. It took years for Trumbo to be duly recognized.
I do believe this film is best seen in black and white, as it was intentionally filmed this way. Why? Because it was shot on location, in Rome, at a time when movies were often filmed in Hollywood, with backdrops to give the illusion of another country. But not THIS time. However, Wyler feared that if the movie was shot in color, Rome might overshadow the story itself. As it is, some have called Rome the third "character" in this film and it benefits greatly by being shot on location.

What more can be said about this film? Filmed on location in Rome, Italy in the fifties. Greg Peck and Audrey Hep. Nuff said!

One of the greatest movies of all time. Audrey Hepburn is breathtakingly flawless.

This Special Collector's Edition of 'Roman Holiday' does justice to one of the classic black and white movies of the golden age of the cinema.

'Roman Holiday' is a delightful movie for many reasons. It captures the essence of the regency period with a fairy tale princess, during an innocent time of life that was much simpler. Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck were cast perfectly for their roles and complemented one another nicely. It was light-hearted but at the same time conveyed a more serious meaning. Sometimes one must sacrifice what one truly wants for the greater good of sociey. This was all too poignant at the end of the movie.
I thoroughly enjoyed it and recommend it to the sentimental hearted.

William Wyler's "Roman Holiday" is about a runaway princess (Audrey Hepburn) who escapes from surveillance and believing herself incognito spends a night - perfectly innocent- in a good-natured American newsman's Joe Bradley (Gregory Peck) apartment...

Her amiable adventures provide the basis for a charming fantasy-romance adventure... We see her on the loose for a single day in Rome smoking her "very first" cigarette, cutting her long black hair, riding on the back of a reporter's motor scooter, hesitating to slip her fragile hand in the 'mouth of truth,' escaping police, swimming the Tiber river, falling in love with the handsome reporter and at last returning to her official duties...

Audrey Hepburn won the Academy Award, and nearly every film she made during the following fifteen years was worthwhile... She was good in epics as she was in musicals... She was nominated for additional Academy Awards for "Sabrina," "The Nun's Story," "Breakfast at Tiffany's," and "Wait Until Dark." She had such expressive big eyes that she was hardly required to speak... She was a star of extravagant beauty and her part in "Roman Holiday," (her first in a starring role) perfectly suitable for her wispy, thin little persona, haunted us by her looks and her voice..

"Roman Holiday" was directed by a serious artist who knows how to tell a story... Meticulous, William Wyler worked out several doubling that I like to mention:

- Hepburn is seen dancing in the great mirrors of the hall, and soon after, in civilian dress, she walks alone passing near the same mirrors in the empty shadowy hall...

- At the extravagant ball she dances with short old personalities, and next evening she dances with our hero the tall American reporter on a barge in the Tiber river...

- When she lies persistent to sleep in her Embassy bed, she sees the angels in the four corners of the adorned ceiling, and when she wakes in Peck's bed, she observes the water tank in the corner of his ceiling...

- She has her hair cut by a barber who begins unwilling to cut it, then with emotion cut it all off... In that night she meets the same barber who has shaved his moustache...

They were two receptions in the film: Near the beginning our bored princess receives an official welcome... Near the end she holds a press conference... Among the gentlemen of the press is Peck affirming that the story of her day with him is safe... And Oscar Nominee Eddie Albert discreetly presents her with his 'paparazzi' commemorative photos of her visit...

The 'go away' of two lovers who certify their tender feelings by not saying goodbye brings very pleasant tears...

And there is a last doubling of Wyler: Late night after they kiss in the funny little borrowed car, Hepburn leaves and Peck watches her disappear down the narrow street as she runs the corner returning to the Embassy... The camera holds for a moment on the little street making its emptiness speak in silence... The next morning, after the press conference, and the princess with her attendants depart as all the reporters except Peck... He is left alone, looking fixedly at the door through which 'his beloved' has left... Then he turns... The camera - below him - retreats as he walks slowly down the elegant space of the palace hall... His footsteps producing an echo... At the great door he stops again, and turns one more time... Nobody there... The nice dream is over... He walks out of the shot leaving William Wyler's academic use of deep-focus detains his camera on the cool elegant hall with its guards and ceiling... It is the end of a lovely story, a fairy tale...

With a captivating charisma, Hepburn ad Peck are delightful from start to finish...

I don't think that anyone could ever dispute the fact that Audrey Hepburn is regal... nothing short of royalty. This movie is one of my favorite Hepburn films. She's divine. And her princess dress is any little girl's dream! I don't like Gregory Peck usually, (except, of course, in 'To Kill a Mockingbird', but that could be because he was simply made to be Atticus.), but he doesn't bother me in the slightest in this movie. One of my all-time favorite movies.

Audre Hepburns debut. This ismy favorite movie of all time. A romantic comedy whose characters have the highest integrity of any film I've ever viewed. If you're not moved by this story and it's portrayal by command performances, then you're not breathing.

We still see posters from this movie around Rome so we felt we should see it. It was a classic in its time. Fun to see the sites where they filmed this movie. It's not like Rome is changing or anything (although there did seem to be less traffic in the movie).