Roman Holiday (1953)

Last Thursday I had my first day completely off from work with nothing to do but relax so I enjoyed watching some Audrey Hepburn movies on Netflix while blogging.

Believe it or not I'd never seen Roman Holiday before or even knew about the plot! But I enjoyed it immensely and since I don't often review black & white films I decided to review this one.

How can you go wrong with a super sweet story and the ever lovely Audrey Hepburn?

Story: Princess Anne embarks on a highly publicized tour of European capitals. When she and her royal entourage arrive in Rome, she begins to rebel against her restricted, regimented schedule. One night Anne sneaks out of her room, hops into the back of a delivery truck and escapes her luxurious confinement. However, a sedative she was forced to take earlier starts to take effect, and the Princess is soon fast asleep on a public bench. She is found by Joe Bradley, an American newspaper reporter stationed in Rome. He takes her back to his apartment. The next morning Joe dashes off to cover the Princess Anne press conference, unaware that she is sleeping on his couch. Once he realizes his good fortune, Joe promises his editor an exclusive interview with the Princess.

Costumes: Audrey Hepburn's style is always classic and this film has some of the prettiest outfits! I loved her long hair, probably more than her short hair, but her new haircut is very cute.

Scenery: This film was shot on location in Rome and there's some pretty amazing sites and places that they visit. The last scene in the grand place is quite stunning!

Music: The music didn't really stand out to me but I know that it was good and fit the film. The scene with the wild ride through Rome was such fun and I'm sure had some fun music.

Actors & Characters:

• Audrey Hepburn as Princess Ann - Although she is prim and proper she longs for adventure, she longs to live! A very sweet but interesting character and she grows into a truly beautiful character. Audrey Hepburn was a gorgeous actress and always makes me smile and feel deeply for her characters. She is brilliant as always in this film!
• Gregory Peck as Joe Bradley - Joe is not your typical ruthless American newspaper journalist, he is very caring and kind. He helps Ann find humor and fun in life and falls in love with her but doesn't demand anything of her. He is so honorable and gentlemanly, I liked him right away! I'm not sure I'd ever seen Gregory Peck in anything (I must have at some point in my life) but he was so charming and quite handsome. 
• Eddie Albert as Irving Radovich - Joe's photographer friend who follows Ann around taking fun photos of her. His scenes are rather hilarious! Eddie Albert stared in Green Acres and in several other TV shows and movies and has one of those faces I always recognize but a name I can never remember! I don't always like the characters he plays but it was fun to see him so young, with a beard and wearing sandals.
• Margaret Rawlings as Countess Vereberg - Princess Ann's personal secretary type, she organizes all of her events. She looks familiar but I still can't place the actress. 
• The Barber - I can't remember the name of the barber in the film but he was such a fun character, I loved the scene where they are dancing and he stops to rearrange her hair! What a neat guy!

My Thoughts: It was actually kind of nice not knowing anything about the plot because I really got to enjoy the story as it unfolds. Audrey Hepburn's character is very easy to like and her story is fun. It's also neat to see an old-fashioned story where even though the guy and girl are left alone together there's no inappropriate scenes even implied! Joe Bradley is such a gentleman and doesn't take advantage of Princess Ann's youth and inexperience, indeed he protects her on every available occasion. The ending was a real surprise to me, not at all how I expected but it made a lot more sense than the more sappy romances we see today (like The Princes and Me). It was a fun film, not my favorite Audrey Hepburn film (Charade is my favorite, followed closely by How To Steal A Million) but a lovely fun story and I'll definitely watch it again sometime soon!

Recommendations: This film has no inappropriate scenes, language or themes so it is completely appropriate to show to children. They don't make movies with sweet stories like these anymore so films like this deserve to be watched over and over again. I highly recommend Roman Holiday, it's a wonderful film!


Have you seen Roman Holiday?

Which Audrey Hepburn movie is your favorite?

The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934)

As one who counts herself as a fan of The Scarlet Pimpernel (TSP) I've long been interested in seeing other film adaptations besides the amazing 1982 version. I had once tried The Scarlet Pimpernel (1999) but gave up when I found some of the beginning scenes were pretty questionable, or rather really needed to be fast forwarded through. :(
Recently I saw The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934) available for viewing on YouTube and jumped at the opportunity to see what Sir Percy would look like in black & white!

For this review I can only compare with the 1982 version because I haven't read any of the books yet. As soon as I am able to unpack more of my books I look forward to reading it!

Story: During the French Revolution, a mysterious English nobleman known only as The Scarlet Pimpernel (a humble wayside flower), snatches French aristocrats from the jaws of the guillotine, while posing as the foppish Sir Percy Blakeney in society. Percy is married to the beautiful actress Marguerite St. Just, but their love has cooled as he suspects her of being involved with his rivals Chauvelin and Robespierre, and she sees little of the gentleman she married. Will Chauvelin discover Sir Percy's secret identity before he has time to rescue Marguerite's loved ones?

Scenes: Mostly staged scenes but richly decorated. The outdoor scenes are fairly few and some of the chase scenes are harder to see. For being made only seven years after "talkies" premiered this was a very ambitious film for it's time.

Music: Fairly melodramatic but there were a few lighter themes too. Overall the music wasn't that memorable to me.

Costumes: Gorgeous Georgian fashions! I love the sleeves on the greatcoats of the gentlemen and their hats. Marguerite's dresses and hats are very pretty with many elegant details. Sir Percy's outfits, though a little straight-laced at time, are quite what you'd expect for his fashionable fop character. And the cravats while not as to-die-for as the TSP 1982, they are excellent! And The Scarlet Pimpernel's despises were quite as clever as those of the 1982 version - the priest outfit and the old hag costume with her pipe and plague were very brilliantly done.

Actors In Their Roles:

• Leslie Howard as Sir Percy Blakeney - If I had to pick a second favorite Sir Percy after the awesome Anthony Andrews then Leslie Howard would have to be it. I didn't expect to like him in the role very much but apart from his rather long pointed nose I actually found very little to criticize. I found myself giggling quite profusely at his pompous speeches and idle remarks, and his critique of the Prince of Wales' coat is just hilarious! I found he kept the film very entertaining but still was as heroic as Sir Percy should be. 
• Merle Oberon as Marguerite St. Just Blakeney - We first meet Marguerite when she has been married to Sir Percy for a while and is growing tired of his apparent foolishness. Ms. Oberon brought a great deal of beauty, natural sweetness and a bit of spirit as Marguerite and though her pained looks are rather dramatic it's still easy to feel for her when Sir Percy fails to live up to her expectations. But oh her look when she finally figures out Sir Percy really is a hero! I loved that look!  
• Raymond Massey as Chauvelin - I couldn't quite decide what to think about Mr. Massey's Chauvelin. He was dressed quite finely most of the time which gave Sir Percy very little to criticize and though he did threaten Marguerite into helping him capture The Scarlet Pimpernel he wasn't really as evil as he could have been. Also I found myself listening to him and trying to determine whether his accent was supposed to be French, Russian or British - it seems the actor was actually a Canadian! I was particularly interested in Raymond Massey because he was the father of talented period drama actress Anna Massey.
• Nigel Bruce as Prince of Wales - He was slightly familiar to me from other classic films and I found him quite funny in this role.
• Other Characters - The other actors in this film really didn't stick out to me that much. I was quite disappointed that the members of The Scarlet Pimpernel's League weren't really that prominent, in fact I can't really remember any other names that Armand St. Just being mentioned (is he in The League?). Suzanne de Tournay and her family are rescued toward the beginning and are seen later on in the film and she was quite sweet. I remember there was one gentleman who seemed to like Suzanne but his name wasn't mentioned more than once so I can't remember it at all. 

My Thoughts: When I began watching this I expected to be quite bored and though there were a few slower parts it was actually quite entertaining! Having recently read Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities I was quite amused to find they included a group of knitting ladies at the guillotine scenes and a scene in a tavern where the proprietor uses the phrase "Eh Jacques?" I'm not sure if these things are significant to TSP books or just common scenes from the French Revolution but they reminded me of Two Cities right away.
There were a few disappointing things such as Sir Percy and Marguerite are already married so we don't get to see their romance, there is no rescue of the Dauphin (is that in another book perhaps?), the end scene with Sir Percy and Chauvelin in the library wasn't quite as clever as the 1982 version and there was no exciting sword fighting at the end. But despite these slightly crushing disappointments there are still some very funny scenes, an exciting story, heroic deeds are done and Sir Percy sails off into the sunset with his lady fair. And at the heart of the film there is still Sir Percy with his witty remarks and gallant deeds and that is what really made this movie highly entertaining and very lovely!

My Recommendations: I highly recommend The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934) to any and all who count themselves in The League! Sir Percy's scenes are not to be missed!
I would also recommend this film to fans of classic black & white films because it's just a fun film in general. It is not rated and is completely safe for family viewing, though it may be a bit boring for young viewers.

Have you seen The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934)? 
What did you think of Leslie Howard as Sir Percy?