Š-DR- VACANCES ROMAINES de William Wyler (1953) p20

17/06/2014 06:33 par tellurikwaves

Unabashed innocence
9/10
Author: moonspinner55 from las vegas, nv
26 May 2002

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 thewhole picture plays like a delectable dessert. ***1/2 from ****

Š-DR- VACANCES ROMAINES de William Wyler (1953) p19

17/06/2014 06:30 par tellurikwaves

An enchanting light comedy…
9/10
Author: Righty-Sock (robertfrangie@hotmail.com) from Mexico
10 May 2008

Constantly advised, overprotected, and bored with her royal duties, Princess Anne, on holiday in Rome, evades her protectors and sneaks out at night to discover how the ordinary Italians live...

Exhausted from a claustrophobic schedule, she collapses in a public place… Passing by is Joe Bradley (Gregory Peck), a newspaper reporter who was planning to interview the Princess the following day… Not realizing who she is, he eventually takes her to his apartment where she spends the night on his couch…

After discovering her identity, Bradley charms the runaway princess for the exclusive story he visualizes writing… He calls his carefree photographer friend Eddie Albert and proposes to spend the day with her and experience everything she has always desired to…Audrey Hepburn—the exquisite incognito princess who finds romance in the capital city of Italy— not only lets down her long tresses, but also gets a more fashionable cut, as she blossoms to embrace a life she knows she cannot keep…

Hepburn received an Oscar for Best Actress in recognition of her gamine charms and for her great acting ability…If you like to remember Princess Anne at the café ordering champagne for lunch; smoking her "very first" cigarette; dancing on a barge on the Tiber River; hitting the royal agents with beer bottles; and testing the legend of 'The Mouth of Truth;' don't miss this delightful movie with three legendary stars…

Š-DR-VACANCES ROMAINES de William Wyler (1953) p18

17/06/2014 06:25 par tellurikwaves

Perfect
10/10
Author: lake_walker from United States
4 October 2005

A Holiday worth celebrating every day of the year. The Princess awakens from her slumbers in this classic fall-from-innocence, coming-of-age tale with a royal twist. Audrey Hepburn stakes her claim as the most perfect woman who ever lived. Gregory Peck at his best as the ne'er-do-well American reporter who guides her chastely from girlhood to womanhood. What can I add? One of the finest movies ever made.

Now will you please stop reading this review and rent the movie, for heaven's sake?.According to the rules, this review has to go for at least 10 lines. And yet I've said everything I have to say about Roman Holiday. It is perfect. Rent it. Or better yet, buy it. You won't regret it. There, now that's 11 lines, that ought to do it.

Š-DR-VACANCES ROMAINES de William Wyler (1953) p17

17/06/2014 05:17 par tellurikwaves

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Š-DR-VACANCES ROMAINES de William Wyler (1953) p16

17/06/2014 04:47 par tellurikwaves

catch the beautifully restored print of this
Author: didi-5 from United Kingdom
13 October 2003

Audrey Hepburn's first big film role cast her as a Princess of country unknown, making a state visit to Rome. Bored of the endless run of openings, dedications and so on, she decides to see something of the city, and runs into American newsman Gregory Peck. He recognises her as the missing Princess and plans to scoop a major interview for his syndicate, with the help of pal Eddie Albert and his hidden camera.

Hepburn is an absolute joy, particularly when her hair is shorn down to the classic urchin cut and she takes a motorcycle ride. Peck, too, is served well by this kind of role, and the romance of the city of Rome helps their relationship to develop during their 24 hours of freedom. Roman Holiday is one of those rarities which are truly perfect and memorable, a real girly flick with beautiful photography and a sparkling script. Highly recommended, and especially so in the wonderful recent restoration.

Š-DR- VACANCES ROMAINES de William Wyler (1953) p15

17/06/2014 04:41 par tellurikwaves

An utter gem
Author: trpdean from New York, New York
21 September 2002

A plot as slender as Audrey Hepburn but oh what magic! If you've never seen this jewel, you're to have one of the best evenings of your week, your month.

Perhaps the key to this movie's success is restraint -in the dialogue,in the music,in the cynicism of Peck and cronies at the movie's beginning. No one gushes - all is understated - but how one feels its power. I hope everyone has experienced a day such as they - with someone they come to care for - as much as they. It's my wish for the world. (l'espoir fait vivre)

Š-DR- VACANCES ROMAINES de William Wyler (1953) p14

16/06/2014 17:56 par tellurikwaves

Viva Audrey!
8/10
Author: jotix100 from New York
12 July 2002

I recently caught this little gem of a film on a retro program and it was a trip well worth it. William Wyler was a genius directing throughout his film career. Here he's in top form.

The only way this film could have been conceived was with the charming presence of Audrey Hepburn in her first appearance on a Hollywood film. She is without a doubt, an angel who was sent to this earth to delight the movie audiences in whatever movie she happened to dignify with her appearance in.Audrey Hepburn was a star's star! She exudes charm, intelligence, elegance, and beauty. Just one look from her could disarm Gregory Peck forever.

The only wrong note of this production was the way the writer, Dalton Trumbo, was treated since he had been blacklisted by the anti-communist faction lead by Sen. McCarthy and company. In the end, Mr. Trumbo was vindicated in having his name recognized as the writer of Roman Holiday.

This film is a feast to the eyes in that glorious cinematography and Rome as a background. This was Hollywood at its best. Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn will be forever young any time we take a look at this classic that I'm sure will live and charm its viewers whenever they take a chance to see it for the first time, or like some of us, for another loving look.

Š-DR-VACANCES ROMAINES de William Wyler (1953) p13

16/06/2014 17:15 par tellurikwaves

Lyrical relic of a vanished civilization
Author: jayson-4 from United States
9 February 1999

This charming comedy is justly famous as the film that made the whole world fall in love with Audrey Hepburn and half the world want to run out and buy a Vespa scooter. Hepburn was always beguiling, but in some of her later roles she tended to overplay the winsomeness *. Here every note she hits is just about perfect.

And speaking of notes, pay special attention to the score by the great Georges Auric. If the film had been produced in the manner of modern romantic comedies, the sound track would have been larded with pop hits by Perry Como, Dinah Shore, and Frankie Laine, which would have done an awful lot to destroy the magic.

Instead Auric's complex, vibrant, evocative music complements the story's inherent lyricism without upstaging it. In an era of bombastic film scoring, this seems a miracle. Someone once said that Audrey Hepburn's was the beauty of possibility and transformation -- she was always in motion, always becoming something else.

"Roman Holiday" is very much of a piece with that notion. On the surface, the film is about a princess who disguises herself as a "commoner". But in truth she's actually pretending to be a princess, at least at first. She finally becomes authentic -- is transformed and prepared to deal with her destiny -- only through the ennobling power of love and sacrifice. That's one heck of a mythic subtext and does a lot to explain "Roman Holiday's" enduring power.

*

*

* C'est aussi mon avis.De plus elle a joué dans de fort mauvais films(DIAMANDS SUR CANAPé,DRÔLE DE FRIMOUSSE...c'est pour cette raison que je n'ai gardé que SABRINA et à présent VACANCES ROMAINES

Š-DR- VACANCES ROMAINES de William Wyler (1953) p12

16/06/2014 16:56 par tellurikwaves

Anecdotes

-Avant de partir pour New-York où elle allait, à partir du 24 novembre 1951, incarner Gigi dans une adaptation théâtrale du roman de Colette, Audrey Hepburn qui n'avait à son actif que des apparitions dans des films secondaires, fit un test pour Wyler à la recherche de sa princesse Anne. "C'est une aristocrate jusqu'au bout des doigts" en conclut Wyler enthousiasmé.

-Alors voué à des rôles sérieux ou tragiques, ce dix-neuvième film de Gregory Peck sera sa première comédie. Il fut si impressionné par les essais d'Audrey qu'il exigea qu'elle partage la tête d'affiche avec lui. Avant la présentation du film, il déclara perspicace : "La vraie vedette du film, c'est Audrey Hepburn".

-Tourné intégralement en Italie durant l'été 1952 (entre les représentations à Broadway et la tournée de Gigi), dans les rues de Rome et les studios de Cinecitia, Vacances Romaines a révélé au monde entier une jeune actrice de vingt-deux ans, Audrey Hepburn, qui pour son premier grand rôle recevra l'Oscar 1953 de la meilleure actrice.

-Le film sorti le 27 août 1953 au Radio Music Hall de New York, et rencontra un énorme succès public et critique.

-La Vespa est de retour dans les studios hollywoodiens après quinze ans d'absence. Cette fois-ci, le scooter chéri des Italiens, commercialisé par Piaggio, est prétexte à une grande vente aux enchères aux profits de la fondation Audrey Hepburn pour l'enfance. Ce film fît découvrir la Vespa aux Etats-Unis. Depuis le lancement du modèle en 1946, le succès de la Vespa n'a fait que s'accroître en Europe et aux Etats- Unis. Il existe même des listes d'attente pour se procurer les nouveaux modèles de ce scooter mythique.

-Pour la scène cruciale de séparation entre Peck et Hepburn, Audrey ne pouvait simuler son émotion, jusqu'à ce que William Wyler à court de patience lui ait fait monté les larmes aux yeux avec des mots d'exaspération. D'après Gregory Peck : "C'était embarrassant. Elle était effrayée et bouleversée, mais elle a joué la fois suivante parfaitement bien. Sur l'écran, elle semblait affectée par notre séparation, mais en réalité c'était parce que Wyler venait de l'effrayer".

-Il y a un autre moment célèbre où Gregory Peck entre sa main dans une sculpture antique (la Bouche de Vérité), et retire ce qui ne semble être plus qu'une manche vide, amenant Audrey à la surprise, la colère et l'hilarité en même temps. Peck a révélé que cette plaisanterie n'était pas prévue, mais que devant la réaction d'Audrey, la scène a été gardée dans le film.

-Il est difficile d'imaginer quelqu'un d'autre qu'Audrey Hepburn en Princesse Anne, tellement elle a joué ce rôle d'une façon convaincante. Mais ce rôle avait plus tôt été considéré pour Elisabeth Taylor, puis Jean Simmons.

-Lors d'une fête organisée pour la sortie britannique du film, Gregory Peck présenta Audrey à son ami Mel Ferrer. De là naquit leur amour, et leur première collaboration sur Ondine.

-John F. Kennedy a déclaré à un journaliste que Vacances Romaines était son film préféré et Audrey Hepburn son actrice favorite. Elle sera invitée à venir lui chanter le célèbre "Happy Birthday, Mr. President", le 29 mai 1963, jour de son 46ème et dernier anniversaire, 6 mois avant d'être assassiné.

Š-DR- VACANCES ROMAINES de William Wyler (1953) p11

16/06/2014 16:16 par tellurikwaves