Roman Holiday

What’s the Story?

While on a good-will tour of Western Europe, young Princess Ann (Audrey Hepburn) has a nervous breakdown. After receiving a shot of sleeping medicine from her doctor, she sneaks out of the embassy. The sheltered princess wants a real taste of Rome night-life but in her drugged state winds up on a park bench instead. Not-so-mild-mannered reporter Joe Bradley (Gregory Peck) mistakes her for a polished drunk and comes to her rescue. But the bachelor certainly doesn't want to be responsible for her. When he can't shake the sleeping beauty, he lets her stay in his apartment, only to find out the next morning that he has a hot (in the stolen sense) princess on his divan. By concealing that he's a newspaperman, Joe gets the scoop of the decade. He poses as a fertilizer salesman to learn the princess's innermost desires, her views on world affairs, and her thoughts on fashion (which are worth the most, of course).

Is It Any Good?

ROMAN HOLIDAY is all about the eye candy. Hepburn (in her debut performance), tall, dark, and handsome leading man Peck, and Rome -- what more could you ask for in a romance? As the princess pretends to be school-girl Anya Smith and Joe Bradley pretends he believes her, the two spend the day playing hooky in Rome, Ferris Bueller-style. They are joined by Joe's photographer friend Irving (Eddie Albert), who snaps pictures of the princess without her knowledge. Albert is always a colorful character actor to add to the mix.

Ultimately, Princess Ann faces a dilemma considerably more poignant than any Ferris Bueller might have had. The age old duty-versus-love conflict plagues her as she decides whether she wants to stay with the man of her dreams or fulfill her royal obligation.