FAQ for
Roman Holiday (1953) More at IMDb Pro »

The following FAQ entries may contain spoilers. Only the biggest ones (if any) will be covered with spoiler tags. Spoiler tags are used sparingly in order to make the page more readable.

Roman Holiday is based on a screenplay by British playwright John Dighton [1909-1989] and American screenwriter and novelist Dalton Trumbo [1905-1976]. Since Trumbo was blacklisted at the time for being one of the Hollywood Ten, a group of ten writers and directors who were cited for contempt of Congress for refusing to give testimony to the House Committee on Un-American Activities, British screenwriter Ian McLellan Hunter fronted for him. Trumbo's name has subsequently been re-added to the film's credits.

The actual age of sheltered and naive Princess Ann [Audrey Hepburn] was never revealed in the film. At the beginning of the film, she appears and acts very young...maybe 17. Contrast that with her demeanor at the end of the movie. After her Roman holiday (and a new, shorter hairdo), she comes across as a more mature and self-assured ruler. Hepburn's age at the time was @23 [born 1929; movie shot in 1952].

When Ann and Joe (Gregory Peck) were having champagne and coffee at the sidewalk cafe, Joe's photographer friend Irving (Eddie Albert) joins them at their table. During the introductions, Ann tells him to call her "Anya." Irving then asks for her last name, and Ann replies, "Smith," so Irving begins to call her "Smitty."

When Joe and Ann go dancing down by the barges, Ann tells Joe that she thinks he is a "ringer". This is related to the earlier scene in which Ann, Joe, and Irving are sitting at the sidewalk cafe, and Irving has begun to realize that Ann is really the Princess. He starts to say to her, "You're a dead ringer for...", but Joe kicks him in the leg to shut him up. Ann then asks what Irving means by "ringer", and Joe tells her that it is an American term for anyone with a great deal of charm. So, when Ann tells Joe that she thinks he is a ringer, she means that he has a great deal of charm.

Yes. The Mouth of Truth [Italian: Bocca del Verita] is a 4th century stone that has been hanging in the portico of the Church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin since 1632. For more on its origins and the legend that its mouth will snap shut on the hand of a liar, go to: http://travelsnapz.tripod.com/itmouthoftruth.html.

Princess Ann orders what looks like an ice cream cone from a sidewalk stand advertizing GELATI. A gelato [plural: gelati] is an Italian ice cream made from milk, sugar, and other flavorings such as fruit or chocolate. Gelati are denser than typical ice cream because they don't contain as much air, hence, they are creamier and more tasteful than regular ice cream.

It no longer exists, at least not the plaques that were hanging on it when Roman Holiday was filmed. Thanks to the work of some fans of the movie who traveled to Rome specifically in search of the wall, it appears that it was once a part of the Aurelian Walls on the Viale del Policlinico, southwest of the Villa Borgese. The plaques were removed in the mid-50s, leaving just the unadorned wall. By the way, the plaques were not "wishes"; they were "ex-votos", votive offerings made to the saints in thanks for their divine intervention in sparing a loved one's life.

Ann returns to her throne, having taken on a new air of authority with those who previously treated her as a child. Joe refuses to write his exclusive even though it cost him many lira. The next day he and Irving attend a press conference for the princess. She answers a few questions, then greets the press, shaking their hands. Irving presents her with the photos he took of her in various compromising positions. When she comes to Joe, she shakes his hands and says goodbye with her eyes. Her duties completed, Ann leaves the room. Joe slowly walks out the long corridor alone.

More romance in 1950s Italy can easily be found in Three Coins in the Fountain (1954), in which three American girls look for love in Rome after tossing coins into the Trevi Fountain. School teachers find love in Italy while on vacation in Rome Adventure (1962) and in Summertime (1955). Surfers vacation in Italy in Gidget Goes to Rome (1963). In the somewhat less light-hearted Light in the Piazza (1962), a mother tries to prevent her beautiful, naïve, and retarded daughter from falling in love while traveling in Italy. A Roman journalist with a penchant for the good life has no lack of love interests in Dolce vita, La (1960).

If your taste runs more toward contemporary movies, try Under the Tuscan Sun (2003), in which a divorcee buys a crumbling villa in Tuscany or Stealing Beauty (1992), in which a young girl travels to Italy to meet up with an old boyfriend and solve a mystery presented in her mother's diary. In Only You (1994), a schoolteacher travels to Venice to find her soul mate, while in Enchanted April (1992), four British women go to Italy on vacation and find themselves. In The Lizzie McGuire Movie (2003), Lizzie and her high school friends take a class trip to Rome.