Roman Holiday
1953 USA Black and White 118 Minutes
Release date: August 27, 1953
Oscars:
Best Actress ->Audrey Hepburn
Best Costume Design ->Edith Head
Best Writing Motion Picture Story-> Ian McLellan Hunter and Dalton Trumbo
Oscar nominations:
Best Actor ->Eddie Albert
Best Art Direction-Set Decoration
Best Cinematography
Best Director ->William Wyler
Best Film Editing
Best Picture -> William Wyler
Best Writing, Screenplay -> Ian McLellan Hunter and John Dighton
During filming in Rome 10,000 people came out to watch. Peck: “The police couldn’t stop them from whistling and beckling. For Audrey and me, it was like acting in a huge amphitheater before a packed house of rowdies.” Source / More (Book)
For the press conference, thirty-eight working reporters and photographers from fourteen nations played themselves. Many used the breaks during shooting to get photos and interviews with Wyler and the stars. Source / More (Book)
The original writer, Dalton Trumbo, was blacklisted as a communist, and therefore could not receive credit for the screenplay. Instead, his friend, Ian McLellan Hunter accepted the Oscar. This was corrected when the restored edition was released in 2002.
Peck asked the producers that they had better put Hepburn’s name above the title as she was certainly going to win an Oscar. Source / More (Book)
William Wyler regretted wanted to make the film in color but Paramount refused to increase the budget accordingly. Source / More (Book)
This week 56 years ago Sabrina premiered (September 9, 1954)
May 4, 1929
Audrey Kathleen Ruston
January 20, 1993
Audrey was the daughter of an English banker and a Dutch baroness. She was discovered by French writer Colette , who gave her the lead in Gigi on Broadway (1951). This success led to a starring part opposite Gregory Peck in Roman Holiday (1953).
By the 1960s, Hepburn had outgrown her ingenue image and began playing more sophisticated and worldly characters in Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961) and Charade (1963). For My Fair Lady (1964) Audrey had to play a Cockney flower, but many viewers had trouble accepting Hepburn in a role they felt belonged to Julie Andrews, who had created the part on stage.
She became a special ambassador for UNICEF until her death in 1993.
1993 Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award
1968 Nominated Best Actress for: Wait Until Dark (1967)
1962 Nominated Leading Role for: Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)
1960 Nominated Leading Role for: The Nun's Story (1959)
1955 Nominated Leading Role for: Sabrina (1954)
1954 Won Oscar Leading Role for: Roman Holiday (1953)
Jerry Vermilye -> The Complete Films of Audrey Hepburn (1995)
Alexander Walker -> Audrey: Her Real Story (1994)
Barry Paris -> Audrey Hepburn (1996)