Comparing "Roman Holiday" with "LiT"

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Congruous
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Comparing "Roman Holiday" with "LiT"

#1 Post by Congruous » Sat Jun 23, 2007 1:19 pm

Did Sophia Coppola see "Roman Holiday?"

I've been a big Gregory Peck fan since I was a kid, but everything I watched with him in it featured him in one of his he-man, war movie roles. I recently read a biography of Audrey Hepburn, which gave a pretty detailed account of the making of "Roman Holiday." This account piqued my curiosity for how Peck would handle a role like this, so I saw the movie. I liked it and was pleasantly surprised to see how similar "Holiday" and "LiT" are.

Sure, there are big differences. Joe Bradley (Peck), unlike Bob Harris, is single and eligible. His cameraman, Irving Radovich (Eddie Albert, in a great performance), is the movie's comic relief. Audrey Hepburn's Princess Ann is sophisticated in diplomatic protocol, but has no experience in dealing one on one with commoners. And probably the biggest and most obvious flaw in the movie is the fact that Joe and Ann fall in love after a mere 24 hours.

Still, the similarities are striking. Both movies were shot on location in beautiful cities. In both movies, the young woman ends up spending a sexless night with the older man. Both detail a lightning fast development of a relationship between an older man with a much younger woman. And both movies have magnificent endings.

If you haven't seen "Roman Holiday," I can tell you that it is worth seeing just for the excellent last few scenes. Hepburn's acting in these scenes is fantastic...she speaks few words, but her facial expressions tell you everything you need to know. And at the very end, as Joe walks down the long hallway, I kept expecting...well, see the movie.
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#2 Post by Pockets » Sat Jun 23, 2007 3:48 pm

Roman Holiday is a film classic. I would be very shocked if Sofia Coppola hasn't seen this film.

I took some film studies classes in college. Many of the classic films that have older leading men paired up with younger women are not necessarily due to staying true to the storyline, but rather the film studios using the most bankable film stars at their disposal. For instance, Jimmy Stewart felt too old for his Rear Window and Bell, Book and Candle roles in relation to his younger co-starring actresses. Of course, then there are the classic pairings of Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy, and Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart.

I feel with Roman Holiday, Peck was playing an experienced and savvy reporter, so the maturity level of his role was perhaps suggesting his age to be 28+ years. In LiT, with Charlotte's comment suggesting he was in a mid-life crisis, hints that Bob is more at least in his late forties. In both movies, the women are in their early twenties and while Hepburn's character is unmarried, she isn't free to date a non-royal (Peck).

BTW, in the Roman Holiday entry in Wikipedia they said this about a suggested sequel:

"In the 1970s, both Peck and Hepburn were approached with the idea of a sequel, which would have seen Anya and Joe reunite, but the project never came to fruition."

Inter-generational friendships and romances can be very rewarding, with the younger partner getting some great advice from someone with more life experience and confidence. With movies that have these sorts of friendships and some romances, I think that they send a message (perhaps not intentionally) that we should all keep a more open mind about who we might make our friendships with. When we are young, we tend to make friends with only people that are exactly in our age group that we go to school or live next to. While in grade school, we even tend not to cross the boundaries of our grade levels! It's good to learn to break down these boundaries of age.

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#3 Post by Pockets » Sun Jun 24, 2007 5:42 pm

Last night, LiT was showing on the Encore Love channel. This afternoon, Turner Classic movies showed Roman Holiday! I came across one movie review which suggested that the RH story was inspired by Princess Margaret (of England).

The original Roman Holiday movie trailer:
http://www.tcm.com/mediaroom/index/?cid=98669

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#4 Post by LostCalls » Mon Jun 25, 2007 3:03 am

There is actually a scholarly article that I came across in my studies which compares these two films. I will try to copy the full text here...

Also, I don't feel that Jimmy Stewart was too old for his role in Rear Window; I think his pairing with Grace Kelly (a Hitchcock favorite to say the least) given their respective ages was in perfect accord with the narrative of the film.

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#5 Post by LostCalls » Mon Jun 25, 2007 3:10 am

I don't think I can paste the text of the article comparing LiT and Roman Holiday here...but it's quite a good one. I've got it in pdf format and would be willing to email it to forum members if you PM me first.

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#6 Post by Congruous » Mon Jun 25, 2007 3:07 pm

LostCalls wrote: Also, I don't feel that Jimmy Stewart was too old for his role in Rear Window; I think his pairing with Grace Kelly (a Hitchcock favorite to say the least) given their respective ages was in perfect accord with the narrative of the film.
It was a pleasure to see two such great actors together in a movie. Kelly had a kind of ageless elegance that kept me from putting an age on her.
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#7 Post by Tombo » Mon Jun 25, 2007 5:29 pm

I'm quite ashamed...I haven't seen either!

I've made it top of my list of priorities to see both.

Well...almost top... :)

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#8 Post by Pockets » Tue Jun 26, 2007 2:56 am

LostCalls wrote:Also, I don't feel that Jimmy Stewart was too old for his role in Rear Window; I think his pairing with Grace Kelly (a Hitchcock favorite to say the least) given their respective ages was in perfect accord with the narrative of the film.
I wasn't saying that I thought he was too old to play those roles, but several times I have heard mentioned by film critics that Jimmy Stewart himself felt that some of his later roles were too young for him to be in. However, the film studios AND his fans loved him in all of his movies. On the other hand, I read somewhere that Stewart insisted on playing the lead in The Spirit of St. Louis when he was fifty years old, but the character was only 25. Again, I think that the black and white film format is much more forgiving in terms of de-emphasizing an actor or actress' true age.

I guess that originally, there was some thought of having Cary Grant and Elizabeth Taylor pair up initially for RH.

And I guess that in Roman Holiday, I didn't view Gregory Peck as being much beyond 30 or 35 in his role (yay for forgiving b & w film) or anyway, not being old enough Hepburn to be his daughter, but in LiT with Bob telling Charlotte that he'd been married 25 years, that made him clearly old enough to be her father.

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#9 Post by Congruous » Tue Jun 26, 2007 2:47 pm

Tombo wrote:I'm quite ashamed...I haven't seen either!
For some reason, I don't think I've seen the end of "Rear Window."
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#10 Post by LostCalls » Wed Jun 27, 2007 1:11 am

You all should definitely watch/re-watch Rear Window!

Odd but personally important note: In fifth grade, one of my teachers was obsessed with Hitchcock (and film in general). In class over a number of weeks, we watched Rear Window, Vertigo (probably my all time favorite film), and Strangers on a Train. (We also watched the non-Hitchcock Black Orpheus.) While watching together in class, our teacher would pause the video every few moments to draw our attention to specific details or ask us questions about what we'd seen and what we thought it meant. She drew out themes and symbols and made us focus intently on the work.

While it might have seemed like a bother at the time, this teacher not only made me appreciate Hitchcock but also gave me my first critical approach to viewing and thinking about art in general. Whenever I watch any film now, I always think back to that old class.

In part, that's why I've come to love We Are Awake so much; there are tons of really astute, focused comments here that people have made about LiT. To me, being able to deeply investigate a work--while still just loving it in a very emotional, direct way--is the greatest combination.

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#11 Post by Ithildriel » Wed Jun 27, 2007 1:35 am

LostCalls wrote:You all should definitely watch/re-watch Rear Window!

Odd but personally important note: In fifth grade, one of my teachers was obsessed with Hitchcock (and film in general). In class over a number of weeks, we watched Rear Window, Vertigo (probably my all time favorite film), and Strangers on a Train. (We also watched the non-Hitchcock Black Orpheus.) While watching together in class, our teacher would pause the video every few moments to draw our attention to specific details or ask us questions about what we'd seen and what we thought it meant. She drew out themes and symbols and made us focus intently on the work.

While it might have seemed like a bother at the time, this teacher not only made me appreciate Hitchcock but also gave me my first critical approach to viewing and thinking about art in general. Whenever I watch any film now, I always think back to that old class.

In part, that's why I've come to love We Are Awake so much; there are tons of really astute, focused comments here that people have made about LiT. To me, being able to deeply investigate a work--while still just loving it in a very emotional, direct way--is the greatest combination.
Wonderful teacher, wonderful post.

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#12 Post by Congruous » Wed Jun 27, 2007 2:55 pm

"Strangers in a Train" is an awesome movie. Some of the images in it are incredible. "The Lady Vanishes" is my favorite Hitchcock movie.
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#13 Post by LostCalls » Thu Jun 28, 2007 11:17 pm

Thanks for the replies about my old class and Hitchcock. I've actually never seen The Lady Vanishes...it's on my list to see, though (and I've read about it).

Strangers on a Train does have some incredible images. I'm thinking in particular of Bruno standing in his dark suit on the gleaming white steps of the Lincoln Memorial. (It is the Lincoln, yes, not the Jefferson? Can't recall off the top of my head...) Hitchcock said he wanted the shot to suggest Bruno as emblematic of the evil stain that pulses just below the surface of our culture. Also, the image of the lighter reflected in Guy's wife's glasses just as... I'll stop here so as not to spoil things too much! And then, of course, the carousel.

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#14 Post by Congruous » Fri Jun 29, 2007 1:42 pm

Yeah, the reflection in the glasses is ghoulish. Another good one is when Bruno walks by the merry go round early in the movie.

And if you get to see "The Lady Vanishes," be sure to pay close attention to the characters Charters and Caldicott. Those guys are absolutely hilarious as caricatures of Brits abroad. Hint: they love cricket.
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