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Memorable Quotes from Roman Holiday (1953)

Directed by: William Wyler

Written by: Dalton Trumbo, Ian McLellan Hunter, & John Dighton

Gregory Peck as Joe Bradley, Correspondent American News Service

Audrey Hepburn as Princess Ann/ Anya Smith

Eddie Albert as Irving Radovich

Paolo Carlini as Mario Delani, Hairdresser

- Princess Ann: Did you know there are people that sleep with absolutely nothing on at all?
- Duchess: I rejoice to say I did not.

- Joe Bradley: You should always wear my clothes.
- Princess Ann: It seems I do.

- Princess Ann: Do you have a silk nightgown with rosebuds?
- Joe Bradley: I haven't worn a nightgown in years!

- Princess Ann: I've never been alone with a man before, even with my dress on. With my dress off, it's most unusual.

- Reporter: And what, in the opinion of Your Highness, is the outlook for friendship among nations?
- Princess Ann: I have every faith in it... as I have faith in relations between people.
- Joe Bradley: May I say, speaking for my own... press service: we believe Your Highness's faith will not be unjustified.
- Princess Ann: I am so glad to hear you say it.
- Another reporter: Which of the cities visited did Your Highness enjoy the most?
- General Provno: [prompting] Each, in its own way...
- Princess Ann: Each, in its own way, was unforgettable. It would be difficult to-- Rome! By all means, Rome. I will cherish my visit here in memory as long as I live.

Interesting Roman Holiday Facts:

• Director William Wyler had originally wanted actress Jean Simmons to play the role of Princess Ann for Roman Holiday. Simmons had played "Ophelia" in Hamlet with Laurence Olivier, and "Sarah Brown" in Guys and Dolls with Marlon Brando and Frank Sinatra). Wyler reportedly nearly canceled the project when Simmons was unavailable for the film.
• After filming for Roman Holiday had completed, Gregory Peck informed the producers that Hepburn was "certainly" going to win an Oscar (for this, her *first* major role), so they had better put her name next to his on the title. He was a big star at the time, so the studio was initially against the idea. However, after Peck's persistance to the studio that Audrey Hepburn be as credited as he was, we see how it paid off. Peck saw talent in young Audrey's performance before many others, and he knew it would be a big mistake not to have her name up with his. Well, the studios finally agreed and did their part... and Peck was right, because she did win.
• The scene in the film where Joe (Gregory Peck) pretends that his hand was bitten off in the mouth of the stone idol was improvised by Peck, and thus Audrey Hepburn's reaction is for real. It is a cute scene when you know that it was unrehearsed.
• In the 1970s, a sequel to Roman Holiday was proposed to reunite Peck and Hepburn. The new story would have had Ann, now a Queen, returning to Rome and reuniting with Joe Bradley, now a best-selling novelist. The story would have centered around their children, who fall in love; however, the script never got past the beginning stages.
• When filming one of the ending scenes in the film where Princess Ann (Audrey Hepburn) tries to say goodbye to Joe, Audrey Hepburn had difficulty producing tears, as the script and scene called for. William Wyler reportedly got very angry at Audrey, complaining at the number of wasted takes; Hepburn promptly burst into tears at Wyler's frustration and thus, the scene was filmed.

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