About This Quiz
Take the charming Audrey Hepburn in one of her first major films, add a dashing leading man and throw in some of Italy's most famous sites and you've got "Roman Holiday." Take our quiz to see how much you remember about this iconic '50s film.After she is given a sedative to help her relax, Ann sneaks out of the embassy and falls asleep on a park bench. When Joe finds her sleeping there, he takes her to his apartment to keep her safe.
Ann, who is really the princess of an unnamed country in Europe, tells Joe her name is Anya Smith so he won't suspect her true identity.
By going along with her claims to be Anya Smith, Joe hopes to earn $5,000 writing an exclusive story about Princess Ann -- never revealing to her that he is a reporter.
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Ann borrows a thousand lire from Joe, then uses the money to cut her hair short. The barber Mario Delani then invites the incognito princess to a dance that evening.
Joe promises his buddy Irving a percentage of the take if he can capture some pictures of the princess to use in the article Joe is writing.
Ann is nearly arrested for reckless driving, but Joe saves the day when he tells the police that the pair are in a hurry to get to the chapel and get married.
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Joe and Ann visit the Bocca della Verita, or Wall of Truth. According to legend, liars who stick their hands into the Mouth of Truth will have the appendage bitten off. Joe scares Ann in the film by pretending to lose a hand in the stone monument.
Joe and Ann head to a barge dance on the Castel San'tAngelo, where they share their first true romantic moment in the film.
After the guards spot the princess at the dance, she and Joe jump overboard to escape. Along the banks of the Tibor River, the two share their first kiss.
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It is only a sense of duty and obligation to her family and country that spurs Ann to return to the embassy and her role as the princess.
After sharing a romantic day with the princess, Joe decides against selling the story, stating simply, "I have no story."
Irving uses a camera hidden in a cigarette lighter to take a picture of Ann smoking her first cigarette. He later gives her the camera and all of the pictures, reassuring her that her secrets are safe.
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Fans of happy endings may wish to look elsewhere; "Roman Holiday" ends with Joe watching Ann walk away, wondering what might have been.
Played by Hartley Power, Mr. Hennessy is Joe's newspaper editor boss. Joe fails to deliver on his promise to write an exclusive article for Hennessy to publish on the princess.
When Joe hands Ann a set of pajamas to sleep in, she is overjoyed -- because she is used to sleeping in dowdy old nightgowns.
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Joe runs into the princess at the Spanish Steps, where she is eating a gelato. He pretends that the meeting was a coincidence, but he went there with the intention of running into her and trying to score a scoop.
Producers were so set on hiring Hepburn for the role that they agreed to wait while she finished starring in "Gigi" on Broadway, no matter how long the show ran. After "Gigi," closed on May 31, 1952, filming for "Roman Holiday" began just three weeks later.
The two-stroke Vespa driven wildly through the streets by Ann created one of the movie's most memorable scenes.
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Ann and Joe debate whether it was Percy Bysshe Shelley or John Keats who wrote "Arethusa." Turns out, Joe was right -- it was Shelley, not Keats, who penned the words.
As a delicate princess, Ann is always sent to bed with a belly full of crackers and milk. After her adventure in Rome, she finally develops the confidence to turn down the meal.
Cole Porter's songs, including "Night and Day" and "Easy to Love," feature prominently in the 2016 pre-Broadway production.
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It was Gregory Peck who played Joe after Cary Grant turned down the part, citing correctly that the princess was the true star of the film.
Frank Capra planned to direct the film, with Cary Grant and Elizabeth Taylor as Joe and Ann. Eventually, things fell apart and he passed the film to William Wyler at Paramount.
Dalton Trumbo, who was under a Communist-related blacklist at the time, had a friend submit his screenplay for him. The friend collected a $50,000 fee, which he passed on to Trumbo. It wasn't until decades later that Trumbo was recognized for his role in the film.
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After Hepburn extended the shoot late into the night because she was unable to cry on cue, director William Wyler yelled at her to get the waterworks going.
Although Peck was the bigger star and should have had top billing, he insisted on sharing the top spot with Audrey after seeing what a talented actress she was.
A 1987 remake of "Roman Holiday" featured Tom Conti as Joe Bradley and Catherine Oxenberg as Princess Elysa.
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Vespa sold 500,000 scooters in the three years after "Roman Holiday" came out -- the same amount they sold in the six years prior to the film's release.
It's hard to believe that an iconic film like "Roman Holiday" was made on a strict budget, but money is what kept the film from being filmed in color. William Wyler was so set on splurging in order to film on location in Rome that he was willing to shoot in black and white because it was cheaper than color.
Hepburn picked up the Oscar for Best Actress at the 1954 Academy Awards, then promptly lost her statue. She later found it in the ladies room.
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