Roman Holiday (1953)

Notable Cast:
Princess Ann- Aubrey Hepburn
Joe Bradley- Gregory Peck
Irving Radovich- Eddie Albert

Notable Awards and Nominations
OSCAR- Best Actress- Audrey Hepburn
OSCAR- Best Writing, Motion Picture Story- Dalton Trumbo (at the time he was blacklisted so the award was given to Ian McKellen Hunter; Trumbo was awarded it posthumously in 1993)
OSCAR- Best Costume Design
Nomination- OSCAR- Best Picture
Nomination- OSCAR- Best Supporting Actor- Eddie Albert
Nomination- OSCAR- Best Director-  William Wyler
Nomination- OSCAR- Best Writing, Screenplay- Ian McKellen Hunter and John Dighton
Nomination- OSCAR- Best Cinematography- Black & White
Nomination- OSCAR- Best Art Direction
Nomination- OSCAR- Best Film Editing
Golden Globe- Best Lead Actress- Drama- Audrey Hepburn 


Write-Up:

Years ago, I wrote down a number of movies I wanted to see. By some crazy miracle, I'd been fortunate to come across three of them within the last couple weeks. And all of them were well worth that wait. 

The other two were "Clue" (starring Tim Curry) and "Harold and Maude."

"Roman Holiday" is another I'd been wanting to see for some time. The timing just was never right because I'd have a prior commitment, something else I wanted to watch. With mom and dad and a round of Godfather drinks (it was set in Italy, so we had to drink something somewhat approriate for the setting), we all have a good time watching it.

With black and white movies, they can be hit or miss for me. Depending on if I'm tired or whether or not I'm invested in the story, I could just get bored or, worse, fall asleep. But sometimes I'll fall asleep during a movie I regularly enjoy. I'm really happy that I was engaged for this one all the way through and I got the best out of the experience. TCM is great because they have no commercials during the movie and you get a little trivia before and after the flick. It's crazy, considering her career, to consider that Audrey Hepburn almost didn't get this role because she had a bad audition. 

What ultimately inspired this... we're going back a number of years here. Maybe 8-9. With more knowledge of the stuff in the movie, maybe there's more to the intial source of inspiration than I realized. 
Back when I was running through RDJ's resume, "Only You" was one of the movies I hit. Because it was a chick flick/rom-com and it also had Marisa Tomei in it. I liked her in "My Cousin Vinnie" so I thought it couldn't hurt. It was kinda silly, though. When she was a kid, a Ouiji board told her that she'd fall in love with a Damon Bradley and live happily ever after with him. She goes to Rome and she meets RDJ, who intially passes himself off as this guy, but later discloses that he lied. She's mad at him, they fight and they win up together at the very end. 
But there was one scene borrowed from this movie, the most famous scene. Robert's doing his best Gregory Peck impression and they go to the Mouth of Truth, put their hands inside and both pretend they got bitten off because they lied.
Let's just say now I have the context, so that's kinda nice. I also wonder now if they had "Damon Bradley" in there because it was the same surname as Gregory Peck's character.

Now for the actual movie...

It was filmed completely in Rome, on location, and in black and white. It was Audrey Hepburn's first major movie and she won the Oscar for it. I'd know her best as Eliza Doolitte, so it's funny seeing this movie where she's very prim and proper. In "My Fair Lady," it's almost like she had to relearn all that class all over again. I also really enjoyed her in "Breakfast at Tiffany's" as well because her character was supremely confident that she could fabricate her own reality. I'd love to be able to do that myself.

She plays Princess Ann, who has a very busy schedule, and she's grown tired of it. She sneaks up one night and runs into Joe Bradley, an American reporter. They kindle an interesting relationship as a result. He finds out after that inital meeting that she is the princess and he tells his boss he'll get an exclusive interview with her. They spend a whole day together, without her knowing that he knows who she really is. It never really comes up. And he brings his friend Irving along to get pictures of her to use in the article.

All kinds of shenanigans happen, obviously. What's crazy to me is that Joe had so little money on him because he'd gambled much of it away, but he lends her some. He also gets money from his landlord, saying he'll later double it when he repays the debt. Both of them stretch their money out so far. She gets new shoes and haircut and he gets them a nice lunch at a streetside cafe. 
There's a party where they go dancing and hilarity ensues when her secret service try to take her away and they ultimately stop them. 

The movie more or less follows the typical rom-com blueprint. But it's missing a huge part of what makes those types of movies so annoying to watch. Nearly every rom-com has a cliched "misunderstanding" moment where one party gets mad at the other for something they thought they did. And the movie stops for 15 minutes until they can patch things up and get their happy ending.

In this movie, that never happens. Everyone finds out what the other party knows. But given the circumstances, things can't hash out as they typically would: a heated argument and someone storming off. Things are tied up so neatly at the end and the rest is kinda left to the imagination. 
Just that fact alone really made me appreicate this movie and pine over the fact they don't make them like this anymore. Sadly, so much in today's movies have become cliche that there's hardly anything original anymore. 
Both leads were so good in this. I'm not super familiar with Gregory Peck other than him being Atticus Finch, but he seemed like a really nice guy. Hearing that he fought for her to get top billing really says a lot about his character. It's also interesting to read how he and Cary Grant were often compared and he was depressed during the filming because his marriage fell part. But he met his future 2nd/last wife while filming in Italy, so that was a really nice turn of events. Everything happens for a reason, it seems. 

I'm sure the movie would have been spectacular in color, considering all the scenery. But supposedly it was filmed in black and white, as to not detract from the actors. 
Overall, it was just a really fun ride and I'm glad I finally got to see it. 

48. My Fair Lady (1964)

Code-name: my "high school musical"

Director: George Cukor
Type: Musical
Music and Lyrics: Frederick Loewe and Alan Jay Lerner

Cast:
Eliza Doolittle- Aubrey Hepburn
Eliza Doolittle (singing voice)- Marni Nixon (also did Maria in "West Side Story" and Anna in "The King & I")
Professor Henry Higgins- Rex Harrison
Colonel Pickering- Wilfird Hyde-White
Alfie Doolittle-Stanley Holloway
Mrs. Higgins-Gladys Cooper
Mrs. Pierce- Mona Washbourne
Freddie Eynsford-Hill- Jeremy Brett
Zolton Karaparthy- Theodore Bikel

Notable Awards and Nominations:

OSCAR- Best Picture
OSCAR- Best Director (George Cukor)
OSCAR- Best Actor (Rex Harrison)
OSCAR- Best Cinematography
OSCAR- Best Sound
OSCAR- Best Original Score (Andre Previn)
OSCAR- Best Art Direction
OSCAR- Best Costumes (Cecil Beaton)
nomination-OSCAR- Best Adapted Screenplay (Alan Jay Lerner- adapted from George Bernard Shaw's "Pygmalion")
nomination-OSCAR- Best Film Editing
nomination-OSCAR- Best Supporting Actor (Stanley Holloway- Pickering)
nomination-OSCAR- Best Supporting Actress (Gladys Cooper- Mrs. Higgins)

Golden Globe- Best Picture
Golden Globe- Best Director (George Cukor)
Golden Globe- Best Actor (Rex Harrison)

Write-up:

I'm not sure how many people indulged my previous entry. "Sucker Punch" is a guilt-less pleasure of mine, but all the same, this next picture will be a proper one. ;)

Nostalgia

10 years ago, around this time, we were putting the finishing touches on our adaptation of this musical. My junior year of high school was practically stressful between keeping my grades up and making manageable SAT scores. But thanks to this project (as well as concert choir and the two plays the drama kids put on), I always had something to look forward to.

Le sigh. I'm not the most outgoing person in the word, but I tried out for every drama and musical. It's hard to say which annoyed me more, the fact I never got even a call-back or the fact the same people ALWAYS got cast. Probably the call-backs because I could never begrudge the people who won the parts.
Especially the class of 2004, who dominated the cast of "My Fair Lady" and had me in stitches during "Let's Murder Marsha" and "Rumors" (which made me seek out every Neil Simon play I could manage).

This class was so talented that they triple-cast Eliza. Janna (3 nights), Lauren (2 nights) and Elyce (Friday night). Every other role had only two people playing roles. The only person I got remotely close to was Drew, a newcomer as a sophomore, who played Colonel Pickering on two nights. He brought such great energy to that role, he got more applause than that night's Henry Higgins (Ryan, who grew up on my street and I saw throughout my school years).
But easily, my favorite cast was the three-night cast with Zach playing Henry Higgins. I could go on and on about him, but in the two years I saw him in the high school shows, he always wowed me with his acting prowess and warm tenor voice. I always said to myself he was destined for Broadway. (Last I heard, he's part of an acting company in New York state).

Such good times. The company had three costumes, so when the shows went live, my costume changes were quick so I could watch the actors at work.
While on those costumes, the designing was amazing, as if they came right out of the movie.

Plot

Act 1

For those who don't know the story, Eliza Doolittle is a flower girl who sells flowers in Covent Garden. One night, Henry Higgins, a phonetics professor, is eavesdropping nearby and comments on how horrible Eliza's accent is. Around the same time, he comes in contact with Colonel Pickering, an expert in phonetics, particularly  Sanskrit, who came from India to meet him. Professor Higgins says in passing that he'd be able to teach Eliza proper English.
Some time later, she tracks him down at 27A Wimpole Street and says she'd be interested in the lessons. Pickering encourages an unwilling Professor Higgins to take her on and bets him the cost of the lessons that he wouldn't be able to pass her off as a duchess at an Embassy Ball. Considering the depth of Eliza's Cockney accent, this is anything but a simple task. At one point, she sings a revenge anthem poking fun at him  and how she won't help him even if he asked for it ("Just You Wait"). But somehow, they all manage to succeed.

Act 2

The embassy ball goes without a hitch, after which Higgins and Pickering can't stop patting themselves on the back ("You did it"). Unfortunately, this makes Eliza, who put in most of the work herself, feel underappreciated so she takes off. Freddy, whom she met at her disastrous first outing [after the "great transformation"] at the Ascot races, continues to pine after her and she considers him in her future plans.
Professor Higgins, despite himself, goes looking for her and finds her at his mother's residence, where she and him have another spat before she storms off again.

But... surprise, surprise, Professor Higgins realizes that he misses her ("I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face") and she returns to 27A Wimpole Street of her own fruition.

What makes this musical so special?

Obviously, the ticket that got this movie to my top 101 was nostalgia. Every now and then, I'll watch it and reminisce about the good old days. It's the only other musical on my list and it beats on "Sweeny Todd" for the same reasons.

It's a great story with a lot of different themes. We learn that London is chock full of dialects and Professor Higgins happens to be someone who can place a person based on how they speak.
The most prominent theme, though, has to be the relationships between men and women. Higgins is quite full of himself, believing he doesn't need a woman in his life (yep, that gets a song too) and plays off Eliza's annoyance with him as if she's beneath him. That he has absolutely nothing to do with her unhappiness while not accounting for the effort she put into the lessons he gave her.
Having said that, isn't it ironic that Rex Harrison won the Oscar and Aubrey Hepburn wasn't even nominated? That's said to be one of the greatest snubs in Oscar history.

Another thing that stands out is the cast of characters. How often in a musical do you find supporting roles gaining just as much recognition as, if not more than, the leads?
This isn't to say that Aubrey Hepburn and Rex Harrison aren't excellent at what they do. The actors that played Eliza's father and Professor Higgins's mother were nominated for a reason. He's quite the scene-stealer and Mrs. Higgins is an incredibly strong role, showing Eliza kindness and patience while being able to put her son in his place... the only other person other than Eliza [in Act 2] willing to do so.

The best part of the story was Eliza's character arc, how much she changed throughout the show. Now just her accent, but her mindset, the way she holds herself. She becomes a stronger person as a result of what she went through. Dare I say, her story is universal and a lot of girls can probably relate to her.

Highlights from "our" version

I hadn't seen these actors in other roles, although I'm still looking to see "Breakfast at Tiffany's" (get on that, TCM!!) and "Roman Holiday," so I only have this movie to go back.

Regarding Rex Harrison, he deserved that Oscar for this great portrayal of a misogynist... sorry, a stuffy phonetics professor. But I have my own personal nit-picks. One nit-pick. He didn't do a lot of singing as Professor Higgins. If anything, he spoke his way through his songs.
Alan Rickman did some speak-singing in "Sweeny Todd," but at least it looked like he tried to sing. 

Colonel Pickering is a good character because he treated Eliza like an equal, never talking down to her. But Justin and Drew, the guys who brought him to life in our version, really knew how to bring him to life. While gentlemanly, they played him off almost as if he was a comic foil to a straitlaced Higgins. There was a more distinct contrast between the two, boiling down to how they read their lines compared to the original version.

In both versions, though, Alfie Doolittle was the most comedic role in the show... always good for a laugh. Of course, not to be missed is what happens to him in the 2nd act, how what happened to Eliza changed him for the "better" (in a backwards sort of way, let's just say he might not totally agree with that).

For the most part, aside from the fact one was set on a stage and one had multiple sets, we stayed true to the original.

The Music

There are a lot of great songs in this musical, but they also serve as a reminder that something like this is meant for musical lovers.
For example, "I could have danced all night" is one of a number of songs that go on for ages... to the point where you almost want to say "enough already, we get it!"

"Wouldn't it be loverly?" stands out to me because it was the first song that came to mind when I sat down to write this entry.
But it is kinda timely right now.

"Lots of coal making lots of heat. Warm face, warm hands, warm feet, oh, wouldn't it be loverly?"

and no, that is not a typo. Our choir teacher, Ms. Cloak just loved to emphasize how Cockney-accent Eliza pronounced that (she also made a note of the fact Audrey Hepburn's less than perfect lip-syncing, lol).

There's also a nice range of songs throughout the show. Some are stoic in nature (practically everything Higgins speak-sings) and others are more catchy (practically everything Eliza sings as well as numbers by her father).

But as a general rule, you rarely get a musical number that's less than five minutes long.

I also love Freddy's solo, "To the Streets Where you Live" and Eliza's response in Act 2, "Show Me"... lots of sass in that number. (Freddy's song was also easy for me to figure out on keyboard without having to google sheet music).

Allusions and References

Years ago, I remember seeing an episode of "The Simpsons" with yet another showdown between Bart and Sideshow Bob. And for whatever reason, Sideshow Bob decided he couldn't kill Bart and proceeded to sing "I've Grown Accustomed to Your Face"... I wouldn't recognize that reference for years.

"Family Guy" did it. Stewie did an "Eliza" transformation for one of his preschool classmates, but it doesn't end well for him.

Our high school musical aside, this movie had staying power with me because a lot of references to it were coming out of the woodwork around the same time.
Specifically, Lindsay Lohan's "Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen"... I'd feel kinda silly putting that on my list (although it's in my top 200 for sure), but it really resonated with me as a teenager. To this day, that's still true. Aside from the character of Lola (deluded, yes, but I wish I had that much strength in my convictions), I was hooked immediately because her high school was doing "Pygmalion"... which became a contemporary version of the original George Bernard Shaw play featuring revamped pop songs :-P
Good times...

Coming Attractions...

My next two movies are my favorite Robin Williams films, chock full of nostalgia. One is animated and the other is live-action, both are geared towards kids.
Although the latter I recently found to be PG13, so that's a tough call :-P

Anyway, hope those who made this far enjoyed the entry and feel free to leave your comments below.