A Royal Trip to Rome

Perhaps gaining some of its public appeal from the ill-fated romance of England's Princess Margaret and Peter Townsend, the story of the 1953 film Roman Holiday is one of those classic stories of a princess or president's daughter who runs away to find our her real identity, battling against her future as a famous woman in power. This is the first major studio film starring the beautiful Audrey Hepburn in a leading role and consequently became the film where she was made into a star.

The story follows that of Princess Anne (Hepburn) of some unnamed country out on her royal debut by touring all of Europe. Angry by the restrictions placed on her by her royal entourage, Anne runs away, forgetting she has taken a sleeping pill and ends up sleeping on a bench. Anne is rescued by American photographer Joe Bradley (Gregory Peck) who is covering the Princess's visit to Rome recognizes her. She tells him she is Anya Smith, but he sees through her disguise. Playing along, Joe tells his editor (Hartley Power) that he has perhaps the story of the year on his hands. Joe and photographer friend Irving Radovich (Eddie Albert) take Anne around Rome and give her the whirlwind experience of a life time. Anne and Joe fall in love with each other and Anne is given a choice. She can either stay with Joe and renounce her throne or she can grow up and take charge of her royal duties.

The film was made in black and white to reduce the cost and also so that the city of Rome would not outshine the cast. It was the first American film entirely filmed in Italy. Director Frank Capra was originally slated to produce the film and he wanted Cary Grant and Elizabeth Taylor in the lead roles. Jean Simmons and Suzanne Cloutier were both considered for the role of Princess Anne, but both were busy on other projects. It was Gregory Peck who told the studio to put Audrey Hepburn's name above the film in ad campaigns because she was going to be the break out star of the film.

The film is ranked #4 on the AFI list of greatest romance movies. For some reviews on the film, you can check out this entry on the Decent Films site. Movie Man's Guide provides this review of the film. The blog Rick's Flicks Picks has this to say about the movie and Brianrowe.net has this review.And here, for your enjoyment, is the film's original trailer:

Of Love Triangles and Elephant Stampedes

The 1954 film Elephant Walk did not receive much critical acclaim when it came out. In fact, most critics panned it. Still, that did not stop audiences from coming to see a love triangle set in the breathtakingly exotic landscape of Ceylon, now Sri Lanka. The film was based on the book Elephant Walk by Robert Standish, which is the pseudonym of Digby George Gerahty.

While in a small town in England, John Wiley (Peter Finch) meets the beautiful bookshop clerk Ruth (Elizabeth Taylor) and after only a period of knowing each other, the two marry. Wiley owns a tea plantation in colonial England's Ceylon post World War II and the two move to the estate. The plantation is called "Elephant Walk" because it was built on the path elephants used to use to get to water and a large wall was built to keep the elephants at bay by Wiley's late father, who is buried at the plantation. The house is a glorious mansion and Ruth meets her husband's devoted servant Appuhamy (Abraham Sofaer), who has an unwavering devotion to Wiley and his dead father while he remains suspicious of her. Ruth also meets her husband's American overseer, Dick Carver (Dana Andrews), who tells her not to trust the legacy of Wiley's father. He tells her that Wiley's father "rules Elephant Walk even from the grave" and that local gossip states Wiley Sr. was a factor in his wife's death. Wiley throws a lavish party at which Ruth is the only woman and the men become rough and rowdy while Ruth is upstairs, trying to sleep. Like his father, Wiley is somewhat arrogant and self-involved and he tries to live up to his father's legacy, leading to many confrontation between him and Ruth. Wiley breaks his leg during some rough housing with his friends and Ruth asks Carver to come back to help her husband run his plantation. A romance develops between Ruth and Carver because of her husband's behavior and they plan to leave together, stalled by a cholera outbreak at the plantation. The story takes twists and turns as the love triangle becomes more complicated and the beautiful nature of Ceylon turns deadly.

The film was originally supposed to star Laurence Olivier and then wife Vivien Leigh in the lead roles of John and Ruth Wiley, but Olivier had a scheduling conflict with the film he was working on, The Beggar's Opera. Leigh worked on the film for a brief time but had to quit because she was suffering through a bout with bipolar disorder. There are still some scenes were Leigh can be found in the background. The film was made in Colombo, Ceylon, which is now Colombo, Sir Lanka. The elephants in the movie were trained and borrowed from the Cole Brothers Circus in Chicago.

Though I personally liked this film, reviews of it remain mixed. For a general synopsis, you can read this, thanks to Turner Classic Movies. The original New York Times review can be read here. This brief point based review is from weekly-movie-review.com, and this review was written by Dennis Schwartz on Ozus' World Movie Reviews. If you do not find the film believable, I think you can at least enjoy the beautiful native scenery, ritual, and costuming as well as the glamour of Elizabeth Taylor.

Behind the Blue Eyes: Remembering Paul Newman

Today is a sad day in the history of motion pictures as we have lost one of the finest actors who ever graced the screen. This morning, Paul Newman died at his Westport, Connecticut home following complications from lung cancer.

Newman is famous for roles such as Eddie Felson in The Hustler, Prof. Michael Armstrong in Hitchcock's Torn Curtain, his Academy Award nonimated performance as Luke Jackson in Cool Hand Luke, Rocky Graziano in Somebody Up There Likes Me and playing opposite Elizabeth Taylor in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. His obituary in the New York Times billed Newman as "one of the last of the great 20th-century movie stars" and provides a detailed list of the actors roles, accomplishments, and personal life.

Perhaps the only thing exceeding Newman's reputation in film is his reputation as an activist and philanthropist. Newman was quoted as saying "You can't stop being a citizen just because you have a Screen Actors' Guild card". His "Hole in the Wall Gang Camp" provides services for seriously ill children and he has donated millions of dollars to charitable organizations. I find it hard myself to sit down to a family supper without at least one bottle of "Newman's Own Dressing" sitting beside me on the table. His warm face staring up from the bottle is a reminder of his charitable efforts worldwide.

Newman said of his own legacy: "I would like it if people would think that beyond Newman, there's a spirit that takes action, a heart, and a talent that doesn't come from my blue eyes". Through his actions, Newman proved his heart was as big as his talent and the memories we have of him will forever radiate on the screen. We will miss those blue eyes piercing up at as but we will even more so miss the heart and the talent behind those blue eyes.