First, the good stuff. (1) The shots of Rome are wonderful. One can hardly believe it's the same crowded metropolis that it is today. Let's hear it for 1953! The other recent film that shows Rome so beautifully is "The Talented Mr. Ripley". (2) As usual, Audrey Hepburn is just wonderful. She came from some beautiful planet. The scene when she wakes up in Gregory Peck's apartment is lovely: I just think of how she tries to cover herself with the blanket and misses covering her posterior. Just great. The scene at the "Mouth of Truth" is fantastic.
Second, the bad stuff. (1) Gregory Peck just does not fit Audrey Hepburn. He lacks her light touch. He is a bit wooden --- just like Humphrey Bogart in Sabrina. I thought that Gary Cooper was a better romantic lead in "Love in the Afternoon". (2) I am always uncomfortable when Italian characters are portrayed as a type of buffoon. (3) A princess on the lam is a great idea, but monarchy as a real institution, as portrayed in this movie, has very little meaning anymore. I realize that Queen Elizabeth was crowned a couple of years before this movie was made, and the pomp, mystique, and the royal ethic of self-subordination were probably still very much alive. But now all that is quite tarnished for whatever reason. Princess Ann's transformation and maturation therefore seem artificial and dated.
What can I say? As a Hepburn film, it's a 10. As a movie, it's a 5 or 6.
Second, the bad stuff. (1) Gregory Peck just does not fit Audrey Hepburn. He lacks her light touch. He is a bit wooden --- just like Humphrey Bogart in Sabrina. I thought that Gary Cooper was a better romantic lead in "Love in the Afternoon". (2) I am always uncomfortable when Italian characters are portrayed as a type of buffoon. (3) A princess on the lam is a great idea, but monarchy as a real institution, as portrayed in this movie, has very little meaning anymore. I realize that Queen Elizabeth was crowned a couple of years before this movie was made, and the pomp, mystique, and the royal ethic of self-subordination were probably still very much alive. But now all that is quite tarnished for whatever reason. Princess Ann's transformation and maturation therefore seem artificial and dated.
What can I say? As a Hepburn film, it's a 10. As a movie, it's a 5 or 6.