Kubrickbuff Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 This is a great movie, enough said. Anyone else agree with me? Link to post Share on other sites
casablancalover Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 One of my favorites. Link to post Share on other sites
CineSage_jr Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 Very good, not great. About 15 minutes too long, and Gregory Peck is miscast, forcing newcomer Audrey Hepburn to carry the whole movie (which is, when one thinks about it, just a pleasant rehash of Capra's IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT). Fortunately, she was good enough to do just that, but one can't count on that happening every time. Link to post Share on other sites
TikiSoo Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 > {quote:title=CineSage_jr wrote:}{quote} > Very good, not great. About 15 minutes too long, and Gregory Peck is miscast, forcing newcomer Audrey Hepburn to carry the whole movie Every time this film is broadcast we seem to get the same dis-discussion. First off, I am NO Peck fan, nor an Audrey fan, but I do like this film and both of them in it. I would expect a handsome hard boiled reporter to be sort of cold and stiff, like Peck. And I would expect a pampered princess to be over the top full of herself precious, just as Audrey behaves. I very much like the ending; tragic for the romance, but successful for morality. The "adventure" shows they are not really so different inside and the thoughtfulness & respect shown for each other in the ending bridges their two classes. It's good, not great. But for me the reason it's not "great" is the writing. It Happened One Night has killer dialogue. Instead, this movie substitutes silly action, like Audrey driving a scooter dangerously through crowded streets or hitting a man over the head with a guitar. I'll take clever writing over silly action anytime. Link to post Share on other sites
kas_to Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 eddie albert stole the show Link to post Share on other sites
DownGoesFrazier Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 I thought it was great when I first saw it, but it doesn't stand up to repeated viewings. Link to post Share on other sites
LonesomePolecat Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 I, on the other hand, find it improves the more I study and analyze it. The screenplay is just to fantastic, and of course so is the cast and the directing. Though Eddie Albert could have stolen the show, as someone mentioned, I think the character that steals the show is Rome itself. This is one of my favorite movies of all time. "She's a grand girl. A grand girl. FIVE grand." Link to post Share on other sites
Kubrickbuff Posted May 1, 2009 Author Share Posted May 1, 2009 I guess that a lot of people don't like romance movies anymore but it's my favorite genre. I get made fun of a lot for enjoying Roman Holiday, Casablanca, Bringing Up Baby, Now Voyager. I also love Jerry Maguire and Titanic too, I don't care what people say, those films are great. I guess that romance films are considered campy and cliche now days. No offence to you art house fans but I can't stand Citizen Kane. It's ironic that I am bashing art house films when my screen name is Kubrickbuff. Link to post Share on other sites
casablancalover Posted May 1, 2009 Share Posted May 1, 2009 Stay away from Eyes Wide Shut. It is _not_ a romance, and it's barely Kubrick (don't ask me to elaborate). What is it about Princess Anne and Joe that you like the most? Link to post Share on other sites
CineSage_jr Posted May 1, 2009 Share Posted May 1, 2009 > {quote:title=TikiSoo wrote:}{quote} > > {quote:title=CineSage_jr wrote:}{quote} > I very much like the ending; tragic for the romance, but successful for morality. The "adventure" shows they are not really so different inside and the thoughtfulness & respect shown for each other in the ending bridges their two classes. The ending's hardly "tragic," merely bittersweet. And I wouldn't characterize the Princess's decision as one of morality, but of duty, even though the film makes plain early-on in the expository set-up that establish her chracter and her reason for instigating the events around which the movie's whole second act revolve, that she's fed up with having to fulfill that duty, even before meeting Joe Bradley (it's the reason, of course, for her slipping out of her country's embassy to go on her escapade). The point the film makes is one of an irreconcilable conflict: she's rebellious toward the duties her station in life have thrust upon her because she's still young and immature; her time spent "on the lam" in Rome with Bardley then, inevitably, mature her, but that very maturity just as inevitably makes her realize that her duties to King and Country transcend any feelings she may have toward Joe, or her own longing and ambitions, however genuine they may be. In this, ROMAN HOLIDAY's ending is true and honest, unlike the one to IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT, in which the runaway heiress's plutocrat father (Walter Connolly) is delighted that his daughter (Claudette Colbert), badly in need of a "real" man to tame her flightiness, rejects the equally-spoiled playboy, King Westley (Jameson Thomas) in favor of honest, down-to-earth reporter Peter Warne (Clark Gable). The Pollyanna happy ending of the Capra/Riskin film really doesn't sit as well as the one to Wyler and Dalton Trumbo's film. Bittersweet it may be, but it's entirely appropriate, necessary and satisfying. Link to post Share on other sites
georgiegirl Posted May 1, 2009 Share Posted May 1, 2009 Everything that makes for a good romance movie is right there for me, so, yeah, I agree, it's a great romance movie. :-) Link to post Share on other sites
LonesomePolecat Posted May 1, 2009 Share Posted May 1, 2009 CineStage--- I completely agree that the ending of Roman Holiday is great, and bold for a romance to end with them not getting together (a lesser screenwriter would have had them get together anyway), but, rather like the end of *Remember the Night* it's the way it HAS to end--there are things more important than romance, especially in post WWII Europe. But I think the ending to It Happened One Night is justified dramatically---the dad's objection to King Westley is that he's so suave he's ungenuine but basically he's a loser who doesn't really love her ("I could buy that guy off with a pot of gold"--and he does!), as opposed to Peter Warne who is a bit rough around the edges, but is basically a really good guy who really does love her (he didn't even want the reward money). It's kind of like Jimmy Stewart's epiphany in Philadelphia Story, that it's not the outside but the inside (of course he sees that a self made man can be a jerk, which is the opposite of this movie, but just work with me here!) But that's my reading of the film. (you can tell I've seen it too many times) Link to post Share on other sites
Catwoman915 Posted May 1, 2009 Share Posted May 1, 2009 I guess the thing I like most about Joe is that he really ends up being a stand up guy. He protects Ann in the end, above fortune and fame. Of course his best buddy goes along with him after getting to know Ann and the way that she and Joe feel about each other (another great role for Eddie Albert). Ann...all I have to say is Audrey Hepburn and that about says it all. Great film with the greater distinction of being the first film ever shot on location. Link to post Share on other sites
TikiSoo Posted May 1, 2009 Share Posted May 1, 2009 > {quote:title=CineSage_jr wrote:}{quote} > The ending's hardly "tragic," merely bittersweet. I just meant "sad" as opposed to a "happy" ending. But I like both your & Lonesome Polecat's observations about It Happened One Night. While both films have similar story lines, they are treated very differently. IHON has a lot of fun lighthearted touches, whereas RH seems to be more a string of episodes. IHON has real laughs, usually from Gable's huge personality (the hitchhiking scene) whereas RH has "cute" (hand in statues mouth scene) scenes that neither star has the strength, nor the writing, to get a real laugh. To me the ending of RH *is* it's most redeeming touching scene. >delighted that his daughter, badly in need of a "real" man to tame her flightiness ^^ Whoa, I see myself in that statement. Link to post Share on other sites
CineSage_jr Posted May 1, 2009 Share Posted May 1, 2009 See yourself as the daughter, or the "real" man? Link to post Share on other sites
TikiSoo Posted May 1, 2009 Share Posted May 1, 2009 > {quote:title=CineSage_jr wrote:}{quote} > See yourself as the daughter, or the "real" man? Heh, I'm a flibberty jibbet sort of gal who needs a real man to tame her. Where's Jack Carson when you need him? Busy taking Veda home for Mildred, I guess. Link to post Share on other sites
LonesomePolecat Posted May 1, 2009 Share Posted May 1, 2009 TikiSoo, sounds like you're like Maureen O'Hara in The Quiet Man---"that red hair of hers is no lie"---who wants her guy to take control. Link to post Share on other sites
FredCDobbs Posted May 4, 2009 Share Posted May 4, 2009 > {quote:title=Kubrickbuff wrote:}{quote} > This is a great movie, enough said. Anyone else agree with me? I agree with you. It IS a great movie. It?s perfect. Link to post Share on other sites
LonesomePolecat Posted May 4, 2009 Share Posted May 4, 2009 I agree too----it is perfect! the screenplay, the acting, the directing, etc. and I didn't mean any offense, TikiSoo. I were only foolin'. Link to post Share on other sites
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