Roman Holiday (1953)

Second viewing; the first was on December 26, 1997.

A European princess visiting Rome decides to sneak out of her hotel and see the city. She encounters a reporter who takes her to his room in a boarding house. He discovers she is a princess and decides to write a story on her, without telling her about his profession or his intention.

Good film, with several memorable scenes, and a general pleasantness about it. Nevertheless it has at its core a characteristic which makes it decidedly minor in my scale of values: it is one of those stories where something is planned and executed during the whole film, only to be abandoned near the end. And you knew that it would, because this is all too common in Hollywood, and you are too familiar with Hollywood not to know it. No suspense, then, and, in the end, the feeling of having been somewhat taken in (and more so if you were naïve enough to have any doubts about the outcome). In real life, people do not change their minds in the last minute. I know that for a fact. I am in real life, so I ought to. On second thought, though...

Rating: 53 (up from 44)