'Roman Holiday' (1953)
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Pre-production notes:
* Audrey Hepburn won the role of Ann thanks to a legendary screen test. In it, she performed one of the scenes from the film, but the cameraman was instructed to keep the cameras rolling after the director said "cut." Several minutes of unrehearsed, spontaneous Audrey Hepburn was thus captured on film and won her the role.
* Roman Holiday was originally a project for Frank Capra, who had planned to cast Cary Grant and Elizabeth Taylor in the parts played by Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn. Grant and Hepburn would later star together in the murder mystery, Charade.
* The original writer was blacklisted and therefore could not receive acclaim for the screenplay, even when it won the Academy Award for Best Screenplay. His wife was finally presented with the award in 1993 long after his death.
Filming tales:
* When filming the scene where the princess (Audrey Hepburn) says her goodbyes to Joe, the inexperienced Hepburn was unable to produce the necessary tears, eventually causing director William Wyler to complain at the number of wasted takes. Hepburn promptly burst into tears and the scene was filmed successfully.
* The joke where Joe (Gregory Peck) pretends that his hand was bitten off in the mouth of the stone carving was adlibbed by Peck, and thus Hepburn's reaction is genuine. Peck said he borrowed the "missing hand" gag he pulled on Audrey from a Red Skelton routine.
* William Wyler's daughters, Judy and Cathy, appear as schoolchildren when Joe borrows a camera from some kids.
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