Roman Holiday (1953) and the Disappointment of an Ending by Mary Grace

Mary Grace Cusumano 

Professor Sinowitz

ENG 255

21 April 2020 

Roman Holiday (1953) and the Disappointment of an Ending

Nothing fulfills my heart more than watching a romantic comedy and seeing the couple finally end up together. I truly am a sucker for romantic comedies and overly express way too much of my emotions while watching these films. I invest my whole heart into the couple and act like I know them personally. Through my investment in the couple, I smile when they have their moments, but I also will get sad when they go through a challenge as a couple. From my experience watching romantic comedies, I tell myself that the couple is going to make it out in the end since that usually ends up being the case. However, in the film Roman Holiday (1953), it is certainly not the case. Princess Ann (Audrey Hepburn) and Joe Bradley (Gregory Peck) do not make it out in the end as a couple. As the audience, we are left until the final seconds of the movie with hope that Joe will decide that he has made the wrong decision and go back to marry Princess Ann. But why did I think that Princess Ann and Bradley were going to end up together? It is obvious that their lives are completely different, but due to our nature as an audience, we always have that feeling that the couple will be with each other. Why did director William Wyler decide to end the film this way knowing that it will disrupt the original pattern of the romantic comedy genre? Through this unconventional ending, Roman Holiday ultimately disappoints the audience.  

            In Tamar Jeffers McDonald’s Romantic Comedy: Boy Meets Girl Genre, Roman Holiday is labeled as a screwball comedy. Some characteristics of a screwball comedy are reverse class snobbery, a major inversion or subversion of the character’s normality, role play, and masquerade (McDonald, 22). In the film, Hepburn’s role masquerades herself to be a random woman on the streets of Rome instead of Princess Ann. She is able to connect herself with Bradley through being passed out on the street from medicine that is supposed to help her sleep. Bradley gets her into a cab, takes her to his apartment, and makes her sleep on an uncomfortable couch. From this point, he has no clue that this woman is Princess Ann. The transformation of Hepburn’s role allows for this connection between them to happen because social class and wealth do not play a role. We can see this through Princess Ann’s dependence on Bradley, who is way below her standards and status by being a news reporter. Princess Ann and Bradley are freely allowed to have fun through their adventures around Rome. The reverse class snobbery happens when Bradley shows Princess Ann around the city. He gives her a “real” experience and not one that needs to be extravagant. Princess Ann leans on Bradley the most during this time because she just wants to have a normal experience with a normal person. 

            In addition to masquerade, another key part of screwball comedies is the tensions being built up throughout the entire movie of when the couple will finally have sex. In Roman Holiday, there is no touching, but there is more violence. The violence and banter between Princess Ann and Bradley allows the audience to insinuate that there is chemistry there and something is bound to happen. However, not having Bradley and Princess Ann end up together came as a surprise to the audience since the tension was never set free from the two. For example, while riding around the city, Princess Ann latches on tight to Bradley on the scooter. She then rests her head on his shoulder. The extreme long shot of them riding on the scooter around Rome displays the romantic setting, and it also demonstrates how their love and admiration for each other is flourishing throughout their adventure. It suggests that they are equals at this moment because she is happy to be with him despite his status as a reporter and not a royal. The panning of the camera shows how much they are enjoying each other’s company because of their great chemistry on screen. 

            When Princess Ann finally gets caught from running away, she has to leave Bradley and return to her princess duties. Bradley is also dealing with a conflict. As a news reporter, he has the evidence with pictures to write the perfect story on the royals and make a lot of money. Yet, during the press conference, when Princess Ann realizes that Bradley is a reporter, he surprises all of us (me, especially) by giving her back the pictures that could have damaged her life. This is a heartwarming moment, but as a viewer I wanted more. I wanted Bradley to turn around and run to Princess Ann, I wanted them to kiss, and I wanted more closure for them as a couple because that is how invested I was in the beginning. However, I think by having Bradley give the photos to Princess Ann was the moment of closure that director William Wyler was trying to give the audience. 

The moments of Princess Ann and Bradley scootering around Rome together represent a “Green World” experience for them. In Northrop Frye’s “The Argument of the Comedy,” he says, “The green world suggests an original golden age which the normal world has usurped and which makes us wonder if it is not the normal world that is real” (Frye, 99). In other words, this sense of isolation in nature is necessary for love to happen. Princess Ann and Bradley are in their own little world roaming around the city of Rome, especially for Princess Ann because she is not worrying about any of her responsibilities. She is participating in activities that are clearly the opposite of her “normal” and spending time with a man she barely knows. This Green World experience is what is allowing them to be together, which is something that I always tend to forget about while watching couples in films. As a viewer, I imagine this experience for Princess Ann and Bradley as normal, but this is the fantasy idea that romantic comedies always want viewers to believe. It is also something that I always get sucked into. Even though the ending is disappointing, William Wyler is providing us with the best possible outcome there could be in terms of these circumstances. Even though this outcome is frustrating and makes us sad, we have to remember to be realistic and recognize that the Princess is not going to marry someone as normal as Bradley.