Roman Holiday: Centennial Collection (William Wyler, 1953)

Region 1 Paramount (USA)
NTSC, 1.33:1
118 minutes
Audio: DD 2.0 mono English, DD 2.0 mono French, DD 2.0 mono Spanish
Subtitles: Optional English, French, Spanish, English Closed Captions
Extras: preview for It’s a Wonderful Life; Audrey Hepburn: The Paramount Years; Remembering Audrey; Dalton Trumbo: From A-List to Blacklist; Restoring Roman Holiday; Behind the Gates: Costumers; Paramount in the ‘50s; theatrical trailers; galleries

Released: 11 November 2008
slim double keepcase

Paramount Pictures is re-releasing some of its beloved catalog titles in new Centennial Collection editions to celebrate the studio’s 100th birthday. Roman Holiday carries the Number 2 on its spine.

With each passing year, people like to lament that movies aren’t as good as “the classics”. What people don’t seem to understand is that they only remember old movies that they like and that, for any given year, bad movies outnumber good movies by at least a 100:1 ratio. Furthermore, people are frequently disappointed by old movies that they re-visit. For example, during a screening-and-interview session with The New York Times, Harvey Weinstein kept talking about what Exodus got wrong even though the movie was his pick for the occasion.

I’d imagine that Roman Holiday will be a similar (unpleasant) surprise for many viewers. Oh, most professed “fans” will not admit it verbally, but just look at their body language while they’re watching the movie. Droopy eyelids, crossed arms, slouched postures, and squirming bottoms are good indicators of boredom and disinterest. To be fair, Roman Holiday has a pair of winning leads, and there are several charming moments (such as when Gregory Peck pretends that his hand is being eaten by the Mouth of Truth). However, the movie also has several dead spots and is too long by about 15 minutes.

Video:
The 1.33:1 black-and-white image looks very good, especially for a movie made prior to 1980. There is some print damage, and the “soft focus” close-ups of Audrey Hepburn’s face can look paradoxically harsh. Otherwise, sharpness and detail are excellent for an SD DVD.

Audio:
It appears that you get the same DD 2.0 mono English audio track that was on the previous Special Collector’s Edition DVD. The audio exhibits the limitations of the movie’s time--thinness, harshness, distortions, and wobbly music cues.

Extras:
--Disc 1--
You get a preview for It’s a Wonderful Life, which is already available as a two-disc special edition from Paramount.

--Disc 2--
“Audrey Hepburn: The Paramount Years” is a celebration of the actress’s time at the studio. “Remembering Audrey” features interviews with the actress’s family members and friends. “Rome With a Princess” visits some of the movie’s locations and other famous locales in Rome. “Dalton Trumbo: From A-List to Blacklist” covers a screenwriter’s misfortunes during the Hollywood witch hunt of the 1940s/1950s. “Restoring Roman Holiday” shows viewers some of the work that was done to prepare the movie for DVD. Also, there are four photo galleries and three trailers.

--Miscellaneous--
The Centennial Collection DVD edition of Roman Holiday is a very good presentation of the movie, but you’ll have to keep the Special Collector’s Edition DVD to be able to watch the “Remembering Roman Holiday” making-of featurette.

The discs are kept in a slim double keepcase. You also get a booklet and a cardboard slipcover.