MovieChat Forums > Roman Holiday (1953) Discussion > the ENDING

the ENDING

posted 17 years ago by chinkay13
44 replies | jump to latest

erh. dont laugh,i cried. i love this movie and i shun you if you didnt fall in love with it as well.

at the end, of course i asked " WHY? Why cant they be together" and ect. but after a while i appreciated it

it was perfect though, his long stride down the hall and im just thinking of all the options, hoping she comes back or SOMETHING. and then slowly 'the end' drifts on the screen.
it left me dazzled.
and thats what makes a good movie good. a classic :]

one thing though. in trivia it says they didnt want it in color because they didnt want the romantic rome to upstage the characters? i think its reasonable you know, but i would have liked to see the city come to life. it was killing me esp. when she used her dollar and a half to do all that stuff >was too cute. i just wanted to add that :P

[–] JellyFish19 14 years ago

I was hoping that they would get a chance at least to talk one last time, but it never happened. I guess that is why the ending is so great.

[–] kitsyodom 14 years ago

The ending is perfect. I love the way they talk to each other while talking to the whole room. Perfect.

[–] luka_pucha 13 years ago

I agree, it's just so sweet. Beautifully shot as well.

[–] 13 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Percivalx 13 years ago

Me watching the ending --->

"Let us be crooked but never common"

[–] emvan 10 years ago

Loved the ending. The scene before Anna leaves is so perfect that you know she won't come running to him, and so does Joe, but you and he are both hoping anyway. And of course the ending has already been tipped off by the great line to the extent of "Life isn't always what you want" or whatever (amazed that it's not in Memorable Quotes).

Two thoughts:

1) They aren't together, but the experience has both changed them permanently, and for the better.

2) My first thought as the credits roll: once Anna is Queen, she can do whatever she wants! I do think they see each other again.

Prepare your minds for a new scale of physical, scientific values, gentlemen.

[–] Excaliburan 13 years ago

No, no don't shun me. I almost teared up at the ending. I laughed, cried, felt angry. It was up and down. Of course I bemoaned how come Princess Ann didn't go with Joe to a freer world. She clearly enjoyed her time with Joe and his camera friend. She didn't have any restrictions, but I knew it wasn't meant to be.

This is definitely a film you have to age with. After I saw this a second or third time, I realized why they couldn't be together.

I always wondered if the Princess and Joe stayed in touch somehow without letting anyone know. Just because the movie ended didn't mean the characters did. I like to pretend the movie continues without an audience. It's stupid, I know.

Perry: "You, stop multiplying!"

[–] turtletommy 13 years ago

The princess did have an important restriction in the sense of honoring her duty to her country as a member of their royalty. For all we know she was next in line to be queen. So there was always the built-in pressure knowing she would never be totally in control of her own life. Anyone involved with her wouldn't be totally in control of theirs. Thus the dilemma for her.

[–] Excaliburan 13 years ago

Oh, I know that but I meant when she was with Joe and the camera guy, she wasn't daunted by any rules. She was "free" to do what she wanted. I just knew it wasn't going to last because of her royal responsibilities.

Perry: "You, stop multiplying!"

[–] ceebeegee 12 years ago

She WAS next in line, the Ambassador says "I must remind you, the Princess is the direct heir to the throne."

[–] Eudocia508 13 years ago

I sobbed! Loved it! I love to cry during movies. I saw it a long time ago and couldn't remember the end but I started realizing it had to end that way. It was beautiful and poignant. It would have been ridiculous, I think, if she just ran off with him. That would have been what a recent Hollywood movie would do, imo.

I had no problem at all with the black and white. It says in the information here that because Wyler insisted on filming on location, the studio had to cut costs--having an unknown actress in Audrey Hepburn and not filming in technicolor--then of course further down in the information, it contradicts that by saying Rome would be upstaged! LOL What can you believe on this site, anyway?

Classic, indeed. Gregory was perfectly cast--so glad they didn't go with Cary Grant.

[–] JaraPT 13 years ago

Also, the acting is perfect. The scene where Ann looks at Joe, they both communicate without any words, just with their expressions. They know that it has to be like this, their body language is perfect...I can´t even describe how much I love the whole thing.

[–] princesstinymeat 13 years ago

I just watched Roman Holiday for the first time, and I cried for a solid five minutes after the credits rolled. Good film. Perfect ending.

[–] snsurone 12 years ago

How about this scenario:

Shortly before Princess Ann is due to return home, a bloodless coup is staged, and the monarchy is replaced by a democracy.
Ann, stripped of her royal titles, is free to return to Joe and a simple, happy life.

A bit far-fetched, true, but not totally implausible.

[–] hka-3 12 years ago

That works.....and they lived happily ever after.

Cheese fries...next time.

[–] rochelle-rochelle 12 years ago

I cry too at the ending. Each time I watch it, I keep thinking she's going to run down the court after him and end the movie in a dramatic kiss and embrace with a leg in the air. But she doesn't return. He's hoping it. We are hoping it. We LONG for it and are quite surprised she doesn't. That is what makes it one of the best endings in romantic film history. It's the only way it could have ended.

Is it okay if I do it for mom and not you? 'Cause I really like mom.

[–] steven_torrey 11 years ago

The movie's title says it all: ROMAN HOLIDAY... As an unwilling princess, Ann takes time off from her responsibilites; she does things she sees others (commoners) do, and even enjoys the pleasures of commoners (Peck and Albert). But by the end of the movie she returns acknowledging her responsibilites as a Princess innline to the throne and knows part of that responsibility to duty is that she cannot marry a commoner, she cannot fall in love with a commoner--and that is as much a responsibility, a duty, as are her tasks as princess. She assumes all of this willingly...

People have suggested the story line reflects Princess Margaret and Townsend; in reality, the story line reflects Edward and Mrs. Simpson--where clearly Edward had failed in assuming his princely duties in rejecting an American divorcee... This failure was recognized even as the drama of Edward and Mrs. Simpson unfolded in 1938...