Daily Dialogue — August 27, 2018

Princess Ann: I could do some of the things I’ve always wanted to.
Joe Bradley: Like what?
Princess Ann: Oh, you can’t imagine. I’d like to do just whatever I like the whole day long.
Joe Bradley: Things like having a haircut, eating gelato…
Princess Ann: Yes, and I’d like to sit at a sidewalk cafe, and look in shop windows, walk in the rain, have fun, and maybe some excitement. It doesn’t seem much to you, does it?
Joe Bradley: It’s great. Tell you what? Why don’t we do all those things? Together?
Princess Ann: Don’t you have to work?
Joe Bradley: Work? Nah. Today’s going to be a holiday.

— Roman Holiday (1953), screenplay by Ian McLellan Hunter and John Dighton and Dalton Trumbo (originally uncredited), story by Dalton Trumbo (originally uncredited)

The Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Ice Cream.

Trivia: The original writer, Dalton Trumbo, was blacklisted as one of the legendary Hollywood Ten, and therefore could not receive credit for the screenplay, even when it won the Academy Award for Best Motion Picture Story. Instead, his friend, Ian McLellan Hunter, one of the writers of the final screenplay, took credit for the original story and accepted the Oscar. Hunter did, however, pass on the $50,000 payment he received for the job on to Trumbo. Trumbo’s wife, Cleo, was finally presented with the award in 1993, long after his death in 1976. The Oscar she received was actually a second one, because Hunter’s son wouldn’t give up his father’s Oscar. Thus, two awards for Best Motion Picture Story of 1953 exist. The story credit was corrected to credit Trumbo when the restored edition was released in 2002, nearly fifty years after the original release.

Dialogue On Dialogue: Gelato plays a small role in a big moment here as Joe convinces Princess Ann to take the afternoon and have a “holiday.”