A Certain Point of View: Writing, Film and Stuff

1953’s Roman Holiday, which was directed by William Wyler ( Mrs. Miniver, The Best Years of Our Lives ) and written by Dalton Trumbo (who was uncredited at the time), Ian McLellan Hunter and John Dighton, is one of those “high concept” romantic comedies which feature a good cast, great dialogue, good chemistry between the male and female leads (Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn) and a truly romantic setting – in this case, the city of Rome. The story of Roman Holiday is simple:  Princess Ann (Hepburn) is representing her (unnamed) country on a whirlwind goodwill tour of Europe in the early 1950s.  Young, beautiful and stylish, Ann is warmly received at every city on her rigorously-planned itinerary, just as Britain’s then-young Queen Elizabeth II had been when she was representing her father, King George VI, on her own globe-trotting voyages a few years before the movie was made.   News announcer : Paramount News brings you a special coverage of Princess Ann'...

Memphis Belle (1990) On October 12, 1990, Warner Bros. released Michael Caton-Jones’ “Memphis Belle,” a fictionalized account of a U.S. B-17 bomber’s 25 th and final mission over Nazi-occupied Europe in the spring of 1943. Starring Matthew Modine (“Vision Quest”), Tate Donovan (“Argo”), Eric Stoltz (“Mask”), and Sean Astin (“The Lord of the Rings”) and written by Monte Merrick (“Mr. Baseball”), “Memphis Belle” is a throwback to such classic World War II aerial combat films as “Twelve O’Clock High” and “Command Decision.” “Memphis Belle’s” U.S. premiere (it opened in Great Britain on September 7) took place just as American forces were involved in Operation Desert Shield, the biggest deployment of U.S. military might since the Vietnam War. Partly due to the war clouds hovering over the Middle East at the time, the film was not a big hit. It earned $27 million in the U.S.; considering that “Memphis Belle” had a budget of $23 million, it barely broke even in the all-important ...