Who really wrote Roman holiday?

Roman Holiday is a classic romantic comedy film from the 1950s, directed by William Wyler and starring Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck. The film was widely praised upon its release and has since become a beloved classic, known for its charming performances, witty script, and picturesque locations. However, the story behind the film’s writing is not as well-known as the film itself.

The film’s credited screenwriter was Ian McLellan Hunter, but it was widely known in Hollywood circles that the film’s true author was blacklisted screenwriter Dalton Trumbo. Trumbo was one of the Hollywood Ten, a group of screenwriters and directors who were blacklisted in the 1950s for refusing to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) about their alleged ties to the Communist Party. As a result of the blacklist, Trumbo was unable to work under his own name, and his work was often credited to other writers, who served as “fronts” for his writing.

In the case of Roman Holiday, Trumbo was hired by the film’s producer, Alfred Schumach, to write the film’s screenplay. Trumbo wrote the majority of the film’s screenplay, but Hunter made minor changes and additions to the script before it was filmed.

It wasn’t until the blacklist was lifted in the late 1960s that Trumbo was finally able to receive credit for his work on Roman Holiday. In 1992, Trumbo was posthumously awarded a screenwriting credit for the film, and in 1993, the Writers Guild of America officially credited Trumbo as the film’s sole writer.