Perfect for gift-giving or for enjoying any time, Paramount has released three great classic movies as The Centennial Collection: Roman Holiday, Sunset Boulevard, and Sabrina.

Roman Holiday stars Audrey Hepburn in her first starring role. Only 24 years old, she carried the movie with a sweetness and charm that captured the hearts of millions of people. Hepburn plays Princess Ann (we’re never quite sure which country she’s from), a young royal who is enduring a grueling tour of European nations. Tired of her schedule and acting a bit bratty, she is given an injection to help her sleep. Instead, she slips out of her room and goes out into the city to explore.  The drug takes effect while she’s out, and reporter Joe Bradley (Gregory Peck) discovers her asleep on a street bench. Believing she’s inebriated, and being a gentleman, he tries to deliver her safely to her home. That plan fails and, being a gentleman, Bradley arranges for the young stranger (he doesn’t learn she’s the missing princess until the next scene) to sleep on the sofa in his small, one-room apartment.

When Bradley realizes who she is the next day, he takes her on a holiday through the sights and pleasures of Rome while his photographer buddy Irving Radovich (Eddie Albert) relentlessly shoots pictures with all sorts of camouflaged gadgets. Joe and “Anya” bask in the joys of the lush city, from lunch at a sidewalk cafe (where the princess also enjoys her first cigarette) to a wild escapade on a runaway motorcycle, to a romantic moonlit dance by a lake. William Wyler directed this Oscar-winning masterpiece, nominated for, among other awards, Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor for Eddie Albert, and winner for Audrey Hepburn as the year’s Best Actress for her brilliant, utterly charming princess.

Bonus Features on the DVD include the documentary “Remembering ROMAN HOLIDAY”, which surprised me with all the people who were involved and dropped out of the production of the movie. “Edith Head: The Paramount Years” is a short biography of the famous and talented fashion designer. “Restoring ROMAN HOLIDAY” shows us a number of before and after shots - this is a VERY clean print. There is also a trio of theatrical trailers and a stills photo gallery.

A year after Roman Holiday, Audrey Hepburn starred in Sabrina, a role created for her. She plays the daughter of a chauffeur who is madly in love with David (played by William Holden), the son of her father’s employer. Unfortunately, David is something of a reckless playboy who shows no interest in Sabrina. To help her forget her heartbreak, her father sends her off to Paris to cooking school, and when she returns, she has transformed into a sophisticated woman.

Now it’s David’s turn to notice Sabrina, but he is engaged to another woman. David’s brother Linus (Humphrey Bogart) has arranged David’s marriage as part of a business merger, and so to keep David on track, Linus decides to woo Sabrina himself. The inevitable love triangle ensues. The DVD has just one documentary.

Directed by Billy Wilder and starring William Holden and Gloria Swanson, Sunset Boulevard tells the story of Joe Gillis (Holden), a screenwriter having little success who is trying to get away from a pair of repo men one afternoon when he pulls into the driveway of a seedy mansion. The mansion owner turns out to be Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson), a forgotten silent movie luminary whose brilliant acting career withered with the coming of “talkies”. Norma lives in the past with the help of her devoted (and kind of scary) butler Max, played by director Erich von Stroheim.

Norma dreams of making a comeback in a remake of “Salome” to be directed by her old colleague Cecil B. DeMille (as himself), and Joe becomes her literary and romantic gigolo. Sunset Blvd. is one of those great movies that has become a part of popular culture (the line “All right, Mr. DeMille, I’m ready for my close-up,” is widely quoted). Besides a Making-of Documentary, Besides the documentary,the bonus features include two screenplay drafts of an excised opening sequence, explore 1950’s Hollywood with an interactive map and watch the film with audio commentary by a critic and historian.

You can pick all of these movies up on Amazon.com in time for giving as a gift for Christmas or to keep for yourself!

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