That’s kind of like choosing your favorite child (I have three) – impossible!
However, I’ll start with Roman Holiday. Like everyone, I was wowed from the second I saw Audrey as Princess Ann. I was born a decade after the movie came out and have now watched it over thirty times.
But is it my favorite?
No, not for understanding who Audrey Hepburn was and her substance as an actress.
First, my favorite look of Audrey’s were at the beginning of Funny Face as the bookstore maven Jo – bangs and all. Then there’s her reappearance as Paris-educated Sabrina in the movie of the same title. That dress! My other favorite look of Audrey’s is in How to Steal a Million. Her hairstyle there is called Coupe Infante ’66 and I actually write about it in Second Act. That’s how dazzling it is.
Then there’s Two for the Road, which mirrors who Audrey was as a person in the mid-sixties – going through personal strife, mature, and at the peak of her powers. The avant-garde film bounces around time periods (like my novel) and shows the ups and downs of life. Audrey is tremendous in it and so is Albert Finney.
That doesn’t mean it’s her best acting performance, in my opinion. That would be The Nun’s Story. Audrey uses emotions as much as words in that film and much of her face is obscured by her nun’s habit throughout much of the film. The script by Robert Anderson is top-notch and the two of them had a deep relationship I write about in Second Act. Anderson also wrote a novel called After that is a thinly-disguised expose of their relationship. It’s worth your time to find and read it.
So, which of Audrey’s movies is my favorite?
It depends on the day.