Vitals

Eddie Albert as Irving Radovich, expatriate newspaper photographer

Rome, Summer 1952

Film: Roman Holiday
Release Date: August 27, 1953
Director: William Wyler
Costume Designer: Edith Head

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

It’s not easy to command attention when sharing the screen with icons like Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn, but Eddie Albert shined so brightly alongside them in Roman Holiday that the actor’s supporting performance received one of the film’s ten Academy Award nominations!

Filmed entirely in Rome, this seminal romantic comedy stars Peck opposite Hepburn in her star-making turn as Ann, the sheltered Crown Princess who crosses paths with Peck’s opportunistic reporter Joe Bradley. Sensing the chance to save his job through an exclusive interview with the princess, Joe pretends not to recognize her and offers her a tour of Rome. Joe also calls his photographer friend Irving Radovich (Albert) to covertly document their excursions with his equipment ranging from a traditional camera to a micro-lens hidden in a cigarette lighter. Hoping to cover her identity with the two men who secretly know it already, Ann introduces herself as Anya Smith—so our streetwise shutterbug nicknames her “Smitty”.

Born 120 years ago today on April 22, 1906, Albert’s youthful appearance with his trim beard and casual clothes is so deceiving that you’d hardly know the actor was almost exactly a decade older than his co-star Peck! Though Albert didn’t secure an Oscar, the film ultimately won three—recognizing Hepburn’s breakthrough lead performance, then-blacklisted Dalton Trumbo’s story, and the prolific Edith Head’s costume design.

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What’d He Wear?

Edith Head’s Academy Award for Best Costume Design was almost certainly informed by the exquisite dresses and daily attire she developed for Audrey Hepburn’s own Oscar-winning performance as Princess Ann, but she also showed remarkable foresight in dressing Eddie Albert as Joe’s stalwart friend and photographer—his unstructured jacket, striped ringer tee, and high-waisted trousers still a smart casual ensemble more than seventy years after Roman Holiday was released. The outfit reinforces Irving’s laidback personality and back-of-house role as a photojournalist as opposed to reporter Joe in Gregory Peck’s characteristically well-tailored Savile Row suits.

Cut comfortably roomy like a chore coat, Irving’s unstructured and unlined jacket is made from a dark cotton gabardine that reflects a subtle sheen under the Roman summer sun. Though Irving is undoubtedly American, the relaxed look feels appropriately continental and would be recalled with the blue linen Connolly jacket that Daniel Craig wore when his James Bond returned to Italy in his final 007 movie, No Time to Die.

Irving’s thigh-length jacket has a wide, sharp collar notched above the deep revers like an M1941 field jacket, tapering to a three-button front that Irving wears open. Short pleats behind the shoulders and side vents at the hem maintain the wider range of motion that would help a photographer capture the right angles while on the move, restrained under the arms by short, non-adjustable straps built in against each side. The set-in sleeves are finished with short-vented cuffs fastened with a single button, which Irving keeps buttoned while still rolling back each cuff. The large, open-top patch pockets positioned over each hip would be an asset for a photographer like Irving who needs quick access to backup film and camera equipment.

Even before younger screen rebels like Marlon Brando in The Wild One (1953) and James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause (1955) transformed the T-shirt from an undergarment into a cultural statement, Eddie Albert was already wearing one with clear intent in Roman Holiday. Irving’s short-sleeve cotton tee—striped in narrow, closely spaced dark bands on white and finished with a dark ringer crew-neck—isn’t treated as an undershirt at all, but as a complete, self-sufficient top. The longer sleeves, extending well over the biceps almost to the elbows, reinforce that this isn’t underwear peeking out but a deliberately worn shirt, years ahead of its time.

Irving’s smartly proportioned trousers are key to the outfit’s successful staying power. Cut with an elegantly draped long rise to Albert’s natural waist, these mid-colored gabardine trousers follow contemporary menswear design with their long and deep double reverse-facing pleats and a full fit straight to the legs to the bottoms, which Irving self-cuffs to keep clear of his low, airy sandals. The trousers are styled with side pockets, jetted back pockets, and belt loops, through which Irving wears a dark leather belt that closes through a single-prong buckle.

Irving completes his look with fisherman sandals that harmonize with the outfit’s presentable informality while also keeping his feet cool… though unfortunately more vulnerable to pain when Joe steps on his feet to silence him during his introduction to Princess Ann. These leather sandals have fuller coverage than most modern men’s sandals—especially when compared to simple slides or flip-flops. Likely crafted with dark-brown leather, each sandal has broad straps caged over the toes and heel, secured by a narrow instep strap fastening through a small single-prong buckle.

While often grouped under the umbrella of “fisherman sandals”, this more structured design—with its enclosed heel and fuller upper—leans closer to the European tradition of closed fisherman shoes, even recalling the sturdy tropical footwear issued to British colonial troops. In this context, they add a slightly Bohemian, Continental ease to Irving’s otherwise tailored appearance.

Though tool watches were gaining slow momentum during the early ’50s, men’s wristwatches were still predominantly uniform in style. So even with his less formal duds, Irving wears a square-cased dress watch with a light-colored square dial, secured to his left wrist on a matching metal expanding band comprised of narrow diagonal links.

Director William Wyler had initially wished to film Roman Holiday in color, but the expenses associated with doing so while on location in Italy restrained the budget to black-and-white photography. Though there remain some extant full-color stills of Peck and Hepburn on set, the colors of Albert’s wardrobe are likely lost to history. (If I had to guess, I’d say the jacket was a dark blue and the trousers a khaki tan.)

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The Car

When in Rome, Irving drives as the Romans do in the miniscule 1948 Fiat 500 B convertible. Known as the “Topolino” (Italian for “little mouse”), this subcompact Italian city sedan was designed by Oreste Lardone and Dante Giacosa. Through the Fiat 500’s full production timeline from 1936 to 1955, it was one of the smallest mass-produced cars in the world.

Fiat launched the rear-wheel-drive 500 series in 1936 with the Model A, powered by a side-valve, water-cooled 569cc four-cylinder engine mated to a four-speed synchromesh manual transmission. Sharing a wheelbase of 78.7 inches (2000 mm), the two-door body styles included a closed-roof saloon, a convertible with a folding roof, and a van.

The Model A was replaced by the nearly identical Model B for the 1948 and ’49 model years, which narrowly increased the I4 engine’s output from 13 up to a mighty 16 horsepower. In addition to the previous body styles offered, the Model B added a three-door “Giardiniera” estate wagon that would become a fixture of the 500 series; Irving’s two-door 500 B is a convertible model with the folding ragtop roof, which he rolls back to covertly photograph Joe and Smitty.

After only two years of Model B production, the 500 shifted to its final iteration with the Model C, which restyled the body but maintained the same engine as the Model B. Production on the 500 C ended after the 1955 model year, when Fiat retooled. The marque has twice relaunched the 500 nameplate, first as the two-cylinder “Nuova” successor model from 1957 through 1975 and then again successfully updated for the 2007 model year.

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How to Get the Look

With his beatnik beard, strapped sandals, and striped ringer tee tucked into high-waisted khakis, Irving Radovich would look just as expected in 21st century Red Hook as in 1950s Rome—if not moreso.

• Dark cotton gabardine thigh-length chore jacket with wide-pointed collar, three-button front, squared open-top patch hip pockets, single-button vented cuffs, and side vents
• Narrow horizontal-striped short-sleeved ringer T-shirt
• Mid-colored gabardine double reverse-pleated trousers with belt loops, side pockets, jetted back pockets, and self-cuffed bottoms
• Dark leather belt with squared metal single-prong buckle
• Dark-brown leather fisherman sandals with side-buckle straps and covered heels
• Square-cased dress watch on expanding band

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Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie.

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The Quote

Joe, we can’t go running around town with a hot princess!