The Release of Roman Holiday

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Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday (1953)

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Exactly seventy years ago, on August 20th 1953, the movie Roman Holiday, starring Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck, was first released in Venice of all places. 

The movie also stars a large circular slab of marble, popularly known as the Bocca della Verità (Mouth of Truth), which stands in the portico of the church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin.

The disc depicts a head, which has lobster-claws in its hair and dolphins in its beard. It may represent Oceanus, the god of the underground river that was believed to encircle the world.

According to a popular medieval legend, it will bite off the hand of any liar who places their hand in its mouth, or, anyone who utters a lie while their hand is in the mouth.

There is a famous scene in the movie in which Joe Bradley, a reporter played by Peck, takes Ann, a princess in disguise played by Hepburn, to see the 'Mouth of Truth'. There he plays an amusing prank. 

Seventy years later, thousands of people visit the church each day to have their picture taken, at Rome's 'Mouth of Truth'.   

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Santa Maria in Cosmedin

Bocca della Verità (Mouth of Truth)