Rome-ance

Gregory Peck returns to his Roman Holiday in the film adaptation of The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit, and it’s just as romantic. Despite the horrors of war, Tom manages to find a picturesque landscape full of exotic women in both versions, though. The exotic nature of Rome in both versions shows American fascination with Europe following World War Two, however the film glosses over some of the grittier facts. The novel allows Maria to express how her family dies in front of her eyes, while their death is simply mentioned in the film. Additionally, the villa in the movie is partially destroyed, but only to give a lovely view of a beautiful town; it does not show Tom breaking apart a piano and destroying the riches of the house to build a fire.

However, in both versions Rome acts as a sort of time out of time--not only an escape from the war, but an escape from life itself. Tom and Maria live totally contingently, with no social obligations. In contrast, Tom’s life with Betsy is fraught with concerns over money and children. Both versions also seem to allow Tom this period of romance outside of marriage, giving men the space to sow their wild oats without major repercussions. Tom’s experience in Rome is totally outside of his peace time life; even when he decides to “do the right thing” and help out Maria and his son he never meets or speaks to them, delegating that responsibility to Judge Bernstein instead. Rome becomes almost a mythical place in the novel and the movie. It is essential that it does not pose any actual threat to the nuclear family of the 1950s, instead it proves Tom’s virility and provides a needed respite from the horrors of war.