Vespas in Film and Other Media
The first fictional character highly associated with Vespa to have mass public attention was American newspaper reporter Joe Bradley (Gregory Peck), in the Hollywood film Roman Holiday. Arguably, the original attention was for Audrey Hepburn's character who as a passenger rode in Italian side-saddle style. The Vespa featured highly in publicity for the film, and in the original poster, assisting greatly in marketing of the brand globally.
Other media featuring Vespa riders have included:
Films
This is a list of films that feature a Vespa for more than one sequence[59][60]:
- Absolute Beginners - Directed by Julien Temple, starring David Bowie and Patsy Kensit
- American Graffiti - Directed by George Lucas, starring Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard and Harrison Ford. The character Toad crashes it into a vending machine in the opening minutes.
- American Pie - Directed by Paul Weitz, starring Mena Suvari. Ridden by Paul Finch
- An American in Paris - Directed by Vincente Minnelli, starring Gene Kelly
- Alfie - both the original with Michael Caine and the re-make with Jude Law[61]
- Austin Powers - Directed by Jay Roach, starring Mike Myers and Elizabeth Hurley
- Avanti! - Directed by Billy Wilder, starring Jack Lemmon and Juliet Mills-Both the Vespa and Ape are in this film
- Barcelona - Directed by Whit Stillman, starring Taylor Nichols and Chris Eigeman-They are seen throughout the film on the street, and most notably one of the tradeshow girls is riding one
- "Beyond the Sea - Kevin Spacey takes Kate Bosworth for a ride on a Vespa to escape the press. In what appears to be the result of popping the clutch, Spacey pops a small wheelie on the Vespa.
- Bob the Butler - Ridden by Bob
- Bourne Ultimatum, The - Directed by Paul Greengrass, starring Matt Damon and Julia Stiles-A Vespa is used for transportation around Tangier, Morocco by a CIA-contracted asset. It is later used to deliver a bomb
- Breaking and Entering - Directed by Anthony Minghella, starring Jude Law and Juliette Binoche- Ridden by Ray Winstone and Rafi Gavron
- Caro diario and Palombella rossa - Directed by and starring Nanni Moretti
- Chak De India - Shahrukh Khan - Coach of Indian Women's hockey Team
- Chasing Liberty - Ben Calder (played by Matthew Goode) rode around Prague with Mandy Moore.
- The Conversation - Directed by Francis Ford Coppola, starring Gene Hackman and Harrison Ford
- The Darjeeling Limited - Directed by Wes Anderson, starring Owen Wilson, Jason Schwartzman, and Adrien Brody-Vespa Ape
- Dick Smart, Agent 2007 - features a flying and submersible Vespa, termed by the factory as the Vespa Alpha
- Empire Records - Ridden by Debra, and is sold to raise money to save the store.
- Encino Man - Ridden by Stoney
- Europa di notte (Europe by Night) - Directed by Alessandro Blasetti, starring Domenico Modugno
- Fool's Gold - Ridden by Matthew Mcconaughey & Kate Hudsons characters
- Jessica - Ridden by Angie Dickenson's character
- L'avventura - Directed by Michelangelo Antonioni, starring Gabriele Ferzetti and Monica Vitti
- La dolce vita - Directed by Federico Fellini, starring Marcello Mastroianni and Anita Ekberg
- Le Notti di Cabiria (The Nights of Cabiria) - Directed by Federico Fellini, starring Giulietta Masina-Two Vespa faro basso models are featured in a key scene
- Little Man Tate - Vespa allstate ridden by Harry Connick Jr.
- Lizzie McGuire - Hilary Duff's character Lizzie rode one with Paolo in Rome in The Lizzie McGuire Movie
- The Happy Road - Directed by and starring Gene Kelly
- Il Bidone (The Swindle) - Directed by Federico Fellini, starring Broderick Crawford and Giulietta Masini
- The Interpreter - starring Nicole Kidman [4]
- Of Love and Shadows - Directed by Betty Kaplan, starring Antonio Banderas and Jennifer Connelly
- Over the Hedge Ridden by the pizza deliverer.
- Professor Nachtfalter - Directed by Rolf Meyer and starring Johannes Heesters and Gisela Schmidting, it was the first movie to feature the Vespa
- Quadrophenia - Directed by Franc Roddam: musical with songs by The Who, starring Sting
- Revenge of the Pink Panther - with Peter Sellers
- Roman Holiday - with Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn
- Rome Adventure/Lovers Must Learn- Directed by Delmer Daves, starring Troy Donahue, Angie Dickinson and Suzanne Pleshette [62]
- Runaway Jury - Rachel Weisz character Marlee rides an ET4
- The Russian Dolls[63] - Cédric Klapisch, starring Romain Duris.
- The Spy Who Loved Me - Ridden by Vivienne Michel
- Saved! - staring Mandy Moore and Mary Louise Parker. Ridden by Patrick.
- Saving Silverman - Ridden by Darren Silverman
- Spaceballs - the character Princess Vespa of Druidia is named after the Vespa scooter
- The Talented Mr. Ripley - Starring Matt Damon and Gwyneth Paltrow[64]
- The World of Suzie Wong - Directed by Richard Quine, starring William Holden and Nancy Kwan
Books
- Araña - Ridden by Anya Corazon a Marvel Comics character
- Gintama - Ridden by Sakata Gintoki
- Glamorama' - Ridden by Victor Ward
- Honey and Clover - Ridden by Mayama Takumi
- Mastermind Excello - Ridden by Amadeus Cho, a Marvel Comics character
- The Short Reign of Pippin IV - Ridden by Pippin Héristal
- The Spy Who Loved Me - Ridden by Vivienne Michel
- The Stand Ridden by Nadine Cross
- Fooly Cooly -Driven by secondary character
TV Shows
- Doctor Who - Ridden by the Tenth Doctor (later given to Tommy Connolly)
- FLCL - Ridden by Haruhara Haruko
- Gintama - Ridden by Sakata Gintoki
- Gossip Girl - Ridden by Dan Humphrey and Vanessa Abrams
- Haibane Renmei - Ridden by Reki
- Home and Away - Ridden by Ric Dalby (Mark Furze) and Matilda Hunter (Indiana Evans)
- Kim Possible - Ridden by Ron Stoppable
- Meteor Garden - Ridden by Shan Cai
- Onegai Twins - Ridden by Maiku Kamashiro
- Scrubs - Ridden by J.D.
- The OC - Ridden by Zach Stevens
- Teen Titans - Mad Mod, and for half an episode Beast Boy
- The Simpsons Season 17 Episode 7 "The Last of the Red Hat Mamas" - Ridden by Milhouse Van Houten and Lisa Simpson
- Witch Hunter Robin - Ridden by Robin Sena
