Review of Roman Holiday (1953) by Pat D — 01 Dec 2015

Terrific debut of the international beauty Audrey Hepburn to filmdom by director/producer William Wyler in 1953. Amazingly ahead of its time, considering that virtually the entire movie was shot in Rome and co-starred the popular Gregory Peck as a bumbling newspaper man on assignment in Rome when he accidentally finds someone he thinks has just had too much to drink near a park(Hepburn), but in reality she is a princess of a mythical nation doing a world tour and she is so "scheduled" out that she sneaks out of the palace for a night of fun after faking sickness to her handmaiden who had summoned a doctor giving her an experimental sleep aid The newspaper man is nea being fired for his ineptness until he concocts a plan to have her see the entire city and have his photographer friend(Eddie Albert) snap the proceedings where they can sell the valuable photos.

It is a virtual travelogue for Rome and even in black and white, it is spectacular. A must see classic. Thanks to TCM for bringing itg back to the theater on 12/1 15!