ROMAN HOLIDAY (1953) B/W 118m dir: William Wyler

w/Gregory Peck, Audrey Hepburn, Eddie Albert, Hartley Power, Laura Solari, Harcourt Williams, Margaret Rawlings, Tullio Carminati, Paolo Carlini, Claudio Ermelli

Comedy delight about a newspaperman in Rome (Peck) who meets and falls for a lovely princess (Hepburn) who has escaped her protective coterie while on holiday in Rome and is experiencing life on her own for the first time.

From The Movie Guide: "Delicious, and delectable Audrey's Oscar-winning American debut. But not such a difficult feat with William Wyler backing you up. The secret is in the way Wyler, who had been away from comedy for about 18 years, builds an atmosphere of charm that leads us to her. And it didn't hurt Hepburn at all that she came along during a time when Monroe's sex doll influence had Hollywood brimming over with sex bombs from all over; or that Wyler cast her opposite dependable, protective Gregory Peck. ...

"The film also has enough adventure and excitement to satisfy, and the faintly bittersweet note of the ending is made deliciously palatable by its artistic rightness. ROMAN HOLIDAY inspired several imitations, but none came close to the charming insouciance of the original."

In addition to Hepburn's Best Actress Academy Award, a Best Story Oscar was awarded to Ian McLellen Hunter, standing in for the blacklisted Dalton Trumbo, and the film also won for Best Costume Design (Edith Head). It received additional nominations for Best Picture, Director, Supporting Actor (Albert), Screenplay (Hunter, John Dighton), Cinematography (Frank Planer, Henry Alekan), Editing (Robert Swink), and Art Direction (Hal Pereira, Walter Tyler).