Paramount Home Medi's Roman Holiday Restored For Blu-ray Under The Paramount Presents Banner on Sept. 15

Paramount Home Media announced its latest addition to its popular “Paramount Presents” line of film restorations being released on Blu-ray.  Joining the likes of Ghost, Pretty in Pink, Flashdance and To Catch a Thief is director William Wyler’s 1953 Best Picture nominee, Roman Holiday.

A newly restored and remastered presentation of this beloved romantic comedy, teaming Gregory Peck with Audrey Hepburn, will be available on Sept. 15.

Nominated for ten Academy Awards, Audrey Hepburn would win for Best Actress, Dalton Trumbo would eventually win the Oscar for his script (he was black listed at the time) and the iconic Edith Head won for Best Costume Design (she received a whopping 28 Oscar nominations during her career, winning 12).   In addition to his Best Picture nomination, Wyler was also nominated for Best Director (during his career he would garner a dozen Oscar nominations … winning Oscar gold for Mrs. Miniver, The Best Years of Our Lives and Ben-Hur).

As with many Hollywood film productions, the original leads were not Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn, but Cary Grant and Elizabeth Taylor.   

Also of note, Wyler had the muscle to overcome the studio’s desire to shoot the film on the lot and instead did all of the film production, including interiors, in Rome, just eight years after the end of World War II.  

It turned out to be one of the best “tourist promotions” for visiting Rome during the 1950s as Wyler shot on location at the Colosseum, the Spanish Steps, the Via dei Giaardini, the Roman Forum and many, many other must-see tourist destinations.   

This was Audrey Hepburn’s first starring role … Sabrina, Funny Face, Breakfast at Tiffany’s and My Fair Lady would follow (among others), and she would be nominated for Best Actress on four more occasions, but it was Roman Holiday that got her the gold.

Bonus goodies include six featurettes — “Filmmaker Focus: Leonard Maltin on Roman Holiday,” “Behind the Gates: Costumes,” “Rome with a Princess,” “Audrey Hepburn: The Paramount Years,” “Dalton Trumbo: From A-List to Blacklist” and “Paramount in the '50s: Remembering Audrey” — and not one or two, but four photo galleries (the production, the movie, the publicity and the premiere).