Roman Holiday – AniMaps

Overwhelmed by her suffocating schedule, touring princess Ann (Audrey Hepburn) takes off for a night while in Rome. When a sedative she took from her doctor kicks in, however, she falls asleep on a park bench and is found by an American reporter, Joe Bradley (Gregory Peck),who takes her back to his apartment for safety. At work the next morning, Joe finds out Ann’s regal identity and bets his editor he can get exclusive interview with her, but romance soon gets in the way. From Rotten Tomatoes

Many have argued that the choice to shoot everything on-location really makes the film what it is. They even bothered to shoot the scenes of Ann visiting other countries on-location as well. Interiors were shot at a famous film studio just outside of Rome.

Who knew Atticus Finch could be so romantic?

Roman Holiday became immensely popular in postwar Japan, particularly for young women who were inspired by Ann’s small acts of rebellion. Many went out to get matching haircuts to the one Hepburn gets at the midpoint of the film, which was dubbed the ‘Hepburn Cut’.

According to a survey on seichijunrei conducted on the Japanese travel app AirTrip, a Roman Holiday vacation was ranked in second place for the question “Please tell us one of the best settings you visited and its associated work”, alongside Harry Potter, The Sound of Music, and several anime.

Many anime and manga characters take queues directly or indirectly from Hepburn’s personality and fashion sense, like Princess Rubina from Sailor Moon, Paulamoni from Princess Tutu, and Diantha from Pokemon X & Y. Roman Holiday as a film is referenced directly in REC, Tada Never Falls in Love‘s OP, and Paprika.

Multiple Japanese theatre troupes have taken on Roman Holiday, including the all-female Takarazuka Revue. This Japanese stage production from Toho aimed to closely recreate the scene in front of the Spanish Steps with stage props.