Audrey Hepburn stars in the story of a modern-day princess who, rebelling against her royal obligations, explores Rome and falls in love with an American newspaperman played by Gregory Peck.
Tired of her life being one royal duty after another, Princess Anne (Audrey Hepburn) spazzes out one night, and the royal doctor is called in to see if he can calm her down. When he gives her a tranquilizer, all seems well until she pretends to be asleep while waiting for a clear path to escape the royal compound. Without a plan or clear direction, she stows away on a food truck, and when the medicine catches up with her, she ends up sleeping on a park bench on the streets of Rome until Mr. Joe Bradley (Gregory Peck), a member of the American News Service, stumbles upon her and then can’t get rid of her to save his life. Unbeknownst to him what her true identity is, he harbors the unknown female for twenty-four hours before he realizes who he has in his possession, the key to the biggest news story of his life. The irony is that he is scheduled to interview the princess the next day at the palace and ends up oversleeping and has to come up with a colossal alibi to appease his boss, not knowing at the time that all interviews had been canceled. At the same time, the royal compound becomes entirely disheveled when the Princess cannot be found the following day, and they have to come up with a huge lie to protect the reputation of the royals.
While the royal compound scatters to make sense of the princess’ disappearance, Mr. Bradley spends his time developing a game plan to make the most of his predicament. Once the sleeping princess awakens in Mr. Bradley’s apartment and doesn’t recognize her surroundings, she coyly comes up with a defense of her own by making up a name and then choosing to make the most of her unorthodox getaway by choosing to spend the entire day doing everything she loves and would never get to do in her day-to-day duties as a royal. With his accompanying sidekick and photographer Irving Radovich (Eddie Albert) at his side to document the entire escapade, Mr. Bradley takes the day off. He offers to be a personal tour guide for Smitty (the princess), who indulges her heart’s desires by getting a haircut, eating gelato, riding a motorized bike through the streets and then finally dancing the night away.
While the princess and Mr. Bradley are having the best time of their lives, they are also falling in love with one another, and neither is willing to give in when the royal police track them down. The fight is as hilarious as it is intense when the princess proves to be a serious thrower of punches when it comes to battling for her freedom to do as she pleases. Once they escape the madness, both realize that they must go back to living their regular lives, however cumbersome that may be. Once the princess plans her departure from Mr. Bradley’s side, he gets yet another opportunity to interview the princess at the royal compound, where they both must come clean about who they really are; however, the actual reveal comes shortly after when Mr. Bradley decides to give up his life-changing news story and all the evidence and just settle for the memories.
Writer and Director William Wyler did an excellent job of revitalizing this 1953 film and pairing Hepburn and Peck, who carried out perfect roles while expressing their personalities. The humor and the mundane keep this storyline appealing and ensure it will remain a classic throughout the test of time. It should be noted that this was Audrey Hepburn’s first starring role and truly cemented her place in history as one of the greatest actresses of our time.
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