The legend surrounding this film is so big it’s a pleasure to discover that its scale is actually quite small. Making her Hollywood debut, Audrey Hepburn plays Princess Ann, heir to the throne of an unnamed European monarchy. Oppressed by her official duties on a state visit to Rome, she flees the palace and has a fling with an American journalist, played by Gregory Peck. Despite the majestic setting, not much happens: in the best scene, she wanders into a hair salon across from the Trevi Fountain and gets a chic Italian cut. Credited to Ian McLellan Hunter but written by Dalton Trumbo, who was blacklisted at the time, it is tempting to notice political undercurrents. As Stanley Kauffman notes, within its story is “masquerades and doubling,” but it could also be a simple allegory about freedom and the joys of self-discovery. Hepburn won the Oscar for this film and it cemented her screen persona: charming, gamine princess/waif.