– Amazon Commissions Earned –

The 1953 film “Roman Holiday“ will officially be making its debut to Blu-ray Disc on September 15th, via Paramount Presents – as spine #9. The film, directed by William Wyler and winner of 3 “Oscars” (Academy Awards), starred Gregory Peck, Audrey Hepburn, and Eddie Albert. The tech specs for the release have not yet fully been detailed but it is known that the release has received a new 4K restoration, as detailed in the press release.

The original negative was processed at a local film lab in Rome and was unfortunately badly scratched and damaged.  The film had to be pieced back together, but the splices were so weak due to the damage that extensive amounts of tape had to be used to allow the negative to make it through a printing machine.  Because of the fragile state of the negative, a Dupe Negative was made and then blown up a few thousandths of an inch to cover all the splice tape that held the original negative together.

In anticipation of this new Blu-ray release, the film was digitally restored using the Dupe Negative and a Fine Grain element to capture the best possible image.  Every frame was reviewed, and the film received extensive clean up to remove thousands of scratches, bits of dirt, and other damage.  Because audio elements to properly up-mix to 5.1 do not exist, the original mono track was remastered, and minor anomalies were corrected.  The result is a film returned to its original vibrancy and beauty that remains true to director William Wyler’s vision.

You can now find the Blu-ray listed for preorder over at Amazon and retailer Best Buy. The release will include a digital copy of the film and the following bonus materials.

• 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 
• Paramount in the ’50s: Remembering Audrey
• Theatrical Trailers
• Four Photo Galleries:  Production, The Movie, Publicity, The Premiere  

Below, after the break, you can find the full details regarding this upcoming release.

Read more