Roman Holiday has finally been released on Blu-ray thanks to a 4K film transfer from Paramount. The 1953 classic had not previously been remastered since its 2002 DVD Special Edition which was only a slight improvement over its previous release.

Time has been kind to this Cinderella in reverse story about a princess who longs for the common life. The property had been kicking around Hollywood for years. It was originally supposed to have been made by Frank Capra, but he passed on it as the narrative was too close to his Oscar-winning It Happened One Night. It then passed to George Stevens and eventually to William Wyler who agreed to make it but only on location in Rome.

Gregory Peck was cast as the American newspaperman after Cary Grant, to whom all romantic comedies at the time were first given, passed on it. Audrey Hepburn was cast as the runaway princess after Jean Simmons proved unavailable. Hepburn at the time had only been seen in minor roles in British films. This was her breakout role as well as her only Oscar-winning one. The film was nominated for a total of ten Oscars, winning three for Dalton Trumbo’s story (originally credited to Ian McClellan Hunter) and costume design in addition to Best Actress. Widely seen by the public at the time as a thinly disguised peek into the life of Britain’s Princess Margaret, the production took great care to include a scene of Hepburn’s fictional princess visiting Britain as its way of saying that she wasn’t British.

A virtual tour of all the famous sites in Rome, the film’s only downside is that it is in black-and-white, Paramount having given Wyler a choice between making the film on their back lot in color or on location in black-and-white. They would not allow him to have both.

Blu-ray extras include an appreciation by Leonard Maltin and various previously released short documentaries including those on Hepburn and Trumbo, as well as the film’s locations and costumes.

Paramount has also released Barefoot in the Park and The Sons of Katie Elder on Blu-ray for the first time.

Jane Fonda and Robert Redford made their film debuts in 1960’s Tall Story, she as the film’s female lead opposite Anthony Perkins, he in an uncredited role as a basketball player. 1967’s Barefoot in the Park was the third of five films in which they both appeared, the last being 2017’s not-on-video Our Souls at Night.

The narrative about a young couple’s first weeks of marriage is based on playwright Neil Simon’s first marriage. Redford had starred in the Broadway version opposite Elizabeth Ashley and made the film version only to satisfy his Paramount contract. Fonda was cast after Natalie Wood, who played opposite Redford in Inside Daisy Clover and This Property Is Condemned, declined. Redford is solid as the male lead, but Fonda is a bit too chirpy for my taste. Both were two years away form superstardom, he in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, she in They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? The film’s saving grace is Mildred Natwick, who received a much-deserved Oscar nomination for reprising her Broadway role of the mother of the bride. She is so fantastic in the role that you can’t imagine any other actress playing the part.

The Blu-ray offers no extras.

Henry Hathaway, who would direct John Wayne to his only Oscar for True Grit four years later, directed him equally effectively in 1965’s The Sons of Katie Elder. A huge hit in its day, it’s surprising that this is one of the last of Wayne’s films to make it to Blu-ray.

Wayne plays the eldest of four brothers, a gunslinger, whose return to the family homestead for his mother’s funeral sets off a chain of violent events against him and his brothers. Dean Martin, Earl Holliman, and Michael Anderson Jr. are his brothers. Martha Hyer is his love interest. The screenplay was written by the prolific Talbot Jennings (Mutiny on the Bounty, Anna and the King of Siam).

The Blu-ray offers no extras.

Kino Lorber has released Blu-rays of three earlier Paramount films, now owned by Universal.

Hathaway’s 1938 film Spawn of the North, made three years after he received his only Oscar nomination for The Lives of a Bengal Lancer, stars George Raft, Henry Fonda, and Dorothy Lamour in a tale of Alaskan fishermen, one of whom turns vigilante when Russian pirates led by Akim Tamiroff steal his salmon catch. John Barrymore and Lynne Overman costar as a newspaper editor and his “translator.” The film won an honorary Oscar for its impressive visual and sound effects.

Audio commentary is provided by author and film historian Lee Gambin and actress and film historian Rutanya Alda.

Elliot Nugent’s 1939 film The Cat and the Canary was the second of three film versions of John Willard’s 1922 play.

A huge hit in its day, leading man Bob Hope lays on the wisecracks a bit too thickly for my tastes, but the rest of the cast of this mystery-ghost story including Paulette Goddard, John Beal, Douglass Montgomery, Gale Sondergaard, Elizabeth Patterson, and George Zucco make up for his excesses in this, the best of the three film versions.

Audio commentary is again provided by Lee Gambin.

Hope and Goddard reunited for 1940’s superior The Ghost Breakers, directed by George Marshall (Destry Rides Again). Given a 2K transfer by Kino, this mystery-ghost story has a better script and Hope much better dialogue. The supporting cast is once again superb with Richard Carlson, Paul Lukas, Anthony Quinn, and Willie Best all in fine form.

Audio commentary is once again provided by Lee Gambin,

This week’s new releases include the Blu-ray releases of Never Steal Anything Small and The Art of Love.