When you think of Italy and the summer holidays, an image comes immediately to mind: handsome Gregory Peck and charming Audrey Hepburn happily riding their Vespa, with an elegant, black-and-white Rome as a backdrop. You can feel freedom, lightheartedness and the wonderful “dolce vita” touching your skin. This year, Vacanze Romane, Roman Holiday, turns 70.

It was shot in the summer of 1952, the first of many successful collaborations between the Eternal City and Hollywood which, also this year, celebrates the 100th birthday of Mpa, the Motion Picture Association. The two American stars were to spend four months between the set of Cinecittà, famous Roman locations, and a villa in Fregene, a popular seaside town some 30 km from Rome.