barber shop where Ann has her hair cut Palazzo Colonna Gallery, shown in the final scenes of the princess's press appearance Palazzo Brancaccio, the princess' ornate Roman bedroom. Reception The film premiered at Radio City Music Hall in New York City on August 27, 1953, grossing $165,000 in its first week. The film also opened the same week in two theatres in Portland, Oregon on a double bill with Murder Without Tears, grossing $14,000. The film was met with critical acclaim, and is now considered a classic. Milton Luban of The Hollywood Reporter said the movie "proves a charming, laugh-provoking affair that often explodes into hilarity....it has a "delightful screenplay that sparkles with wit and outrageous humor that at times comes close to slapstick" and that the "cinematographers do a fine job of incorporating Roman landmarks into the storyline." The New York Times observed that it was "a natural, tender and amusing yarn" with "laughs that leave the spirits soaring." Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian noted that the film was a “ modern fairytale whose two leads have a charm and innocence that irradiate the whole movie”, giving the film 5 stars. Empire concluded that the film was a “Timeless, exuberant classic, with Hepburn's naïve sense of fun and perfectly charming performance matched equally by Peck's lauche and charismatic worldy American.” James Berardinelli of reelviews gave the film 3.5/4 stars, calling the movie a “staple of the romantic comedy fan’s library”, and “ remains one of only a few black-and-white movies that modern audiences willingly watch”. Roman Holiday was the second most popular film at the US box office during September 1953 behind From Here to Eternity, grossing almost $1 million. It earned an estimated $3 million at the United States and Canadian box office during its first few months of release. While the domestic box office disappointed Paramount, it was very successful elsewhere, including the UK, where the film benefited from both the concurrent romance between Princess Margaret and commoner Peter Townsend—"No film studio could have bought such publicity", Alexander Walker wrote—and a fad for Italian culture. Due to the film's popularity, both Peck and Hepburn were approached about filming a sequel, but this project never got off the ground. The film has been very well received, with a 95% "Certified fresh" rating at Rotten Tomatoes based on 63 reviews with an average rating of 8.50/10. The website's critical