Summertime (1955) gave Katharine Hepburn one of her most romantic roles, as Jane Hudson, a single American secretary who travels to Venice for the holiday of a lifetime.
Directed by David Lean, the film follows Jane as she falls in love with an Italian antiques dealer, played by Rossano Brazzi, and learns to allow herself happiness. Hepburn played Jane with a mixture of restraint and longing, and the Venetian setting gave the story a beauty that matched her performance.
Hepburn was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for the role. Jane Hudson remains a favourite among her fans, a portrait of a woman who discovers that it is not too late to live fully.
Image: Katharine Hepburn in Woman of the Year, Wikimedia Commons, public domain. Credit: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Katharine_hepburn_woman_of_the_year_cropped.jpg