Three Coins in the Fountain (1954)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

Jean Negulesco

Writers:

John Patrick (screenplay)
John H. Secondari (novel)

Release Date:

2 June 1954 (USA)

Genre:

Romance | Drama

Tagline:

You've Never Lived Until You've Loved in Rome!

Plot:

American girls dream of finding romance in Rome, but there is none for secretaries, Anita tells her replacement at the USDA...

Plot Keywords:

Fountain | Wish | Beautiful Woman | Venice Italy | Rome Italy

Awards:

Won 2 Oscars. Another 2 nominations

Cast

Clifton Webb	...	John Frederick Shadwell
Dorothy McGuire	...	Miss Frances
Jean Peters	...	Anita Hutchins
Louis Jourdan	...	Prince Dino di Cessi
Maggie McNamara	...	Maria Williams
Rossano Brazzi	...	Georgio Bianchi
Howard St. John	...	Mr. Burgoyne
Kathryn Givney	...	Mrs. Burgoyne
Cathleen Nesbitt	...	La Principessa

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Italian

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.55 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (Western Electric Recording) (magnetic prints)

Certification:

Australia:G | Canada:G (video rating) | Finland:S | USA:Approved (PCA #16697, General Audience) | Sweden:Btl | UK:U

Filming Locations:

Dolomite Mountains, Italy

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

The first motion picture filmed in CinemaScope outside of the United States. Prior to beginning principal shooting, 20th Century-Fox studio execs warned producer Sol C. Siegel and director Jean Negulesco that they would have a difficult time with the new film format away from the controlled settings of the studio. Siegel and Negulesco solved this dilemma by simply taking the studio's entire technical crew along to Rome.

Goofs:

Continuity: At the beginning of the final scene at the Trevi fountain, the fountain is dry and being cleaned. While the actors are there, the fountain begins flowing again. However, when the actors leave, the fountain is completely full, not a possibility given the size of the fountain and the period of time over which the scene occurs.

Quotes:

John Frederick Shadwell: Why can't women play the game properly? Everyone knows that in love affairs only the man has the right to lie!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Mad Men: Marriage of Figaro (#1.3)" (2007)

Soundtrack:

Three Coins in the Fountain

Rome, the eternal city of love

By the Fifties, the movie-going public was no longer satisfied with studio versions of far away places. They wanted to see the real thing and Hollywood had to give it to them. The year before Three Coins In a Fountain came out, Paramount had done another Rome based film in Roman Holiday. Though it had that winning romantic team of Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck, Paramount played it on the cheap and wouldn't splurge for color.

Not to be outdone by rivals, Darryl F. Zanuck went whole hog on terrific color cinematography and three romances. Dorothy McGuire, Jean Peters, and Maggie McNamara are three Americans sharing an apartment in Rome. Peters and McNamara work for a U.S. government agency and McGuire is secretary to expatriate novelist Clifton Webb.

The fountain of course is Rome's famous Fountain of Trevi where tourists are lured into throwing their pennies with the promise of good fortune and a return to the eternal city. Frank Sinatra sings the title song over the opening credits and the Four Aces also had a mega-hit out of that tune. I remember as a lad in the Fifties, hearing that constantly on the radio. It was a BIG factor in the success of this film and won an Oscar for composer Jule Styne and lyricist Sammy Cahn.

McNamara and Peters fall for Prince Louis Jourdan and aspiring lawyer and co-worker Rossano Brazzi respectively. They play the continental lovers effortlessly.

20th Century Fox during the 50s toned down Clifton Webb's acerbity in order to make him leading man material. They never quite succeeded, but Dorothy McGuire conveys that she has a deep and abiding affection for Webb.

The usual romantic complications occur, but it all works out in the end as it always does in these films.

But the star is Rome and even seeing it 50 years ago, you'll still want to a pack a bag and see the place after watching this film.