Three Coins in the Fountain (1954)

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:

Venice Italy | Fountain | Wish | Rome Italy | Based On Novel

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
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Merry Anders	...	Bit Part (uncredited)
Larry Arnold	...	Waiter (uncredited)
Maurice Brierre	...	Pepe - Shadwell's Butler (uncredited)
Iphigenie Castiglioni	...	Bit Part (uncredited)
James Conaty	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
Charles La Torre	...	Chauffeur (uncredited)
Celia Lovsky	...	Baroness (uncredited)
Harold Miller	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
Grazia Narciso	...	Louisa, Shadwell's Maid (uncredited)
Luciana Paluzzi	...	Angela Bianchi (uncredited)
Norma Varden	...	Woman at Cocktail Party (uncredited)

Directed by
Jean Negulesco

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

Produced by
Sol C. Siegel	....	producer

Original Music by
Victor Young

Cinematography by
Milton R. Krasner		(director of photography) (as Milton Krasner)

Film Editing by
William Reynolds

Art Direction by
John DeCuir		(as John De Cuir)
Lyle R. Wheeler		(as Lyle Wheeler)

Set Decoration by
Paul S. Fox
Walter M. Scott

Costume Design by
Dorothy Jeakins

Makeup Department
Ben Nye	....	makeup artist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Gaston Glass	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Eugene Grossman	....	sound
Roger Heman Sr.	....	sound (as Roger Heman)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Charles Le Maire	....	wardrobe director
Sam Benson	....	wardrobe supervisor (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Leonard Doss	....	color consultant

Music Department
Ken Darby	....	vocal director
Edward B. Powell	....	orchestrator

Production Companies

• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation (presents) (as Twentieth Century - Fox)

Distributors

• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation (1954) (USA) (theatrical) (released by)
• National Broadcasting Company (NBC) (1962) (USA) (TV) (original airing) (pan/scan)
• Fox Video (199?) (USA) (VHS) (pan/scan)
• Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (2004) (USA) (DVD)

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 "Mystery Science Theater 3000: Angels' Revenge (#7.22)" (1995)

Soundtrack:

Largo Al Factotum

An enormous box office hit...

This pleasant comedy-romance opens with the beautiful view of the Fountain of Trevi in Rome, combined by another famous fountain garden at the villa d'Este in Tivoli where a great water organ exploits another attribute of moving water: its sound...

But in "Three Coins in the Fountain," the 'sound of music' is the fine title song - sung by Frank Sinatra - that carries the whole picture...

The film is about the search for love by a simple trio... Three American secretaries believing in love, and throwing their coins in the 'Fontana Di Trevi' for a wish, for a romance, for an idealized love...

The first person is Dorothy McGuire, the confidant secretary in love (since 25 years) with her elderly boss, the American writer Clifton Webb...

The second is Jean Peters, a pretty indecisive brunette, doubtful in seeking love in Italy with Rossano Brazzi...

The third, a decisive Maggie McNamara aspiring to catch a wealthy suspicious lover (Louis Jourdan) by the art of lying...

Webb, Jourdan and Brazzi bring to the production its significant flavor... The film, nominated for Best Picture, won two Academy Awards for Best Cinematography and Music Song...

With a stunning photography in CinemaScope and sumptuous Technicolor of Rome and Venice, the motion picture is in itself a thin entertainment, but the title song carried it...