The Fountainhead (1949)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

King Vidor

Writers:

Ayn Rand (screenplay)
Ayn Rand (novel)

Release Date:

2 July 1949 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

No Man Takes What's Mine !

Plot:

An uncompromising, visionary architect struggles to maintain his integrity and individualism despite personal, professional and economic pressures to conform to popular standards.

Plot Keywords:

Architect | Visionary | Individualism | Jackhammer | Personal Vision

Cast

Gary Cooper	...	Howard Roark
Patricia Neal	...	Dominique Francon
Raymond Massey	...	Gail Wynand
Kent Smith	...	Peter Keating
Robert Douglas	...	Ellsworth M. Toohey
Henry Hull	...	Henry Cameron
Ray Collins	...	Roger Enright
Moroni Olsen	...	Chairman
Jerome Cowan	...	Alvah Scarret
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Bob Alden	...	Newsboy (uncredited)
John Alvin	...	Young intellectual (uncredited)
Morris Ankrum	...	Prosecutor (uncredited)
Lois Austin	...	Female party guest (uncredited)
Griff Barnett	...	Judge (uncredited)
Monte Blue	...	Gas station executive (uncredited)
Gail Bonney	...	Woman (uncredited)
Ralph Brooks	...	Courtroom Spectator (uncredited)
Glen Cavender	...	Pedestrian onlooker (uncredited)
Dorothy Christy	...	Society woman (uncredited)
Tristram Coffin	...	Toohey's secretary (uncredited)
Tom Coleman	...	Court Clerk (uncredited)
G. Pat Collins	...	Jury foreman (uncredited)
James Conaty	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
Bill Dagwell	...	Banner shipping clerk (uncredited)
Ann Doran	...	Wynand's secretary (uncredited)
Lester Dorr	...	(uncredited)
John Doucette	...	Gus Webb (uncredited)
Charles Evans	...	Banner board member (uncredited)
Roy Gordon	...	Vice-President (uncredited)
William Haade	...	Worker (uncredited)
Creighton Hale	...	Court Clerk (uncredited)
Jonathan Hale	...	Guy Francon (uncredited)
Thurston Hall	...	Businessman at party (uncredited)
Sam Harris	...	Courtroom Spectator (uncredited)
Paul Harvey	...	Opera businessman (uncredited)
Russell Hicks	...	Banner board member (uncredited)
Selmer Jackson	...	Cortlandt official (uncredited)
Fred Kelsey	...	Old watchman (uncredited)
Douglas Kennedy	...	Reporter (uncredited)
Raymond Largay	...	Director (uncredited)
Philo McCullough	...	Bailiff (uncredited)
Harold Miller	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
Jack Mower	...	Construction foreman (uncredited)
Paul Newlan	...	Policeman (uncredited)
Lee Phelps	...	Juror (uncredited)
Almira Sessions	...	Dominique's housekeeper at quarry (uncredited)
George Sherwood	...	Policeman (uncredited)
Paul Stanton	...	Dean who expels Roark (uncredited)
Larry Steers	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
Ruthelma Stevens	...	Roark's secretary (uncredited)
Charles Trowbridge	...	Director (uncredited)
Tito Vuolo	...	Pasquale Orsini (uncredited)
Geraldine Wall	...	Woman (uncredited)
Harlan Warde	...	Young man (uncredited)
Pierre Watkin	...	Cortlandt official (uncredited)
Leo White	...	Pedestrian onlooker (uncredited)
Josephine Whittell	...	Hostess (uncredited)
Frank Wilcox	...	Gordon Prescott (uncredited)
Isabel Withers	...	Secretary (uncredited)
Harry Woods	...	Quarry superintendent (uncredited)

Directed by
King Vidor

Writing credits
Ayn Rand		(screenplay)
Ayn Rand		(novel)

Produced by
Henry Blanke	....	producer

Original Music by
Max Steiner

Cinematography by
Robert Burks		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
David Weisbart

Art Direction by
Edward Carrere

Set Decoration by
William L. Kuehl		(as William Kuehl)

Makeup Department
Perc Westmore	....	makeup artist
John Wallace	....	makeup artist (uncredited)
Gertrude Wheeler	....	hair stylist (uncredited)

Production Management
Eric Stacey	....	production manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Richard Maybery	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Harold Michelson	....	illustrator (uncredited)

Sound Department
Oliver S. Garretson	....	sound

Special Effects by
Edwin B. DuPar	....	special effects (as Edwin DuPar)
John Holden	....	special effects art director
Hans F. Koenekamp	....	special effects (as H.F. Koenekamp)
William C. McGann	....	special effects director (as William McGann)

Visual Effects by
Chesley Bonestell	....	matte artist (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
James Bell	....	camera operator (uncredited)
Earl Ellwood	....	grip (uncredited)
Harold Noyes	....	grip (uncredited)
Jack Woods	....	still photographer (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Milo Anderson	....	wardrobe

Music Department
Murray Cutter	....	orchestrator

Other crew
Jack Daniels	....	dialogue director
Rita Michaels	....	script supervisor (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Warner Bros. Pictures (as Warner Bros.-First National Pictures Inc.)

Distributors

• Warner Bros. Pictures (1949) (USA) (theatrical)
• Chapel Distribution (1997) (Australia) (theatrical) (new 35mm print)
• Elegy Group (2007) (Russia) (DVD)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (USA) (VHS)
• Sociedade Importadora de Filmes (SIF) (Portugal)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)

Runtime:

114 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Australia:PG | USA:Approved (PCA #13358) | Finland:K-16 | Portugal:M/12 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Ayn Rand wanted Clifton Webb to play the villain, but studio chiefs nixed the idea and Robert Douglas was cast instead.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Cameron smashes the window in Roark's office, you can see that the flag outside the window flying in the skyline is not rippling and therefore is part of a photographic backdrop rather than a live location.

Quotes:

Ellsworth Toohey: There's the building that should have been yours. There are buildings going up all over the city which are great chances refused and given to incompetent fools. You're walking the streets while they're doing the work that you love but cannot obtain. This city is closed to you. It is I who have done it! Don't you want to know my motive?
Howard Roark: No!
Ellsworth Toohey: I'm fighting you and shall fight you in every way I can.
Howard Roark: You're free to do what you please!
Ellsworth Toohey: Mr. Roark, we’re alone here. Why don't you tell me what you think of me in any words you wish.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Angels in America" (2003)

One of the weirdest movies ever produced in the 1940s

Not too many films can grab your attention with an atypical discussion of individualism, inspire you with a character's strength of will, disturb you with that same character's cold attitude towards humanity, and make you laugh at the script's stiffness and awkwardness at the same time. I don't really know how to approach my commentary on this strange film, so I will just list several of my observations.

--- I first learned of this film while watching a documentary on AMC about screenwriters' experiences in Hollywood. This film was chosen by the documentary as an example of what a screenplay shouldn't be! Indeed, the dialogue is melodramatic and positively stilted, since it is delivered by characters that exist primarily as vessels of philosophical thought, not real people that interact with each other. Does Dominique have any favorite hobbies, books, or radio programs? Or does she just sit around all day fretting about the inanity of the mindless masses, only taking a break now and then to throw a valuable statue out her window and onto some poor pedestrian's head because, as she says, she "loves" the statue? Gary Cooper even stuttered a lot of his lines like a robot, especially in that long-winded courtroom "climax". By the way, Cooper's character never seemed to be having fun except when he was getting fondled by Dominique or watching her trip and nearly kill herself while trying to run away from him.

--- At times, the film came close to acting as a successful examination of themes like resisting convention and finding one's internal independence and freedom, a la Chopin's "The Awakening." There are some provocative quotes that make good points on these issues. But the heavy dose of Randian anti-altruism that the script administers adds a pallor of mean-spiritedness and unlikeability to the characters and the screenwriter's points.

--- Rand apparently had a pessimistic view of humanity that was morbid and spiteful in the extreme. Are we to believe that all but a few people comprise an incitable, easy-manipulated, stupid mob of people? The scene where Wynand finds himself opposed by all 15 of his board members, all of whom are apparently spineless 'fraidy cats, typifies the exaggerated "It's everybody against one of me!" mentality that pervades the main characters' lives.

--- The direction was much better than I anticipated. And Robert Burks scored big with his cinematography. The modern black-and-white scenes must have provided him with lots of opportunities.

--- Zaniest quote (not word for word): Dominique is taken aback at how Gail Wynand bribed Peter Keating to break off his engagement with her. Wynand: Oh, people do this sort of thing all the time. They just don't talk about it.

--- Max Steiner's score is like Bernard Herrmann's score for "Marnie" --- it is pretty good and exciting to listen to on an album, but it is too emotional and high-strung for the screen. Oh, did anyone else notice how the piano player at the Enright Building's housewarming party was playing the movie's theme song?

--- Not enough attention was paid to the changes that the Gail Wynand character experienced. He went from strong amoral capitalist to redeemed supporter of the little guy to weak amoral capitalist in mere scene-changes!

--- How could Ellsworth Toohey, who is just a writer for a newspaper, manage to essentially take over the entire newspaper staff? How come Toohey never smiles or drops his scowl? And does he take some pride from the fact that he looks like and dresses like an evil John Quincy Adams with a mustache? Also, how does he have a hand in so many architecture projects? He's just a critic! Are we to believe that a cackling Roger Ebert hangs around the film studios in Hollywood and wields sinister influence over the producers and the films that they make?