Three Coins in the Fountain (1954)

Three American women working in Rome, Italy, share a spacious apartment and the desire to find love and marriage, each experiencing a few bumps in their journeys to romance.

Director:

Jean Negulesco

Writers:

John Patrick (screen play), John H. Secondari (from a novel by)

Stars:

Clifton Webb, Dorothy McGuire, Jean Peters

Won 2 Oscars. Another 3 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited 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	...	Giorgio Bianchi
Howard St. John	...	Mr. Burgoyne
Kathryn Givney	...	Mrs. Burgoyne
Cathleen Nesbitt	...	Principessa

Storyline

Three American women, rooming together while working abroad in Rome, Italy, hope for romance and marriage. Frances, oldest of the three, has been fifteen years a secretary to novelist John Frederick Shadwell, a man whom she loves but whose reclusive nature prompts most people to believe him long since dead. Anita, one week away from returning to America (under the claim of getting married), finally bucks company rules (and gets caught) by finally accepting an invitation from an Italian co-worker to visit his family's farm for his sister's wedding. Newly arrived Maria soon sets her generally innocent eyes on Dino di Cessi, an actual prince with a reputation for womanizing, and makes a play for him by making herself his perfect match.

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Plot Keywords:

fountain | italy | secretary | prince | love | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

G

Did You Know?

Trivia

The only Best Picture Oscar nominee that year to be also nominated for Best Song (for the title song).

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Goofs

Despite the title, and the title song, only TWO coins are tossed in the fountain; one of the three participants chooses not to do so.

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Quotes

Miss Frances: What are you intending to do with those?
John Frederick Shadwell: I intend to get drunk.
Miss Frances: Why?
John Frederick Shadwell: I've been cautious too long.

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Connections

Referenced in Pan Am: One Coin in a Fountain (2011)

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Soundtracks

O ciucciariello
(1951) (uncredited)
Music by Nino Oliviero
Lyrics by Roberto Murolo

User Reviews

CinemaScope vacations in Italia!

Not much to add to the other comments here, except to say that it may be understandable that this one got a Best Picture nomination in the 1954 Oscar derby if you were able to see a pristine print, with a stereo soundtrack, in a first-class theater as I had the opportunity of doing when it was first released. The opening sequence of numerous fountains in full flood as Frank Sinatra crooned the Oscar-winning title song was just dazzling to those of us Americans who hadn't yet made a Grand Tour of Europe. What followed contained no surprises, certainly, though some eyebrows were raised by the Jean Peters/Rossano Brazzi "illicit" romance. I never understood how Maggie McNamara ever passed muster with any studio's casting director, nor how the makers of this pastiche could have thought that the suavely handsome Louis Jourdan, playing an Italian of noble descent, would finally settle for a manipulative young American whose machinations had, prior to his capitulation, been nakedly revealed. The lovely Ms. McGuire setting her cap for the aging, fastidious old fop, so well incarnated by Mr. Webb, was another of the difficulties even those first audiences had in suspending their disbelief.

But, oh!, those glorious travelogue shots of Rome and Venice. Widescreens, back then, really were worth briefly deserting one's living room "boob tube" and letting one's mind drift into Nirvana as beautiful DeLuxe Color made one believe the world was an impossibly beautiful place. A new DVD version which approximates the original CinemaScope ratio is now available, a distinct improvement over the formatted VHS tape previously available.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Italian

Release Date:

May 1954 (USA)

Also Known As:

Three Coins in the Fountain

Filming Locations:

Villa Lante, Passeggiata del Gianicolo, 10, 00165 Roma, Italia

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Sound Mix:

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

Color:

Color (DeLuxe)

Aspect Ratio:

2.55 : 1