Three Coins in the Fountain

Plot synopsis:
A young American secretary, Maria Williams (Maggie McNamara), arrives in Rome and is greeted by Anita Hutchins (Jean Peters), the woman she is replacing at the "United States Distribution Agency". They drive to the "Villa Eden" Anita shares with Miss Frances (Dorothy McGuire), the longtime secretary of the American author John Frederick Shadwell (Clifton Webb), an expatriate living in Rome for the past fifteen years. On their way into town, the three women stop at the famous Trevi Fountain. Frances and Anita tell Maria that according to legend, if she throws a coin in the fountain and makes a wish to return to Rome, she will. Maria and Frances throw in their coins, but Anita, who is returning to the United States to marry, declines.
Anita takes Maria to the agency and introduces her to Giorgio Bianchi (Rossano Brazzi), a translator with whom she works. Maria senses that Anita and Giorgio are attracted to each other, though Anita states that the agency forbids its American and Italian employees to fraternize. Later that evening at a party, Maria is attracted by the handsome Prince Dino di Cessi (Louis Jourdan), despite being warned by Frances and Anita about him being a notorious womanizer. His girlfriends become known as "Venice girls" after he takes them to Venice for romantic trysts. Dino charms Maria, telling her to ignore what she's heard about him.
After the party, Anita and Maria walk home and Anita admits that she has no fiancé waiting back in the United States. She's leaving because she believes she has a better chance of finding a husband in America; wealthy Italian men are not interested in mere secretaries, and the men who are interested are too poor. As they walk, Maria is pinched by a man who pesters her until she is rescued by Giorgio, who then asks Anita to go with him the next day to his family's country farm to attend a celebration. Anita reluctantly agrees.
The next morning, Giorgio picks Anita up in his cousin's dilapidated truck. On their way out of town, they are spotted by her boss, Burgoyne (Howard St. John). On Giorgio's family farm, Giorgio tells Anita that he hopes to become a lawyer, despite his poverty. Anita then climbs into the truck and is almost killed when it rolls down the hill. After Giorgio rescues her, the breathless couple gives in to their attraction and they kiss. Meanwhile, back at the apartment, Dino calls for Maria and asks if she will accompany him to Venice. Desiring to see Venice but not wanting to lose Dino's respect, Maria arranges for Frances to chaperone them, to Dino's disappointment.
At the agency on Monday, Burgoyne questions Maria about Anita's weekend with Giorgio, and although she maintains that Anita did nothing wrong, Burgoyne assumes Anita is having an affair with Giorgio. The following day he fires Giorgio. When Anita finds out, she blames Maria for betraying her confidence and insists on moving out of their apartment. She visits Giorgio, worried that she may have ruined his chances of becoming a lawyer. Giorgio has no regrets.
Meanwhile, Maria sets out to attract Dino's affections. She learns about the modern art he loves, his favorite food and wine, and pretends to learn the piccolo (his favorite instrument). Maria even lies about her background, telling Dino she is three-quarters Italian. Beguiled by how much he apparently has in common with Maria, Dino introduces her to his mother, the Principessa, who expresses her approval. Later, Dino confides in Maria that she is the only girl who he has ever completely trusted. Troubled by her deception, Maria confesses her subterfuge, even showing Dino her notebook listing his interests. He angrily takes her home.
Frances meets with Anita, who admits that she and Giorgio are in love but will not marry because he is too poor. Frances returns home to comfort the guilt-stricken Maria, who is also determined to leave Rome because Dino has not contacted her since her admission. Frances tells her she is glad she is no longer young and susceptible to romance. The next morning, however, Frances suddenly announces to Shadwell that she is returning to the United States, explaining that she does not want to wind up an old maid in a foreign country. Shadwell, unaware that Frances has been deeply in love with him for fifteen years, offers her a marriage of convenience, based on mutual respect. Eager to be with him under any circumstances, Frances accepts.
The next day, Shadwell learns that he is terminally ill and has less than a year to live unless he goes to America for experimental treatment. Shadwell returns to his villa and coldly breaks off his engagement with Frances. After Shadwell leaves, Frances learns from his doctor the truth about Shadwell's condition, and then follows him to a café, where she proceeds to match him drink for drink while bickering about whether he should pursue treatment. Completely drunk, Frances climbs into a nearby fountain and sobs about her life. After Shadwell takes her back to the villa and tucks her in, he goes to see Dino at the di Cessi palace. Shadwell tells Dino he is leaving for the United States, where he will marry Frances. He uses reverse psychology to provoke Dino into realizing that he loves Maria.
After Anita and Maria are packed and ready to leave, Frances telephones and asks to meet them at the Trevi Fountain. When they arrive, Maria and Anita are disappointed to see the fountain emptied for cleaning. When they are joined by Frances, however, the water springs up again and the women are thrilled by its beauty. Dino and Giorgio then arrive, and as the men embrace their girlfriends, Frances is joined by Shadwell, and they happily admire the fountain, which has proved lucky to them all.

Tags: romantic

Review:
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....
The year before Three Coins In a Fountain came out, Paramount had done another Rome based film in Roman Holiday.
Dorothy McGuire, Jean Peters, and Maggie McNamara are three Americans sharing an apartment in Rome.
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 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..
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.
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.
The characters, cast, and story are all innocuous, but they are never especially interesting.The title sequence is very enjoyable, with the Sinatra song accompanied by many excellent views of Rome.
"Three Coins in the Fountain" is a typical 1950's "Women's Picture." Back then, Hollywood studio executives were sure that the only thing a woman ever wanted to do with her life was find a husband and get married.Today, this film would be called a "chick flick." Modern feminists will probably hate it, because the three female leads seem to have marriage on their minds...and not much else.In the movie, three secretaries share an apartment at the "Villa Eden" in Rome.
"Oh, the rate of exchange in Rome is very favorable for Americans." Uh huh.Miss Frances (Dorothy McGuire) has been serving as secretary for John Frederick Shandwell (Clifton Webb), a snooty American writer, who has been living in Rome for the past 15 years.
(As other reviewers have pointed out, this skips over the fact that they would have been living in Rome before and during World War II, an event that nobody ever mentions in the film.) He proposes marriage to her on the day before his doctor tells him he has only a year to live.Frances' roommates, Anita Hutchins (Jean Peters) and Maria Willaims (Maggie McNamara), are working as secretaries at the United States Distribution Agency, one of those Hollywood "government agencies" with an eagle emblem on the door.
Unfortunately, Giorgio is immediately fired from his job for violating the USDA's policy against employees dating other employees, set in place by Mr. Burgoyne (Howard St. John), the doofus boss who runs the agency.Meanwhile, Maria decides to ensnare Prince Dino di Cessi (Louis Jourdan), an Italian prince known as "the predatory prince." Maria pretends to like all the things the prince likes (Italian opera, playing the piccolo), to trick him into marrying her, but of course, she falls in love with him instead.The movie's major strength is its outstanding cinematography, featuring beautiful views of Rome and Venice.
The director made no less than four of these types of stories (three ladies looking for love) and this one might be the least fascinating (possibly because, unlike the other three, this one doesn't have Joan Crawford, Marilyn Monroe or Ann-Margret!) The scenery and the title fountain are glorious, but the film lacks zest.
The real-life tragic Maggie McNamara is engaging as an Audrey Hepburn look alike who finds romance with a young Louis Jourdan, who sheds his usual French accent in this film.
The story at its center is trite and only exists in order to show the splendors of Rome in color and CinemaScope to lure patrons away from their television sets when the film was made, in the mid-'50s.The only performers emerging from the film unscathed are JEAN PETERS, gorgeous as a secretary looking for romance away from the office, and the two men who are in their physical prime and give the film's most ingratiating performances--ROSSANO BRAZZI and LOUIS JOURDAN, both being the prototypes of the sort of European men American women find so attractive.DOROTHY McGUIRE is saddled with the role of a spinster (of 38) whose object of affection is CLIFTON WEBB (mid-'60s) who seems an odd choice for any woman and tries hard to be his usual urbane self.
Surprisingly, the film--which gets off to a nice start with a rendition of the title song by Frank Sinatra--was nominated for a Best Picture Oscar.Summing up: No surprises here, just a dull story that gets an occasional lift from the romance between Peters and Brazzi which is the best, but briefest, part of the whole film.
It's been plagiarised and remade so many times that it seems very ho-hum these days, but even when I first saw it, aged about 14, I wondered why the gorgeous Dorothy McGuire was considered to be old, and why she felt so strongly for the Clifton Webb character, who clearly (to me) was not romantically interested in women.
'Three Coins in the Fountain' is a film about three American secretaries that throw their coins into a fountain in Rome and hope for romance.
This typical early 1950s romance story has all of the "desk set" elements (found only in romantic dime novels): 3 American secretaries in Rome are searching for "meaning in life", hoping to find it in marriage.
The desired suiters are equally "fairy tale-like", including a Prince (played by Frenchman Louis Jourdan), a handsome full-blooded Italian (epitemized by Rossano Brazzi) and a distinguished Englishman (played by Clifton Webb).Old fashioned values are running rampant in this film.
In this movie Maggie McNamara gets Louis Jourdan to fall in love with her by pretending to like everything he likes--modern art, opera, Roman food and wine, etc.
The reason "Three Coins" was nominated for a Best Picture Oscar(as opposed to similar films like "How to Marry a Millionaire") is because of its cinematography, careful direction, fine acting, and the fact that it was adapted from a successful novel by John Secondari and the screenplay was smartly written by John Patrick, a Pulitzer Prize Winner.
It was the first in Cinemascope produced almost entirely on location and one of the ten most successful films of the 50s decade, so if you watch it, do it just for the fun of it and enjoy the beauty of its setting, eternal Rome.
Although Jordan and MacNamara have to tackle the least believable roles, their story has a very funny premise (the American girl doing her best to charm a bachelor Italian prince by pretending to enjoy everything he likes), and it becomes credible thanks to their acting efforts.
This had nothing to do with the availability of careers - since having a career does not preclude marriage - but reflected the knowledge that we all need someone in our lives committed to always care for us, and confer a sense of our niche in the world.Such directors as Jean Negelesco (How to Marry a Millionaire, Three Coins in the Fountain, The Best of Everything) created dramas based on these truths.
Three Coins In The Fountain deftly weaves together three love stories about American secretaries in Rome.
Miss Frances (Dorothy McGuire), who has been in Rome for 15 years, lives with a younger woman, Anita Hutchins (Jean Peters), and they're joined by another young woman, Maria Williams (Maggie McNamara), just arrived from the States.
Frances has been in love with her boss, the expatriate American writer, John Frederick Shadwell (Clifton Webb), all these years.
Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn penned the title tune, sung by Frank Sinatra (offscreen) as musical accompaniment to a prologue that showcases the fountains of Rome.Dorothy Jeakins designed the attractive fashions for the three women stars.CinemaScope doesn't have the thrills on TV that it must have had on the big screens of the 1950s, but there is enough in the way of clever writing and attractive acting to interest the viewer.
I have never seen the Trevi Fountains so empty, it must have been filmed very early in the morning.Three women who work as secretaries share an apartment in Rome.
Miss Frances (Dorothy McGuire) has been working conscientiously for noted writer John Frederick Shandwell (Clifton Webb) for some years.
He then finds out that he has less than a year to live which causes ructions with his new found relationship.Anita (Jean Peters) and Maria (Maggie McNamara) work as secretaries at for a US Agency.
Maria decides is attracted to the womanising Prince Dino di Cessi (Louis Jourdan.) She finds out all the stuff he likes, he is amazed by how much they have in common until she tells him the truth.The film is a bland fairy tale.
"Three Coins in the Fountain" is a romantic film of 1954 that especially appealed to young women (and some men) who dreamed about love matches in the romantic 1950s.
It's based on a 1952 novel by John Sedondari, "Coins in the Fountain." He was a Rome-born writer, producer and director who also co-wrote the screenplay for this film.
The movie is a light comedy and drama, and is about three American women working in Rome, each of whom seems spurned or ignored at first but then finds "true" love.
The movie also spurned a hit song by the same title, sung by Frank Sinatra in the film.
Clifton Webb plays John Shadwell, an expatriate American who has lived in Rome most of his adult life.
American girls dream of finding romance in Rome, but there is none for secretaries, Anita tells her replacement at the USDA.
But Maria soon meets Prince Dino de Cessi at a party at her boss's home who invites her to fly to Venice in his private plane.Bosley Crowther wrote, "A nice way to take the movie audience on a sightseeing tour of Rome, with a flying side trip to Venice, through the courtesy of CinemaScope, has been devised in "Three Coins in the Fountain," a handsomely colored romance that Twentieth Century-Fox delivered to the Roxy yesterday.
one for cinematography and one for the musical score.3 American secretaries in Rome find the perfect husbands for themselves...Apparently the "favorable exchange rates" allows them to live like Queens.
Squeezed in between the interior action there are some street scenes with cars and other fun period nostalgia--so it wasn't a total loss.The story isn't worth repeating....a maudlin marriage (the man finds out he has a year to live)....true happiness with working class cartoon Italian and his family singing as they drive through the streets of Rome..and a Cinderella--marriage to a prince--complete the ensemble.It is trite unbelievable but doesn't annoy in any way...
She isn't, which is not her fault.The photography of the rural scenery is beautiful, but other shots are not as good as in some contemporary European-set movies, like An American in Paris (most of which was filmed on the MGM lot), Funny Face (ditto), or The Sun Also Rises.The plot, as such, is not worth paying attention to.
Feminists would tear it to shreds and the script's as light as a balloon but this lovely airy fairy-tale about three secretary-birds in romantic old Rome works like a dream - provided you don't dwell too much on certain aspects..
It's left to Clifton Webb to play fairy-godfather as the expatriate novelist Shadwell (the man who wrote Winter Harvest, we're told, but we're not told what it's about), smoothly tossing-off a new masterpiece between epigrams and suddenly proposing marriage to Miss Frances (Dorothy McGuire), his loyal secretary for the last fifteen years (remember that) whom the film has been regarding as practically on the edge of the grave because she's 35 and hasn't got a man.
As this is a romantic film we are willing to let it stretch a little, but certain points about it that were acceptable in 1954 are now seen as hard to believe.The plot deals with three women who are Americans and find themselves working in Rome.
MacNamara meets a local Prince played by Louis Jordan, and Peters meets a young man working at the Embassy (Rosanno Brazzi) and two romances start up.
But then again, it would not have been a Hollywood film that could be enjoyed by the movie going public of those years.Three American women come to Rome to work in different venues.
Frances considers herself a spinster; she works for a writer that is well connected, but who has not written a book for quite some time.Jean Negulesco directed the film with an eye toward the beauty of Rome.
John Patrick adapted the novel by John Secondari with an eye for how it would play in Cinemascope.Dorothy McGuire, Jean Peters and Maggie McNamara are seen as Frances, Anita and Maria.
Louis Jourdan is the prince charming and Rossano Brazzi was the stereotypical Latin Lover that he played to perfection during his American film career.Milton Krasner, the cinematographer, had a field day with all the beautiful natural scenery he captured for the viewer's pleasure.
Its direct descendant, "Three Coins in the Fountain," camped the story up, and began a whole sub-genre of trashy flicks: Three Gals Lookin' for Love!You know what you're in for as soon as Frank Sinatra, the studio orchestra, and a chorus of thousands begin blasting the swoony theme song, as the CinemaScope camera pans on countless smoochin' couples all around Rome.POSSIBLE SPOILERS...The three girls in question are Dorothy McGuire (the sensible spinster), Jean Peters (the working girl), and Maggie McNamara  (the perky one).
The film excels in many ways, but the best aspect of the movie is the mood it evokes--through music, panoramic scenery and the mystique of both Rome and Venice.
In many ways, this made it look, at times, more like a travelogue than a romance--especially with the prologue that just features music and the sites of Rome.Now as for the plot, it's also pretty good--with a light romantic touch.
The sextet was interesting, Louis Jourdan wasn't even Italian but then neither was Clifton Webb, though Jourdan did personify the handsome Leading Man. Maggie MacNamara was the most interesting of the females but made only five films in total and in one of those she was uncredited; Jean Peters was arguably best known for becoming Mrs Howard Hughes in 1957 and retiring from the screen until the 70s and Dorothy McGuire was the best actress by a country mile.
You've got Clifton Webb as an American author living in Rome, who has a relationship he doesn't even realize with his secretary -- Dorothy McGuire.
And then there's Maggie McNamara -- who may remind you just a little bit of Audrey Hepburn -- as another American coin tosser.I always liked Clifton Webb, and he's very good here, although this is not his finest film.
Also in the office is Miss Francis (Dorothy McGuire), who work for an esteemed writer, John (Clifton Webb) and has done so for 15 years.
The life of Italy is no more romantically displayed.The plot of the movie revolves around three beautiful American women hired to work in offices in Italy.
Of course, in the end they all meet and fall in love by the fountain where they had wished at the beginning with their coins.While it was not as realistic as Roman Holiday, this corny movie stands the test of time.
Fortunately, the other players, led by charismatic Jean Peters, warm-hearted Dorothy McGuire, robust Rossano Brazzi and charming Louis Jourdan, more than take up the slack.A terrific crowd-pleaser in its time, "Three Coins in the Fountain" has lost none of its appeal today..
Arriving last is Maggie McNamara (as Maria), who is set to replace Jean Peters (as Anita), who rooms with Dorothy McGuire (as Frances).
Their respective romantic interests are prince Louis Jourdan (as Dino), translator Rossano Brazzi (as Georgio) and writer Clifton Webb (as Shadwell).
Also, although only two of the women throw coins in the Trevi Fountain, we can be fairly certain a third coin joined them at some point.***** Three Coins in the Fountain (5/20/54) Jean Negulesco ~ Maggie McNamara, Jean Peters, Dorothy McGuire, Louis Jourdan