Three American women working in Rome, Italy share a spacious apartment and the desire to find love and marriage. Each one experiences a few bumps in her journey to romance.Three American women working in Rome, Italy share a spacious apartment and the desire to find love and marriage. Each one experiences a few bumps in her journey to romance.Three American women working in Rome, Italy share a spacious apartment and the desire to find love and marriage. Each one experiences a few bumps in her journey to romance.
- Director
- Writers
- Stars
- Won 2 Oscars
- 2 wins & 3 nominations total
- Undetermined Secondary Role
- (uncredited)
- Waiter in Select Restaurant
- (uncredited)
- Headwaiter
- (uncredited)
- Pepe - Shadwell's Butler
- (uncredited)
- Undetermined Secondary Role
- (uncredited)
- Party Guest
- (uncredited)
- Principessa's Butler
- (uncredited)
- Waiter in Venice
- (uncredited)
- Chauffeur
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Featured reviews
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.
The title sequence is very enjoyable, with the Sinatra song accompanied by many excellent views of Rome. But it sets the expectations a little too high, since the rest of the movie is rather commonplace in all respects other than the settings. The cast is solid, but none of them really get the kind of character that allows them to stand out. The story is pleasant and sometimes enjoyable, but is too often bland, predictable, and/or implausible.
It's still a decent way to pass the time if your expectations aren't too high. It would probably have been a little better if it were a bit shorter, since there is just not enough story material to fill the whole running time without it becoming too noticeable.
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.
The film has a fine cast, and the story is so-so. The movie also spurned a hit song by the same title, sung by Frank Sinatra in the film. It won the Academy Award for best original song. Julie Styne wrote the music and Sammy Cahn the lyrics. The Four Aces turned it into a number one hit on the 1954 U. S. pop chart. Several other recordings were made after that.
While the story is okay, a big plus for the film is its cinematography and scenic shots of and around Rome. The best of these are scenes of some of the many glorious fountains of the eternal city. The granddaddy of them all, the Trevi Fountain, is center stage for the opening and closing.
One interesting aspect of the story is with the lead male and female characters. Clifton Webb plays John Shadwell, an expatriate American who has lived in Rome most of his adult life. Dorothy McGuire plays Miss Frances, his secretary for the past 15 years. That means that she was in Rome since 1939, and the two of them lived through World War II. That would have included the early years when Benito Mussolini's Italy was allied with Nazi Germany, and the later German occupation of Rome. I don't know how Sedondari treated that in his novel, but it seems strange that there's not a hint of the war having just been over less than nine years, or of Miss Frances having been there during that time. It seems that Anita (Jean Peters) and Maria (Maggie McNamara) would have asked Frances about that at some point.
A funny line by Shadwell stands out. He says to Prince Dino di Cessi (played by Louis Jordan), "These girls in love never realize they should be honestly dishonest instead of being dishonestly honest.
Did you know
- TriviaThe 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.
- GoofsAt the farm, the large round loaf of bread can be seen to have been precut before Giorgio's father picks it up to cut off a slice.
- Quotes
Woman at Cocktail Party: My husband declares that I was simply born to be a writer. He says if anyone just took a pencil and followed me around, they'd have a novel.
John Frederick Shadwell: My dear lady, I should be delighted to get behind you with a pencil.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Miss Cobaye (1992)
- SoundtracksThree Coins in the Fountain
(1954)
by Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn
Sung by Frank Sinatra (uncredited) during the opening credits
Sung also by an unseen chorus at the end
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- Three Coins in the Fountain
- Filming locations
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Gross worldwide
- $6,813
- Runtime
- 1h 42m(102 min)
- Aspect ratio
- 2.55 : 1