La fontaine des amours

'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. The music in the film and in the opening scenes is sung by Frank Sinatra. The film has a good story that holds the interest; pacing and the editing between the three stories of the girls and their romances are done well. Another excellent feature of this film is the photography. The opening sequence with the fountains in Rome and Frank Sinatra's music is beautiful. There are other beautiful scenes in the film of the Italian countryside and Venice. In summary, this is an old-fashioned romantic film that displays how three women find love and the lengths that they will go to be in love.

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. It's a shame that so little is seen of Anita (Jean Peters, one of those tragically under-used actresses), who is a much more interesting character than the breathtakingly dull Maria (Maggie MacNamara). Maria comes to Rome from the mid West and leaves after a month because she's unsuccessful in hooking a prince. Sad! In fact none of the romantic story lines are credible. It's interesting how little cutting there is in the dramatic scenes - due to the anamorphic lenses, and the heftiness of the cameras, I suppose. It's interesting to contrast with 'North West Passage', released 5 years later. In that exciting movie Geoffrey Unsworth makes great use of the CinemaScope camera.

This film used to be a big ratings draw when it aired on TV. I would hear about discussed among the female members of the households, and eventually the film would get seen. It was in fact the subject of a few news' reports, and several hit songs.

Me, I never got it. What? No phasers? No Captain Kirk or Mister Spock? No lasers or guns ablazing? What the heck? Oh... it's a romance.

Okay, after the initial boyish knee jerk reaction, I would try to take in the film, get bored, and go watch something else on the small portable black and white. Well, eventually I would watch the whole thing (under protest) but found a fondness for it after a while.

It's one of the great old fashioned romances of all time. Not being Italian, nor European of any sort, I see an old fashioned romanticism with the old world, and in a healthy way. We see a kind of sanitized rendition of the young Italian males aggressively going after the female travelers in search of fortune of love. They eventually overcome fears and apprehensions about social class and ideals of what they want and think they want.

It's part of what good romances are all about and do. It is of course a fantasy, and like all good fantasies we see the twists and renditions of hearts' dreams fulfilled.

In films like this we're presented with characters who have lofty ideals and expectations of what they want and think they want. The story unfolds and shows us and them that what it was they were searching for may not be what they thought they wanted. In real life this is often the case, but not always.

Technically; shot using the three stripe process, the colors are marginally muted (a bit of a surprise) but also gives pretty clear imagery. The film, because it is from the 50s, uses primarily master shots to get the story across, and the one action sequence in the film uses maybe two dozen cutaways at most (and like a lot of action sequences, defies some common logic, but hey, it's Hollywood). The composite shots are actually well blended together, but like a lot of composites from the time, the master and background plates don't mesh because of the different lighting schemes. Spectacular interiors, some scenic exteriors, a good slow watch for a Sunday afternoon.

An event film that created a splash among the romantically inclined. I can't find any real flaws in it, but again, it's not really my cup of tea. Give it a chance. You might like it.

This is the kind of movie that's most suitable for occasions when you just want something nice to look at, without having to pay much attention and without needing to worry about anything that might jar the senses. It's very picturesque, with many sequences set in interesting and attractive Italian settings. 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. 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.

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...