Three Coins in the Fountain | |
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Theatrical release poster
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Directed by | Jean Negulesco |
Produced by | Sol C. Siegel |
Written by | John Patrick |
Starring | |
Music by | Victor Young |
Cinematography | Milton R. Krasner |
Edited by | William Reynolds |
Production
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Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
Release date
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Running time
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102 minutes |
Budget | $1.7 million |
Box office | $5 million (US rentals) |
Three Coins in the Fountain is a 1954 American romantic comedy film directed by Jean Negulesco and starring Clifton Webb, Dorothy McGuire, Jean Peters, Louis Jourdan, Rossano Brazzi, and Maggie McNamara. Written by John Patrick, the film is about three American women working in Rome who dream of finding romance in the Eternal City.
The film's main title song "Three Coins in the Fountain" (sung by an uncredited Frank Sinatra) went on to become an enduring standard. The story was adapted by John Patrick from the novel Coins in the Fountain by John H. Secondari. It was made in Italy during the "Hollywood on the Tiber" era.
At the 27th Academy Awards in 1955, the film received two Academy Awards for Best Cinematography and Best Song, and received an Academy Award Nomination for Best Picture.
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.