Three Coins In The Fountain 1954

From its restored opening in Cinemascope and color travelogue with Frank Sinatra's beautiful voice crooning the popular and Oscar winning song over views of Rome I knew I was in for trouble. “Coins” was a popular “women” movie of the year. It also got an Oscar nomination for best film along with nominations for best song and cinematography both of which it won. I was surprised to see that it not make it into one of the top grossing films of the year, no doubt due to its being known as a romantic womans movie keeping the men away.

The plot is thin, and it doesn't thicken as the movie goes on, in fact it gets even thinner. The film opens with a young woman played by Maggie McNamara arriving in Rome for a job at the  United States Distribution Agency which business it seems is translating educational documents. she is met by Jean Peters who Maggie is going to replace because Jean is going back home to America to be married. They share a palatial apartment as big as the Colosseum with Dorothy McGuire who is the “mother” of the group and is working as a secretary girl friday for a reclusive American author played by Clifton Webb a gay man in real life here playing “straight” and who says gay men can't play straight.

The first thing they all do is go to the Trevi Fountain to do the tossing of coins in the fountain and are the only people there. Except for the opening scenes at the train station this film's Rome is devoid of people, no streets crowded with Romans or tourists. It is an odd and noticeable production flub as far as I'm concerned. Soon after the coin throwing as if by magic Maggie and Jean meet their heart throbs played by Louis Jourdan as a rich spoiled womanizer and Rossano Brazzi as a poor translator who also works at the agency.

Maggie goes after Louis with deceit and lies finding out his favorite things in music, art and food and passing them off as favorites of hers to warm him up. Jean also is deceitful. Lying about going home to get married and she starts an affair with Rosanio after they go on a day trip to visit his happy family of peasants in the hills outside of Rome. Cliches abound in this trifle and problems soon come up for Jean and Rosaario because it is forbidden by the agency, for Its American and Italian employees to fraternize and they fire Rossano. This is an odd bit of unpleasant business that rings loud of prejudice against Italians coming only after the end of the war 9 years earlier.

There are other crisis including a life threatening illness for one of the characters, but relax because everything works out fine and at the end they all meet up at the fountain again as the song swells up over the soundtrack and everyone embraces and lives happily ever after. A bountiful of nothingness. The 50's clothes designed by Dorothy Jenkins are beautiful and the direction by the veteran director Jean Negulesco is smooth and uneventful. His career both at Warner Bros. And 20^th Century Fox was long, lasting into the 60's. He did some harsh but good noir stuff including “Road House”, “Humoresque”, and his most acclaimed film “Johnny Belinda” that won an Oscar for Jane Wyman and was his only best director Oscar nomination. If you don't expect much, this penny coin might give you some enjoyment,