“SEE ROME AND FIND A HUSBAND!”

By Raymond Benson

The title of this review is admittedly facetious, but let’s be honest—it’s what this movie is about!

The time is 1954, the Eisenhower years, and America is at the crossroads of remaining in a conservative, sexually repressed era in which women, regardless if they had a career or not, were supposed to be more interested in finding husbands. Things wouldn’t change until the revolutionary 1960s. Hollywood mainstream pictures perpetuated this notion in the 50s with fare like Three Coins in the Fountain, an extremely popular romantic comedy upon its release. In fact, it received an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture.

Three American women, Frances (Dorothy McGuire), Anita (Jean Peters), and Maria (Maggie McNamara), all have jobs working for an American company located in Rome, Italy. One would think that would be fulfilling enough… but, no, all three women are on the hunt for husbands. Frances has her eyes set on an older American expat writer (Clifton Webb—really??), Anita is understandably attracted to the Italian “nice guy” (Rossano Brazzi), and Maria is taken with the Italian “bad boy” Casanova and prince (Louis Jourdan, who’s really French, but never mind). The story follows the three couples’ ups and downs, their travels around Rome seeing the many sights, and the inevitable break-ups and reunions.

It’s all very pleasant and vapid and corny, with decent performances by all performers, despite struggling with a paper-thin script. I’m sure it was a great date movie back then. Three Coins in the Fountain has, in fact, been remade three other times,as a feature film (The Pleasure Seekers, 1964), another as a television movie (same title, made in 1966 but not broadcast until 1970), and thirdly as yet another feature film (When in Rome, 2010).

What makes this picture worth watching today is the gorgeous Oscar-winning cinematography and travelogue aspects. The picture’s locations hit all the major tourist stops around Rome and the countryside around the city. You’ll see them all—the Museo Nazionale, Trastevere, the Galleria Borghese, the Roman Forum, the Spanish Steps, the Colosseum, and, of course, Trevi Fountain, the “star” of the film. And there are no problems with parking, traffic, or crowds of people! (It was rather amazing that the ladies in the story could drive right up to the fountain, park beside it, and admire it with no one else around.)

And, of course, there’s the music. The title song by Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn (and sung by an uncredited Frank Sinatra) won the Oscar for Best Song and became a standard.

The new Twilight Time Blu-ray is a restored 1080p high definition transfer that looks marvelous and shows off the Oscar-winning cinematography by Milton R. Krasner and the breathtaking sights of Rome and its environs. As a visitor to that great city in the past ten years, it’s remarkable that the landmarks look exactly the same now as they did in 1954. There’s a choice for audio: 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, 4.0 DTS-HD Master Audio, or 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio. Film historian Jeanine Basinger provides an audio commentary, and there’s also an isolated music track.

Other supplements are a brief newsreel item of the Academy Awards ceremony as Three Coins wins the Cinematography award (with Bette Davis, the presenter, wearing a very wacky hat!), the original theatrical trailer, and other Twilight Time trailers.

As usual, Twilight Time produced a limited edition of only 3,000 units, making the disk a collector’s item upon its release! So, make it a 1950s date night, cuddle up with a significant other and a bottle of Chianti, enjoy the tour of Rome, and throw Three Coins in the Fountain.

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