Three Coins in the Fountain
Director: Jean Negulesco
Year Released: 1954
Rating: 1.0
Three American women working in Rome (Maggie McNamara, Dorothy McGuire and Jean Peters) are told, explicitly, to not 'associate' with Italian men in their off-hours, but of course they just can't help themselves (we're that frickin' irresistible, I swear): at the beginning they throw a coin in the Trevi Fountain hoping to return to Rome and at the end, at the same fountain, all their dream guys show up at once! Dismissible as Hollywood hokum, with the Italians turned into total clichés suckered in by these savvy ladies - McGuire's tactics are particularly ignoble, as she, pre-modern technology, finds a way to discover all her Italian prince's (Louis Jourdan, actually French) favorite foods and interests and use them to convince him she's smarter about art and fine wine than she really is. The images of Rome and Venice are more memorable and real than the characters wandering around these classic locations.
