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1[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/2fad567a_9719_48ad_8610_2a0598a2b6df.jpeg]]
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3''Three Coins in the Fountain'' is a 1954 romantic comedy-drama film directed by Jean Negulesco, starring Creator/CliftonWebb, Dorothy [=McGuire=], Creator/JeanPeters, Creator/LouisJourdan, and Maggie [=McNamara=].
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5It centers around three American secretaries working in UsefulNotes/{{Rome}}. Frances ([=McGuire=]), the oldest, has lived in Rome for 15 years as the personal secretary and GirlFriday to famous author John Frederick Shadwell (Webb). Anita Hutchins (Peters) is a secretary for the "United States Distribution Agency", which apparently is some sort of American press service. Anita is planning to return to the United States soon but has a mutual – and mutually-unacknowledged – attraction with Giorgio Bianchi (Rossano Brazzi), one of the interpreters at the agency. Finally there is the new arrival, Maria Williams ([=McNamara=]), Anita's replacement at the USDA. She seems most focused on finding a husband, and soon sets her cap for the wealthy Prince Dino di Cessi (Jourdan).
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7This film was made during the "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollywood_on_the_Tiber Hollywood on the Tiber]]" era, when Rome became popular as a shooting location. It won UsefulNotes/{{Academy Award}}s for Best Original Song (see TitleThemeTune below) and Best Cinematography.
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9[[TheRemake Remade]] as ''Film/ThePleasureSeekers'' (1964), also directed by Jean Negulesco and starring Creator/AnnMargret, which [[AdaptationalLocationChange changes the setting to Madrid]]; and again as the MadeForTVMovie ''Film/CoinsInTheFountain'' (1990), starring Loni Anderson.
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12!!Tropes:
13* TheAllegedCar: Giorgio's family's car lacks a horn ''and also lacks brakes''. When they need to stop, several family members jump out and push against the car until it stops.
14* AtTheOperaTonight: Part of Maria's campaign to land Dino as a husband involves her pretending to like opera. They go to see a performance of Rossini.
15* TheDiseaseThatShallNotBeNamed: Shadwell goes to a doctor because he's having headaches; he leaves talking about a "death sentence" and making plans for his own funeral. The words "brain cancer" are never said.
16* DrowningMySorrows: After finding out that he has terminal brain cancer, Shadwell goes to a restaurant and orders six double scotches (they won't let him order a bottle). Frances, who has found out his secret, meets him at the restaurant and orders six double scotches herself.
17* TheFilmOfTheBook: Adapted from the 1952 novel ''Coins in the Fountain'' by John H. Secondari.
18* FriendsRentControl: Three humble secretaries live in a goddamned ''huge'' apartment with a sweeping view of the city. [[HandWave Handwaved]] as being due to the advantageous exchange rate between the dollar and the lira.
19--> '''Maria''': ''This'' is your apartment?
20* GoldDigger: Maria is portrayed sympathetically but this is what she is, setting her sights on Dino and pursuing him aggressively in order to land him as a husband. She has an attack of conscience and admits this, and Dino dumps her.
21* NaiveNewcomer: Maria, the new arrival to Italy and the USDA, serves as an exposition sink, with Anita explaining the setting and introducing characters to her and to the audience.
22* NonIndicativeName: Only two coins are thrown into the fountain. The whole idea is to wish to return to Rome, and Anita, since she's soon going home for good, declines to throw a coin.
23* ObliviousToLove: Shadwell has no idea that Frances is desperately in love with him, not even when he proposes a marriage of convenience to keep her in Rome.
24* SceneryPorn: The film certainly gets a lot of mileage out of Rome and the Italian countryside.
25* TitleThemeTune: Written by Jule Styne (music) and Sammy Cahn (lyrics), and performed by an uncredited Creator/FrankSinatra. It became a big hit that year for both Sinatra and the Four Aces.
26* WishingWell: The Trevi Fountain. The idea is that if you throw a coin in the fountain, and wish to return to Rome, one day you will.
27* YourDaysAreNumbered: Shadwell finds out that he's terminally ill.

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