The Fountainhead (1949)
While The Fountainhead is famous for being a thinly-veiled biopic of Frank Lloyd Wright, it’s also famous for another reason: costars Patricia Neal and Gary Cooper had an extremely famous affair during this film and Green Leaf the following year. Poor Pat never recovered and had terrible consequences from what Gary put her through. So, if you like watching movies that brought the leads together offscreen, you’re going to want to watch this one.
Pat plays a spoiled, privileged woman with a great appetite for what she wants when she wants it. When she first lays eyes on Gary Cooper, a construction worker working up a sweat as he smashes boulders, her hormones rage out of control and she decides she has to have him. It’s a very funny scene, though it’s not supposed to be. The obvious attraction is so melodramatic, and if it were another actor in the role, it might not have needed to be so forced. But it’s Gary Cooper! Why place him in a part where he’s supposed to be so sexy the heroine can’t help herself? Randolph Scott, Clark Gable, Errol Flynn, Gregory Peck, Robert Mitchum, Robert Ryan, and Dana Andrews must have been busy that year.
My disappointment in this film lies with the leading actor. Once again, he’s treated to a very meaty role and does nothing besides say his lines without any expression. This could have been a good movie, with lots of love scenes, lots of ambition, and lots of drama. Patricia Neal was in her first year of making movies, so it was understandable that her style was a bit green. Kent Smith, Henry Hull, Jerome Cowan, and Raymond Massey tried to help round out the supporting cast, but if the movie centers on a lead you wish were someone else, it’s hard to like the movie.
Want to watch it? Click here to watch it on ok.ru. And thanks "Classic Movies Kristine Rose" for posting!
More Gary Cooper movies here!
More Henry Hull movies here!
Pat plays a spoiled, privileged woman with a great appetite for what she wants when she wants it. When she first lays eyes on Gary Cooper, a construction worker working up a sweat as he smashes boulders, her hormones rage out of control and she decides she has to have him. It’s a very funny scene, though it’s not supposed to be. The obvious attraction is so melodramatic, and if it were another actor in the role, it might not have needed to be so forced. But it’s Gary Cooper! Why place him in a part where he’s supposed to be so sexy the heroine can’t help herself? Randolph Scott, Clark Gable, Errol Flynn, Gregory Peck, Robert Mitchum, Robert Ryan, and Dana Andrews must have been busy that year.
My disappointment in this film lies with the leading actor. Once again, he’s treated to a very meaty role and does nothing besides say his lines without any expression. This could have been a good movie, with lots of love scenes, lots of ambition, and lots of drama. Patricia Neal was in her first year of making movies, so it was understandable that her style was a bit green. Kent Smith, Henry Hull, Jerome Cowan, and Raymond Massey tried to help round out the supporting cast, but if the movie centers on a lead you wish were someone else, it’s hard to like the movie.
Want to watch it? Click here to watch it on ok.ru. And thanks "Classic Movies Kristine Rose" for posting!
More Gary Cooper movies here!
More Henry Hull movies here!