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Gary Cooper, Patricia Neal, Raymond Massey, Kent Smith, Henry Hull ... see more see more... , Robert Douglas , Ray Collins , Moroni Olsen , Jerome Cowan , Paul Harvey , Harry Woods , Paul Stanton , John Alvin , Morris Ankrum , Louis Austin , Griff Barnett , Dorothy Christy , Tristram Coffin , Ann Doran , John Doucette , Roy Gordon , William Haade , Creighton Hale , Jonathan Hale , Thurston Hall , Selmar Jackson , Fred Kelsey , Douglas Kennedy , Philo McCullough , Paul Newlan , Almira Sessions , George Sherwood , Ruthelma Stevens , Tito Vuolo , Geraldine Wall , Harlan Warde , Pierre Watkin , Josephine Whittell , Frank Wilcox , Isabel Withers , Bob Alden , Gail Bonney , G. Pat Collins

The hero of Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead is Howard Roark (Gary Cooper), a fiercely independent architect obviously patterned after Frank Lloyd Wright. Rather than compromise his ideals, Roark takes men... read more read more...ial work as a quarryman to finance his projects. He falls in love with heiress Dominique (Patricia Neal), but ends the relationship when he has the opportunity to construct buildings according to his own wishes. Dominique marries a newspaper tycoon (Raymond Massey) who at first conducts a vitriolic campaign against the "radical" Roark, but eventually becomes his strongest supporter. Upon being given a public-housing contract on the proviso that his plans not be changed in any way, Roark is aghast to learn that his designs will be radically altered. Roark sneaks into the unfinished structure at night, makes certain no one else is around, and dynamites the project into oblivion. At his trial, Roark acts as his own defense, delivering an eloquent paean to individuality. He is acquitted, while the newspaper tycoon, upset that he could offer Roark no help during the trial, kills himself. This clears the way for a final clinch between Roark and Dominique on the skeleton of his latest building project. Ayn Rand's celebration of Objectivism didn't translate very well to film, with Gary Cooper coming off more selfish and petulant than anything else. The Fountainhead's saving graces are the solid direction by King Vidor, the rhapsodic musical score by Max Steiner, and the symbolism inherent in Cooper's manipulation of his power drill when he first lays eyes on Patricia Neal! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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73% liked it

3,782 ratings

Critics

83% liked it

12 critics

Unrated, 1 hr. 54 min.

Directed by: King Vidor

Release Date: July 2, 1949

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DVD Release Date: November 7, 2006

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King Vidor, Ayn Rand and Gary Cooper Fountainhead (1949) The Fountainhead
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Flixster Reviews (358)

  • brooklynspo
    April 9, 2007
    brooklynspo
    could really get one star, it's that overbaked
  • pier007
    May 24, 2012
    pier007
    Although the message it carries is indeed powerful and still relevant, the execution seems to fall short, as cinema just can't get a hold on that much philosophy, therefore most characters look like stereotypes, they are all too smart and sensitive to be perceived as people we co... read moreuld identify with, this same issue affects King Vidor's direction, it feels a bit stagy. Nevertheless the script has great quoteable lines and the art direction and cinematography are impressive.
  • groaningbitch
    January 1, 2012
    groaningbitch
    fountainhead the novel has tackled into the oppositional conflicts between individualism and collectivism through four characters: peter keating, the second-hander; ellsworth toohey, the crooked intellectual who patronizes collectivism for profits; gail wynand, the egoist who scr... read moreifices his own individuality for power; howard rourke, the man of men, the individualist who stands firm on his own ground, the sublime presentation of american modernism. ayn rand's literature has been degraded by some as propanganda since the characters in her novel could merely be representations of her philosophical notions in human forms, and all these together are etwined into an illustration of objectivist philosophy, an ayn rand utopia, which praises personal interests and the virture of selfishness, BUT the unique difference is rand's brand of individualism as well as selfishness is a responsible one, just like sartre's existentialism with an (russian-)american twist.

    as i mentioned in the review of gone with the wind, david o salznik once noted that any social problem would be solved in the movie as long as it's blended with a romance, which aims to consummate. so is the case of fountainhead the movie, which is a vehicle to demonstrate the mighty magnitude of gary cooper's machismo. audience probably walks off the theater in a pleasant mood due to the sparkling chemistry between cooper and the divinely sultry particia neal. in the original novel, howard rourke was acquited because the jury doesn't believe anyone who ernestly has such faith in individual integrity could be sane, thus rourke is not mentally prepared to pay the consequence of blowing off a building. ha. quite an irony, right? is ayn rand intended to provoke anarchy?

    beside the fact that fountainhead is a cinematic adaptation of tour de force by director king vidor, its failure to deliver its philosophical concepts just bares the limit of cinema as an apparatus to sharpen human wits, on the contrary, cinema could blunt the human wits due to its overt saturation of images (respresentation) and fluent narratology which aim to exhilarate your percpetive sentiments instead of triggering your mind into meditation. in the case of fountainhead, it simply becomes a sensual legend in the celebration of the potency of masculinity: it's about an architect who raises his chin up to cope with all the obstacles, and him alone against the world. at last, the phallic male is rewarded just like all the old-hollywood pieces. he succeeds and walks home with the most beautiful woman in the scene. seriously, would you probe the meaning of being an individual or american collectivism after viewing the movie?

    does cinema make you think? even it does guide you into thinking, could it be more than an elaborate indulgence of avant-garde aesthetism or blind-fold you into identifying with an ideology by this compelling aesthetics?
  • moonrivers
    September 5, 2011
    moonrivers
    The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Ayn Rand's script based on her novel is not perfect by any means, nor is this film. But ... its point, its directness, its dynamic, its resonant impact is seldom seen and hard to ignore. A must see.
  • ajv2688
    October 24, 2010
    ajv2688
    A fantastic story about individuality in the industrial world, but the romance tries to steal the show. I liked it, but it would have been better if they could have balanced the drama and romance better.
  • jjnxn
    May 12, 2010
    jjnxn
    Heavy handed psycho babble given the Hollywood treatment. Patricia Neal looks beautiful even though her acting here is often overwrought something that is rare for her, one of the great naturalistic actress. Cooper is adequate but he and Patricia Neal share very little on screen... read more chemistry, odd since they had a torrid affair off screen that almost destoyed Cooper's marriage. Massey is terribly wooden which may have been a choice the actor made to show the constriction of the character but it's distracting. There is one really fine performance contained herein and that's Robert Douglas as the venal and amoral writer, he oozes slime whenever he's on screen. The film itself isn't bad but it does get mired in long talky patches.
  • kenstachnik
    September 27, 2008
    kenstachnik
    A Rand-ian call to arms!

    Cooper is amazing (as usual) and the art direction is even better.
  • mjgildea
    March 4, 2008
    mjgildea
    I can't say exactly why I love this movie. The cinematography and set design are amazing. The philosophy'a also interesting. The hammy overacting and often extreme plot definitely help. But I think the "world" of this movie is great as is its dynamicism. Gary Cooper is great and ... read moreas much as I liked Patricia Neal, I would've loved to seen Barbara Stanwyck in that role.
  • threefolddado
    January 23, 2008
    threefolddado
    Not even half as good as the book, but has its moments.
  • craZgoblyn
    April 25, 2010
    craZgoblyn
    Interesting overall concept, but NOBODY talks like these people in real life. NOBODY is this blunt and honest, so the lines were laughably horrid most of the time.

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Critic Reviews

Nick Davis
January 20, 2012
Nick Davis, Nick's Flick Picks

The Fountainhead is by turns exciting, handsome, astoundingly awkward, fully committed, untowardly relentless, very strange, and a little creepy in its compulsive watchability. Full Review

Emanuel Levy
July 15, 2009
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

King Vidor's melodrama about individualism and creativity works better as cinema than as literature (it's based on Rand's novel). Full Review

Dennis Schwartz
October 6, 2008
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews

It's the kind of dazzling film, shot in a fascinating German Expressionist style, that veers from being silly to being provocative. Full Review

James Sanford
January 12, 2007
James Sanford, Kalamazoo Gazette

It remains one of the strangest and most florid pictures of its time, possibly of all time. It's also immensely enjoyable and startlingly steamy... a stylish, fascinating curio. Full Review

Carol Cling
November 11, 2005
Carol Cling, Las Vegas Review-Journal

Irresistibly campy Ayn Rand adaptation.

Steve Crum
June 11, 2005
Steve Crum, Video-Reviewmaster.com

Soap opera at its finest...and glossy as a skyscraper. Coop and Neal sizzle.

Jake Euker
June 4, 2004
Jake Euker, F5 (Wichita, KS)

Enjoyable as camp rather than as a manual for living, or even good filmmaking.

Nell Minow
July 26, 2003
Nell Minow, Movie Mom at Yahoo! Movies

Potboiler of potboilers.

Ken Hanke
October 2, 2002
Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

Fairly good version of the book, brilliantly stylized

Jeffrey Westhoff
July 26, 2002
Jeffrey Westhoff, Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL)

Seldom has symbolism been so leaden.

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