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| The Fountainhead | 
| Director: King Vidor
Actors: Gary Cooper, Patricia Neal, Raymond Massey, Kent Smith, Robert Douglas
Studio: Warner Home Video
Category: DVD
List Price: $19.98
Buy New: $12.26
You Save: $7.72 (39%)
Buy New/Used from $12.26
Avg. Customer Rating:  (105 reviews)
Sales Rank: 1937
Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, Dubbed, Dvd-video, Original Recording Remastered, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), French (Dubbed)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Media: DVD
Running Time: 112 minutes
Number Of Items: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.3 x 0.6
MPN: WARD65716D
UPC: 012569571624
EAN: 0012569571624
ASIN: B000HWZ4A2
Release Date: November 7, 2006
Theatrical Release Date: July 2, 1949
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Description
Based on the novel by philosopher Ayn Rand, this is the story of architect Howard Roark. An idealist, Roark believes he can balance his values with the needs of society. His mentor disagrees - encouraging him to compromise his integrity rather than suffer for his artistic goals.
Amazon.com
Exhibiting a darker edge to his hero persona, the strapping Gary Cooper has the (Frank Lloyd) Wright stuff as architect Harold Roark, a "fool visionary" who refuses to conform his artistic ideas to popular taste. His inflexibility makes enemies out of a tabloid architecture critic and a tycoon (Raymond Massey), who proclaims, "All men can be bought... there are no men of integrity." Keating (Kent Smith), a former classmate, urges Roark to take "the middle of the road so it's sure to please everybody." But Roark will not compromise, and when one of his building designs is radically altered without his consent, he resorts to drastic measures. Adapted for the screen by Ayn Rand from her towering and controversial bestseller, The Fountainhead is about as subtle as that phallic drill Roark wields so impressively, which catches the frenzied eye of the formidable Dominique Francon (Patricia Neal in her film debut). She recognizes Roark's nobility, but fears he has no chance "in a world where beauty, genius and greatness have no chance." Rand did little to dilute her polemics for the screen, resulting in melodramatic scenes that border on high camp, such as Roark and Francon's rather sexually charged discussion about limestone. Rand practiced what she preached. According to a bonus featurette about the making of the film, she refused to trim Roark's then-unprecedented six-minute courtroom speech in which he defends his actions. Even for those who don't adhere to her philosophy, The Fountainhead does offer something rarely seen on screens these days, a man of unshakable principles. And Hollywood could sure note Rand's object lesson about the perils of mediocrity and catering to "the mob." For Cooper fans, The Fountainhead is an essential addition to your DVD library. --Donald Liebenson
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| Customer Reviews: Read 100 more reviews...
 A Story About High Standards December 20, 2008
Ayn Rand is a master whatever she writes. The Fountainhead is an extraordinary journey in one man's life making decisions every moment about holding true to his own integrity in a world with critical mass going in a different direction. In every moment he is confronted with the option to slide to mediocrity or hold to his higher value. If you have ever grappled with where that line is for you this is a must see ! If you haven't you should.
film noir December 5, 2008
This is a Christmas gift I ordered, I received the DVD in excellent condition. It is about individualism. Gary Cooper is an architecture who has his own ideas on how a building should be built and won't change his belief no matter what.
Bad movie/Great movie! August 12, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Technically, this is one of the worst movies ever made. The acting is stilted, the music is predictable, and the set designs are pedantic. Gary Cooper hated his interpretation of the courtroom scene. Ayn fought tooth and nail with the studio heads to have it filmed exactly as she wrote it. Unfortunately she won. The heavy hand of novelist Ayn Rand's script is evident throughout. Fortunately, the theme of the story, a man's uncompromising individuality, more than makes up for the film's shortcomings. Throughout her life, Ayn, (pronounced eye-ann), Rand, influenced by her childhood experiences in communist Russia, campaigned for the rights of the individual over the collective. Her novel "The Fountainhead" was her crowning achievement in this direction. Although her ideas did not translate into film as well as they might have, her message comes through loud and clear. I would definitely recommend this movie to anyone with a mind; but I would read the book first. Two of my favorite people are Nikola Tesla, and Howard Roark, both of them men of uncompromising integrity.
 Unintentionally Hilarious June 21, 2008
1 out of 4 found this review helpful
Ayn Rand wrote herself the script for the film that features Gary Cooper as Roark and Patricia Neal as Dominique. Thanks God, she had condensed her bloated manifesto of individualism and brought it down to the reasonable size. Ironically, by cutting off hundreds of pages from the novel, the movie often does not make sense at all and in many scenes is unintentionally comical, exaggerated, and full of loud speeches that would never be heard in real life. The only interesting character of the book, Gail Waynad did not have any development, and we did not learn anything from his past, and about his way from Hell's Kitchen to the position of giving the public what it wants and creating single-hand the public opinion.
Both Gary Cooper(very attractive but too old for playing Roark) and Patricia Neal are very good actors and you can feel how uncomfortable they are doing their best and trying to stay serious and sincere while saying the most ridiculous lines of dialogue ever committed to celluloid. When the dramatic and moving (supposedly) scenes make me giggle uncomfortably and feel sorry for the actors on the screen I believe it was a bad movie. The scene in the court that was supposed to be Roark's triumph and celebration of Ayn Rand's philosophical ideas left me lost and confused about the way the criminal justice system worked in the Rand's utopian world. The only redeeming value the film has well two actually - truly magnificent buildings of New York City and the running time 112 minutes. Enduring the novel was much more difficult task that is suited for the masochists.
The book was better?? April 27, 2008
Kinda hard to say the book was better because Ayn Rand wrote the script for this movie version of her book. You'll definitely like the movie if you haven't read the book. I wonder why Ayn Rand left out so much good stuff especially during the era where a 2-3 hour movie experience was typical.
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