The Fountainhead (1949) on Netflix
Approved19491h 54mDramaRomance
Howard Roark, an architect, refuses to build anything that compromises his designs. Ellsworth Toohey, a newspaper critic, campaigns against him, and Dominique Francon admires his work.
- Netflix3.5/5
- IMDb7.0/1011,917 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes83%
Trailer
Plot summary
Howard Roark leaves university determined to design only modern buildings, and the dean expels him for it. He takes a place with Henry Cameron, an architect whose career is finished, rather than follow his fellow student Peter Keating into safe, conventional work. When a bank commission arrives with demands for a Greek entrance and rococo stonework, Roark walks away from the job instead of signing. The critic Ellsworth Toohey, who urged the board to give him the chance, then recommends Keating for it. At the Banner, the paper Gail Wynand owns, the columnist Dominique Francon is engaged to Keating and will not back him either; she has yet to meet an architect of ability.
Cast
- Bob Aldenas Newsboy (uncredited)
Show all 20 cast
- Lois Austinas Female Party Guest (uncredited)
- Ralph Brooksas Courtroom Spectator (uncredited)
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Fountainhead (1949)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Gary Cooper criticized Patricia Neal's audition as badly acted and she was cast against his judgment, but during the production the two of them began an affair.
SPOILER
Ayn Rand altered the plot slightly to get the film approved by the Production Code Administration: in the novel Wynand divorces Dominique, but because the Motion Picture Production Code prohibited divorces, Rand opted to have Wynand commit suicide instead.- When Ayn Rand called Barbara Stanwyck to tell her about the casting decision, Stanwyck was upset both about losing the role and about the fact that no one from the studio had spoken to her about it, and this led to her leaving Warner Bros.
- According to Warner Bros., once it was known that the film had gone into production the studio received letters from architects suggesting designs, while Frank Lloyd Wright turned down an offer to work on the film.
- Architect David Rockwell, who saw the film when he visited New York City in 1964, has said it influenced his interest in architecture and design, and that at his university many architecture students named their dogs Roark as a tribute to the protagonist.
