One of the more misunderstood and unjustly maligned films in Hollywood history; King Vidor's 1949 thematically authoritative "The Fountainhead" was unable to shift many perceptions and find acceptance for its "expressionist fable" qualities. This derivation from usual Hollywood fare of the 40's required a much higher level of suspension of disbelief, one that the audience of the day were unwilling to respond with. It reached top spots on many of the worst film lists of that year with novelist and screenwriter Ayn Rand's deep and unbound dialogue helping to vault her philosophy known as 'Objectivism' (a cerebral anthem for day-to-day existence) into the more mainstream public eye. Intellectuals of the day expectantly applauded it, the bulk of society dismissed its melodrama and misunderstood its profound messages.

Ironically the very core fundamentals of the The Fountainhead deny public conformist reaction; that which would determine its box-office success or failure. To have had financial success would have meant either it had succumbed to the will and desire of the masses that it staunchly opposed OR that it had achieved an impossibly idealistic goal of altering society's entrenched perceptions. Instead though it failed the studio financially thereby adhering to the principles of its premise. Ironic indeed, and a strange gamble for Warner Brothers to take especially if they thought Rand would allow her scintillating discourse to be "dumbed-down" to appeal to a larger slice of the box-office gate. They were obviously attempting to capitalize on the popularity of her best-selling novel and spared little expense in production.

Excerpt from Gary W. Tooze's article located HERE

Also available in The Gary Cooper - The Signature Collection (Sergeant York / The Fountainhead / Dallas / Springfield Rifle / The Wreck of the Mary Deare)