The Fountain
Cast & Crew
John Cromwell
Ann Harding
Brian Aherne
Paul Lukas
Jean Hersholt
Ralph Forbes
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
During World War I, captured British army officer Lewis Allison is sent with several others to an internment fort in neutral Holland. After being caught in an escape attempt, the bookish, idealistic Lewis learns that all prisoners have been paroled and may leave the fort on the promise that they remain in Holland until the war's end. Upon his release, Lewis receives an invitation to live in Enkendaal with the Baron Van Leyden, whose British-born stepdaughter, Julie Von Narwitz, knows Lewis from his Oxford school days. Soon after his arrival, Lewis feels his passion for Julie reviving, but as she is married to Rupert, a German count and officer, he supresses his urge to express it. Eventually, however, neither Lewis nor Julie can deny their common feelings, and Julie confesses that while she admires her noble husband, she cannot love him. Although she prudently sends Lewis away, the baron invites him to return two years later, and desires flame once again. Shortly before the end of the war, Rupert returns from the front, crippled and spiritually defeated. Ann, seeing how much Rupert needs her, dedicates herself to restoring him, again sending Lewis away. Curious, however, Rupert later asks to meet the Englishman, and after a brief conversation, begins to suspect that they share more than a common philosophy with each other. When he learns from his jealous stepsister Sophie that Julie and Lewis spent many hours alone together, Rupert collapses from the shock. Although Julie pledges her life to him, Rupert understands that she loves only Lewis and after blessing their union, dies.
Director
John Cromwell
Cast
Ann Harding
Brian Aherne
Paul Lukas
Jean Hersholt
Ralph Forbes
Violet Kemble-cooper
Sara Haden
Ian Wolfe
Frank Reicher
Ferike Boros
Richard Abbott
Barbara Barondess
Rudolph Amendt
Betty Alden
Douglas Wood
William Stack
Christian Rub
J. M. Kerrigan
Charles Mcnaughton
Desmond Roberts
Crew
Pandro S. Berman
Carroll Clark
Robert De Grasse
George Diskant
Henry W. Gerrard
Samuel Hoffenstein
Kenneth Holmes
Alexander Kahle
William Morgan
Jane Murfin
Walter Plunkett
Van Nest Polglase
Clem Portman
Max Steiner
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
RKO borrowed Paul Lukas from Universal for this film. According to modern sources, by coincidence, an extra used in the opening sequences was a former German prisoner-of-war camp guard who was present at the same camp where novelist Charles Morgan was a prisoner, and was severely punished by his superiors after a successful escape by Morgan. Modern sources also state that the film lost $150,000 at the box office. According to Film Daily, a brief version of Morgan's story was broadcast on Borden's "Forty-Five Minutes in Hollywood" program on August 30, 1934.
