The Fountainhead was first published as a novel by the Russian born author Ayn Rand in 1943. Warner Brothers produced a movie version of the novel in 1949, from a screenplay also written by Rand which was directed by award winning director King Vidor. Many critics and viewers alike felt the movie was a failure, unlike the novel, because of Vidor’s choice to cast the older Gary Cooper to play Howard Roark, a young architect of which the movie is based upon.
The film follows the career of Howard Roark, a young architect, who, at the beginning of his career is faced with rejection and adversities. He is expelled from his architecture school because his building designs were too advanced for their time. He is told by his peers that he will never become an architect. He finds work with Henry Cameron, an older architect who has overcome the same adversities as Roark. He has also has had to deal with the scrutiny of his peers because of his forward thinking designs. Eventually, Henry tires of the fight, asking Howard to compromise and conform to the public and the critics by designing the buildings that they are asking for, but he refuses.
Howard gets a chance at designing a large bank, but when asked to change his design to better satisfy the public, he refuses, and the contract is given to his friend Peter Keating. He believes in his vision and is devoted to his art. Desperate to find funding for his designs and his life, Roark takes a job working in a quarry. There he meets Ms Dominique Francon. Howard is quite aware that she is the daughter of a popular architect and the ex-fiancé of his friend Peter Keating. He’s also aware that she is the author of an architectural article in Gail Waynard’s newspaper The Banner. Dominique has no idea who the man she is falling in love with will become to her. The two begin a short lived love affair before Howard gets a wonderful design opportunity and leaves the beautiful, yet... [continues]
The film follows the career of Howard Roark, a young architect, who, at the beginning of his career is faced with rejection and adversities. He is expelled from his architecture school because his building designs were too advanced for their time. He is told by his peers that he will never become an architect. He finds work with Henry Cameron, an older architect who has overcome the same adversities as Roark. He has also has had to deal with the scrutiny of his peers because of his forward thinking designs. Eventually, Henry tires of the fight, asking Howard to compromise and conform to the public and the critics by designing the buildings that they are asking for, but he refuses.
Howard gets a chance at designing a large bank, but when asked to change his design to better satisfy the public, he refuses, and the contract is given to his friend Peter Keating. He believes in his vision and is devoted to his art. Desperate to find funding for his designs and his life, Roark takes a job working in a quarry. There he meets Ms Dominique Francon. Howard is quite aware that she is the daughter of a popular architect and the ex-fiancé of his friend Peter Keating. He’s also aware that she is the author of an architectural article in Gail Waynard’s newspaper The Banner. Dominique has no idea who the man she is falling in love with will become to her. The two begin a short lived love affair before Howard gets a wonderful design opportunity and leaves the beautiful, yet... [continues]
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