Chapter Eleven

Rossano begins this chapter at the beautiful Trevi Fountain, a monument that he is convinced gave him luck. Like many thespians, Rossano had a few supersitions and went through a number of routines prior to a performance or if boarding a plane. (He wasn't keen on flying.)  We explore that side of his life later (including Lydia's beliefs) in Chapter Twenty-Four.

With thanks to Ralph Edwards Productions for this still from This is Your Life. Here's Rossano with the Romanian director, Jean Negulesco. They worked together on a couple of films and Jean was responsible for giving Rossano his big break in Three Coins in a Fountain. Jean took quite a risk in casting Rossano and you can read about this in the book. Rossano, at this time, was out of favour with audiences and it was Vittorio Gassman who was being spoken about for the role of Georgio.

Three Coins in a Fountain is readily available and is often shown on TV. It's a lovely film for a Sunday afternoon and has some wonderful shots of Rome and Venice. It's amazing how few cars are on the roads in Rome compared to today!

This film is widely available  and is often shown on the television. The other photo shows a very young Rossano in Three Coins in a Fountain. The theme song was Frank Sinatra's first number one in the UK.

Discounting Little Women, this was the first of three Hollywood on the Tiber films that Rossano starred in and this is the first where the critics were sitting up and taking notice. Those who slated him in Little Women were now talking about him as a potential romantic movie star.