The Fountain of Youth

The Fountain of Youth backdrop
Poster for The Fountain of Youth
MOVIE

The Fountain of Youth

A darkly comic fable about vanity and desire, "The Fountain of Youth" follows a newly married couple whose relationship is destabilized by the arrival of a potion that promises centuries of youth and beauty—but in a quantity sufficient for only one person. As temptation and resentment grow, the gift becomes a catalyst for moral and emotional collapse. Written, directed, and narrated by Orson Welles and based on John Collier’s short story “Youth from Vienna,” the film uses stylized narration and experimental visual techniques to construct a compact essay on human vanity. (Note: Originally produced in 1956 as a television pilot and broadcast once in 1958 as part of NBC’s Colgate Theatre anthology series (S1E5); it later achieved independent archival and cultural status, including a 1958 Peabody Award.)

Release Date

1958-09-16

Year

1958

Duration

27m

Status

Released

Score

6.10

#short-film

Cast

Marjorie Bennett

Marjorie Bennett

journalist

Madge Blake

Madge Blake

journalist

Billy House

Billy House

Albert Morgan

Rick Jason

Rick Jason

Alan Brody

Nancy Kulp

Nancy Kulp

Stella Morgan

Joi Lansing

Joi Lansing

Carolyn Coates

Dan Tobin

Dan Tobin

Humphrey Baxter

Orson Welles

Orson Welles

the narrator