Cahn and Styne were asked to write the song to fit the movie, but were unable to either see the film or read the script. They completed the song in an hour and had produced a demonstration record with Frank Sinatra by the following day. The song was subsequently used in the film soundtrack, but in the rush, 20th Century-Fox neglected to sign a contract with the composers, allowing them to claim complete rights over the royalties.[2] The Sinatra recording topped the UK Singles Chart for three weeks in September and October that year.[1]
Sergio Franchi sang the title song in another 20th Century Fox film made as the pilot for an unsold television series. This version was broadcast in 1970.[8]
It was parodied in The Goon Show to the same tune, with the words "Three Goons in a fountain, which one will the fountain drown?"[9]
Steve Martin starts to sing "Three Coins in a Fountain" when attempting a sing-along in the 1987 film, Planes, Trains and Automobiles, but nobody else wants to sing the song.
^ abcRice, Jo (1982). The Guinness Book of 500 Number One Hits (1st ed.). Enfield, Middlesex: Guinness Superlatives Ltd. p. 14. ISBN0-85112-250-7.
^Wilk, Max (1997). They're Playing Our Song: Conversations With America's Classic Songwriters (1st ed.). New York: Da Capo Press. ISBN978-0-306-80746-6.
