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.)
Marjorie Bennett
journalist
Madge Blake
journalist
Billy House
Albert Morgan
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September 16, 1958
27m
6.2
Orson Welles
Orson Welles, John Collier
16
Orson Welles Enterprises
N/A
Desilu Productions
US
Rick Jason
Alan Brody
Nancy Kulp
Stella Morgan
Joi Lansing
Carolyn Coates
Dan Tobin
Humphrey Baxter
Orson Welles
the narrator
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