Meet Me at the Fountain 1904

A remake of “Personal” in which a man advertises in the newspaper for a wife, asking interested parties to “meet me at the fountain”.

From this premise, the story centers on the Old Maid, a man who drafts the advertisement in a middle close-up, posts it in a middle shot, and then prepares in front of a mirror in another middle close-up. A full shot then shows him waiting at the fountain.

The sequence introduces the social mix of the scenario: first, a nanny pushing a baby stroller arrives. He bows low and attempts to kiss the baby, but the caregiver pushes him away, signaling the uneasy tension at the heart of the plot.

As more women arrive, he begins to greet them, yet their insistence grows and he quickly realizes he is overwhelmed. In a comic burst of energy, he starts to run, chased by the group of women. What ensues is a brisk, escalating chase across the street: he catches a streetcar, leaps over a fence, and rushes up a flight of stairs, then climbs a tree and even a wall. The persistent crowd presses on, refusing to be deterred.

The pursuit culminates in a fall into a river, from which one of the women follows and helps him emerge. That helper is ultimately identified as the winner of this chaotic matchmaking ordeal, turning the whole sequence on its head in a single swift moment of resilience and luck.

In the final beat, the film shifts to a quiet, almost ceremonial close-up of a bride and bridegroom dressed for a ceremony. The twist lands clearly: the supposed bride is actually a man in disguise, and the two men share a French kiss, sealing the film’s surprising and provocative conclusion.