WHAT: The 50th anniversary screening of Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead and the Academy Award-nominated documentary Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life
 
WHO: Sponsored by the Ayn Rand Archives
 
WHERE: The Lloyd E. Rigler Theatre at the Egyptian, 6712 Hollywood Blvd.
 
WHEN: 2 p.m. (Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life) and 7:30 p.m. (The Fountainhead) Saturday, Dec. 11
 
In honor of its 50th anniversary, the film version of Ayn Rand's classic novel The Fountainhead will return to a Hollywood movie screen.
     The screenplay for the 1949 film, starring Gary Cooper and Patricia Neal, was written by Ayn Rand, who had to put up a constant fight to keep the studio from changing her script. The script, which includes one of the longest speeches in cinematic history, was shot as Rand wrote it.
     Even before the cameras began to roll, The Fountainhead created great excitement in Hollywood because many major film stars -- Clark Gable, Humphrey Bogart, Alan Ladd, Barbara Stanwyck, Bette Davis, Veronica Lake, Joan Crawford and Greta Garbo -- were either actively campaigning for or were being considered for starring roles. Gable and Stanwyck both cancelled their studio contracts when they failed to secure the roles of Roark and Dominique.
     Prior to the screening of The Fountainhead, the Academy Award-nominated documentary Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life will be shown. Following the documentary's screening, director Michael Paxton and associate producer Jeff Britting will hold a Q & A session. Following the screening of The Fountainhead, Britting, who is now the archivist of the Ayn Rand Archives, will talk about Ayn Rand's experiences in Hollywood and on the set of The Fountainhead. Displayed in the theatre lobby will be photographs taken by celebrated architectural photographer Julius Shulman of Ayn Rand in her Richard Neutra-designed home in Chatsworth, Calif. Shulman is expected to attend the screening.
     Both screenings are open to the public. Tickets are $6 per film and can be purchased through local Ticketmaster outlets or on the Web at www.ticketmaster.com.