Finian's Rainbow

Plot synopsis:
=== Act I ===
The play opens in Rainbow Valley, Missitucky, near Fort Knox, home of a mixture of black and white tobacco sharecroppers. The local sheriff and Buzz Collins, front man for local senator Billboard Rawkins, demand the locals pay their taxes or else have their land auctioned off. The sharecroppers want to wait for Woody Mahoney, their union leader. Woody's mute sister Susan the Silent, who communicates by dancing, with Henry, the boy who translates for her, promises he will bring the money. The Sheriff begins the auction, but the Sharecroppers refuse to listen and drag him and Collins off to meet Woody ("This Time of Year"). As they leave, Finian McLonergan, an elderly Irishman, arrives with his daughter Sharon. They have come looking for Rainbow Valley, but Sharon misses their home in Ireland ("How Are Things in Glocca Morra"). Finian explains to Sharon that American millionaires convert their wealth into gold and bury it near Fort Knox. He concludes it is the soil in Fort Knox that makes the USA rich, and reveals that he has a crock of gold stolen from a leprechaun, which he intends to bury. Woody and the sharecroppers reenter, and when Woody doesn't have enough money, Finian pays the rest. Finian and Sharon are welcomed by the sharecroppers. Sharon explains her father's philosophy of following the dream ("Look to the Rainbow").
That night, Finian buries the gold and marks the spot, only to be met by Og, the leprechaun he stole from. Without his gold, Og is slowly becoming mortal, and needs it back. Sharon and Woody come looking for Finian, but are soon distracted by the moonlight and each other ("Old Devil Moon").
Senator Rawkins is buying up land to fight progressive developers. He is not upset with losing Rainbow Valley until two geologists arrive to tell him gold has been detected on it. He vows to drive Finian and the sharecroppers off.
The next morning, Og meets Sharon and shyly confesses his feelings for her ("Something Sort of Grandish"). Sharon is in love with Woody, however, and Finian slyly prevents Woody from leaving for New York by making him jealous. The sharecroppers celebrate their unofficial betrothal ("If This Isn't Love"). Og arrives and tells Finian he loves Sharon. He also warns Finian not to make wishes near the gold - after three wishes, the gold will vanish forever. Og enlists the local children to help find his gold, promising to get them anything from a magical catalogue ("Something Sort of Grandish [Reprise]").
As the sharecroppers sort the tobacco leaves, Maude, one of their leaders, explains the general unfairness of life to them ("Necessity"). Senator Rawkins arrives informing Finian and the sharecroppers that, by living with black people, they are breaking the law and must leave. Outraged at the Senator's bigotry, Sharon tells him 'I wish to God you were black!' while standing over the gold. The Senator is transformed and chased off the property by the unknowing Sheriff. Woody brings news that there is gold on their land, and the Shears-Robust shipping company has offered them all a free charge account. Insisting that credit is better than wealth, Woody and Finian tell them to use their new free credit rather than dig the gold. The group celebrates "That Great Come-and-get-it Day".
=== Act II ===
The sharecroppers begin unpacking extravagant gifts to themselves from their new accounts. Sharon and Finian celebrate the end of class-distinction that comes with wealth ("When the Idle Poor Become the Idle Rich"). Shears and Robust show up wondering when the gold will be discovered that will pay for the credit. Woody and Finian explain that there is no need to dig the gold up, since the news has led to massive investment in their tobacco label. Buzz and the Sheriff, however, accuse Sharon of using witchcraft to turn the Senator black. Woody orders them off. He and Sharon agree to marry ("Old Devil Moon [Reprise]"). Susan the Silent watches them, and dances by herself, and discovers the hidden gold ("Dance of the Hidden Crock"). She takes the gold for herself and hides it.
Meanwhile, the still-black Senator Rawkins is hiding in the woods. He meets Og and explains what happened to him. Og decides what the Senator needs is a new inside rather than a new outside. He uses his own magic to make the Senator a nicer person ("Fiddle Faddle"). In his new persona, Rawkins falls in with a group of black gospel singers looking for a fourth man ("The Begat"); by chance, they are all going to sing at Woody and Sharon's wedding. The wedding is interrupted by Buzz and the Sheriff, who have come to arrest her for witchcraft. The Senator tries to defend them, but as a black man the Sheriff has no need to heed him. Finian steps in, promising Sharon can change the Senator back. He dismisses everyone, intending to use the Crock to undo her wish, but finds the crock gone.
Og, now almost human, looks for Sharon to tell her his feelings. He finds Susan instead, but realizes he is also attracted to her. He wonders if all human love is so fickle ("When I'm Not Near the Girl I Love"). Finian finds them and tells them Sharon is in danger. When Og reveals he doesn't have the gold, Finian runs off in despair. Susan knows where the gold is, but can't speak. Frustrated, Og wishes she could talk, not knowing the gold is under his feet. Susan speaks, and tells him she loves him. Og realizes there is only one wish left, and if he uses it to save Sharon he cannot be a leprechaun again. He is unsure what to do until Susan kisses him. Deciding being human isn't so bad, Og wishes the Senator white again.
The Senator promises to be a better representative to the people, and the Sharecroppers welcome Og and the now-verbal Susan ("If This Isn't Love [Reprise]"). Finian, however, has lost the crock and his hope of getting rich. Seeing that Sharon and Og have found their dreams, he goes off again in search of his own rainbow, saying 'Maybe there's no pot of gold at the end of it, but there's a beautiful new world under it.' The cast tells him goodbye, promising to see him in Glocca Morra ("Finale").

Tags: comedy, fantasy

Review:
until 1968, when a sudden splash of popular screen musicals prompted Warner Brothers to bankroll it.The plot is deliberately ridiculous, and finds Irishman Finian McLonergan (Fred Astaire) and his long suffering daughter Sharon (Petula Clark) in Tennessee, where Finian plans to bury a crock of gold stolen from a leprechaun (Tommy Steele) on the theory that the land around Fort Knox will make the gold grow.
But things take an unexpected turn when they arrive in Rainbow Valley, where they encounter a commune of black and white tobacco sharecroppers doing battle with a viciously bigoted Senator (Keenan Wynn.) And when daughter Sharon is outraged by the Senator's racism and happens to be standing by the hidden crock of gold--she accidentally "wishes" the Senator black!
Unlike the 1947 stage show, the big screen version of FINIAN'S RAINBOW tanked at the box office, and it is little wonder: both producers and then-novice director Francis Ford Coppola made a host of very basic mistakes with the material, the first of which was not keeping the film within its original 1940s context; they instead give it a 'contemporary' tone that not only undercuts the fanciful storyline but makes many of the story's elements seem heavy-handed.
There are also a number of cinematic problems with the movie, which feels awkwardly filmed and still more awkwardly edited, and the film visibly shifts between outdoor set-ups and studio soundstage sets in a very uncomfortable sort of way.All of that said, there is still a great deal to enjoy in FINIAN'S RAINBOW--the aforementioned score for one and the truly memorable performances for another.
The film version of "Finian's Rainbow" was conceived at a time when the public's interest in movie musicals was on the wane; in fact, in light of the poor critical reception accorded "Camelot" the year before, studio head Jack Warner would have been content to pull the plug on what he perceived as another sure-fire disaster.
To an extent, his feelings were justified - what had been a daringly provocative look at racial strife in the deep American South as seen through the eyes of a scheming Irishman and his less-than-supportive daughter when it debuted on Broadway in 1947 was no longer very pertinent twenty-one years later, and the fairy tale aspects of the plot - which included the hyperactive antics of a leprechaun intent on retrieving his "borrowed" pot of gold - were going to be a hard sell in 1968.
But for all these shortcomings, "Finian's Rainbow" - from its spectacular opening credits to its nicely staged farewell to Finian - almost a goodbye to Astaire himself, for whom this would be his last dancing role - is pleasant entertainment, buoyed by its familiar score and anchored by the presence of Petula Clark, whose delightfully fresh and sweetly seductive performance is the true gold to be discovered here.
At the time known in the States as the pop singer responsible for the mega-hit "Downtown", Clark drew on her previous experience as an actress in mostly grade-B British films and developed a character whose acceptance of a leprechaun hiding in the backyard well is as easily believed as her skepticism regarding her father's plot to multiply his borrowed gold by burying it in the shadows of Fort Knox and her fiancé's plans to grow mentholated tobacco.
The Arlen/Harburg score - including such standards as "How Are Things in Glocca Morra?" and "Look to the Rainbow" - could well have been composed specifically for her voice, which wraps itself around each note with a hint of a brogue and - in the case of "Old Devil Moon" - a raw sensuality suggesting the woman inside the sweet Irish colleen.
Deservedly, Clark was nominated for a Best Actress Golden Globe for her portrayal of Sharon McLonergan, and if for nothing else, her performance makes "Finian's Rainbow" definitely worth a look-see..
Plot aside, which isn't difficult, the basis of the story is that Finian McGlonnagen (Fred Astaire) has stolen a pot of gold from Og the leprechaun (played to perfection by Tommy Steele) and has plans to bury it near Fort Knox, thinking that the "magical properties" in the ground there will make more gold for him.
A great vehicle for Keenan Wynn, showing why he was the best character actor of his day, and Tommy Steele, who disappeared from American movie screens far too soon.
With such delightful songs as "When I'm Not Near the Girl I Love," "Something Sort of Grandish," (sung by Steele), "How are Things in Glocca Morra" and "Old Devil Moon" (Pet Clark) the film is a delight from beginning to end.
The plot follows the quintessential Irishman Finian(Fred Astaire in his last full screen role) and his daughter Sharon (Petula Clark) as they basically flee to America with a pot of gold stolen from the leprechaun, Og (Tommy Steele).
The DVD presents Astaire's dance numbers complete and full body (something Astaire always insisted on but was overlooked in the original release) Finian's Rainbow is known now more for many of it's songs than itself as a whole, but it's still very much worth a look, especially if you love musicals..
The actors are charming (Petula Clark and Fred Astaire act wonderfully) and the music is substantially connective throughout the movie.
'Finians Rainbow' with Fred Astaire and Petulia Clark may not be in the same league as 'The Sound of Music' or 'South Pacific' but why should it matter.
That said, it is definitely worth watching and is for me Francis Ford-Coppola's most underrated film.The editing aside, I like the production values a lot, as the sets and costumes are lovely and there is some good lighting.
The score and songs are all wonderful, my least favourite The Begat is still very good, and Old Devil Moon, When the Idle Poor Became the Idle Rich and particularly Look to the Rainbow are timeless.Coppola directs with assurance, the choreography is some of the best I've seen in a while and the script has a lot of funny, witty and heart warming parts.
When it comes to favourite scenes, the Rain Dance Ballet, which is lovingly choreographed, and the scene where Al Freeman Jnr applies for the job of butler, which is hilarious, are the most memorable to me.I can't fault the cast either, Fred Astaire can do no wrong in my eyes, Tommy Steele and Al Freeman Jnr steal every scene they're in and I don't think there is another film where Petula Clark is more perfectly cast.
This outlandish musical will be sure to make your heart feel so sugar candish.It's a delightful romp with the talents of Fred Astair, Petuala Clark and tommy Steele (whom, quite frankly, steals the show as the insanely funny Og the leprechaun) Pure Fun!This movie throws in a very profound moral lesson about judgment and racism presented with a spoonful of silliness that keeps you from feeling preached at.Musical numbers abound and the catchy lyrics will have you singing under you breath for days to come..
From Ireland, grandfatherly dancer Fred Astaire (as Finian McLonergan) and his singing daughter Petula Clark (as Sharon) arrive in the southern American state "Missitucky" (a combination of Mississippi and Kentucky).
This musical should have been whimsical, not obnoxious.*** Finian's Rainbow (10/9/68) Francis Ford Coppola ~ Fred Astaire, Petula Clark, Tommy Steele, Don Francks.
In fact if he doesn't get it back and soon he's going to become a mortal.Playing the parts of Finian McLonergan and his daughter Sharon originated on Broadway by Albert Sharpe and Ella Logan are Fred Astaire and Petula Clark.
That I'm betting is different from the Broadway show where David Wayne, talented actor that he was, was no dancer.Finian's Rainbow was the first big budget film that young Francis Ford Coppola directed and he seems to have adopted the style Robert Wise used in West Side Story and The Sound Of Music.
Old Devil Moon and How Are Things In Glocca Morra have become mega pop standards.If you can find it in addition to the original Broadway cast album which was Columbia Record's first in that category and the cast album for the film, I highly recommend the Reprise Musical Theater all star album of the songs of Finian's Rainbow.
A time-passer--and that's about all--even though it has some nice moments.By the way, for years Fred Astaire was NEVER shown dancing in films unless ALL of him was shown.
As it was, the eventual film adaptation found itself an old-time song-and-dance show in an era where the musical had become something very different indeed.In a way Finian's Rainbow was always a mix-and-match musical.
I think He was 68 years old when he made this film, and I didn't expect Fred Astaire to dance like he did 30 years earlier.
There is NOT one bad song, in this entire movie  -- the lyrical skill of Harburg, combined with the talents of Burton Lane, has produced one of America's best loved musicals.Tommy Steele is brilliant as Og.
I normally like movie musicals but not this one.At the time, young director Francis Ford Coppola was in way over his head and clearly out of his element.
In my opinion, this is the most underrated movie musical of all time.Although its treatment of social themes seems outdated, this movie somehow overcomes this obstacle through its fabulous score, excellent photography, and the star power of Fred Astaire and Pet Clark.Clark, already a veteran performer when she rose to stardom during the "British Invasion," was essentially making her movie debut, and was in her mid-30's when cast as the "young lead." It is a tribute to her superb talent that she overcame these obstacles and put on a fabulous show.
Fred's long-time choreographer Hermes Pan was originally signed but Copolla wanted more "realistic" choreography (whatever that means) and had him replaced; however, little of this trouble really show on the screen in this delightful musical about an Irishman (Astaire) who steals a crock of gold from a leprechaun (Tommy Steele) and goes to America with his daughter (Petula Clark) to start a new life.
Astaire, Clark, and especially Steele are wonderful and the musical numbers are entertaining and who can beat the Burton Lane-E.Y. Harburg score with songs like "Look to the Rainbow" and "Old Devil Moon".
I mention this because another fine Burton score, 'On a Clear Day You Can See Forever', was the victim of much excision of fine songs, without which it does not work--Barbra Streisand and Yves Montand notwithstanding.From the opening credits through the arrival of Clark and Astaire at Rainbow Valley, with the advent of Don Francks who is first seen on the train coming back, the first meeting of Sharon and Woody, the marvelous dancing of Barbara Hancock,Clark singing "Glocca Morra" after hearing the familiar song of the skylark, the shooing off of the sheriff, the fabulous buildup of the "Look to the Rainbow" number with real sweating dancers working their way through real streams and meadows with Astaire nimbly leading the company; and finally, Sharon and Woody parting temporarily so that she and Finian can ensconce themselves--this is a wonderfully rich beginning of about a half hour, and it forms a single piece by itself that is only matched by two much briefer and isolated subsequent moments."Old Devil Moon" is the site of both of the other 2 great moments--both the first time Clark and Francks make love in the forest (the rustic nighttime setting makes their first tryst have a more sexual suggestion to it than the usual musical comedy "lovemaking") and in the superlative reprise, much shorter, after Woody accidentally proclaims that he and Sharon will be married (although the object had been, once again, to repel the "suits").
I recommend this to anyone who may happen upon these thoughts; it is by Alain Resnais, who did 'Hiroshima, Mon Amour'and 'Last Year at Marienbad': you could never imagine that such a musical (based on a 1925 operetta) would be made by Resnais, nor that any important film musical with an obviously unlimited budget could be made in 2003, overflowing with charming people and songs.I find all the Tommy Steele scenes boring, but I guess they are well done.Unquestionably, this is a worthy treatment of a major Broadway musical, even if it has many flaws..
The performances are fine, although some of the casting choices are questionable: Petula Clark is 15 years too old for her role (as is Fred Astaire for his) and it would have been better if the script writers had changed her role accordingly just a little bit to make it more believable..
At that point he had directed only two features, a student film which played in theaters and made some money, and Dementia 13, a pretty good horror movie.In a nutshell -- a pistachio would be about right for the depth of this plot, waggish old Irishman Astaire and his daughter Petula Clark, who was older than Coppola, have just arrived in the "mythical" state of Missitucky.
I prefer his very stylish take on the musical form, "One From the Heart", but "Finian's Rainbow" is worth watching, if only to see Fred and Petula..
Finian (Fred Astaire), an Irish man, comes to Rainbow Valley with a pot of gold and his strong-willed daughter Sharon (Petula Clark).
For me, the film of Finian's Rainbow is proof that even when all the elements of a film are near perfect--a great score, a funny script, wonderful scenery and Fred Astaire, for God's sake--it can all come together...and just lay there like a lump of lead.
A musical has to have a far different pacing than any other film genre.Now, having said that, I also should say that I thought it was wonderful that Coppola cut NO musical numbers and I loved Astaire and Petula Clark.
Finian McLonergan (Fred Astaire) brings his daughter Sharon (Petula Clark) from Ireland to American in search of gold.
An Irishman called Finian McLonergan (Fred Astaire) with his daughter Sharon (Petula Clark) arrive to America one day.Finian has a pot of stolen gold he wants to plant in the ground that it will grow faster.The gold belongs to Og the Leprechaun, played by Tommy Steele, and if he doesn't get the gold back he loses his magic and becomes mortal.Finian's Rainbow is a great musical fantasy, which Francis Ford Coppola directed in 1968.This is Coppola's less known movies, which is a shame.Freddy Astaire does amazing job as always.There was a man who didn't let his aging get in his way.It is unbelievable to think that the man was 69 at that time.All the other actors do a great job too.Finian's Rainbow has some great musical tunes, like "How Are Things in Clocca Morra".Just amazing.The movie is also against racism which is a good thing.Watch Finian's Rainbow if you want to see one of the last great musicals..
Excellent, also, are Petula Clark, in her only U.S. film, as his beguiling daughter, Sharon; underused Don Francks, as Woody; marvelous Tommy Steele as Og, the slowly-turning-human leprechaun; and Keenan Wynn as villianous Senator Billboard Rawkins.
"Finian's Rainbow" (1968) is one of the few films I saw three times in the theater, and since repeat viewings are normally not my thing it must have made some connection or maybe I just enjoyed watching Barbara Hancock dance.
But we all can still enjoy the dancing and singing of Fred Astaire and Petula Clark in the number of their recorded works that will be available for decades to come..
Add to the mix the elder statesman if film musicals Fred Astaire and then give him a director in Francis Ford Coppola who is hip and energetic and young enough to maybe be his grandson, and you have a strange brew.The movie is actually very enjoyable in my opinion.
Apart from the fact that the film features an over the hill Fred Astaire in one of his least memorable and least illustrious dance performances, this Irish ditty about the mysterious Irishman Finian and his coquettish daughter Sharon (Petula Clark) lacks the production values needed to carry off just such a tale.
"Finn's Rainbow, when it debuted in 1947 had a charming score with many memorable songs ("Look to the Rainbow", "How Are Things In Glocca Moora", "Old Devil Moon, If This Isn't Love, etc), and a long, too involved book, that centered around racial intolerance.By 1968, with musicals on their way out of style, and racial issues at their highest in this country, it probably was not the most opportune time to produce "Finian's Rainbow for the screen.
Clark may be a little too old for the role, but I think her rendition of "How are things..", is one of the loveliest songs I've heard in film.Tommy Steele is also wonderful as Og the leprechaun who falls in love and turns mortal.
Fred Astaire gave it his all for the last time-to good results-in Finian's Rainbow.
The cynical world of the late 60's didn't really want the number of sweet movie versions of Broadway musicals that they were producing, and "Finian's Rainbow" was no exception.
However, it is still a fabulous movie and holds up a lot better than some of the film versions of shows released during this time.Take a look at Fred Astaire while he dances to "Look to the Rainbow" with a group of kids he meets in Rainbow Valley, located near Fort Knox where his Irish character has come to bury a pot of gold he has stolen from the leprechaun, Og (Tommy Steele).
While he's top billed (and definitely the lead, as the character is the film's protagonist), the bulk of the movie's running time goes to his on-screen daughter, Sharon (played beautifully by Petula Clark) and the leprechaun, Og. Tommy Steele is a performer who is not for everybody's taste, and some of his character's humour seems to be really outdated.