Movie
Finian's Rainbow
Musical film with a runtime of 145 minutes, released in 1968. Presented in English.
At a Glance
Synopsis
Finian's Rainbow is the first major film directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The musical comedy concerns the efforts of Irish immigrant Finian (Fred Astaire), who has stolen a pot of gold from a leprechaun. Along with his daughter Sharon (Petula Clark), the couple moves to the United States to the mythical town of Rainbow Valley. The two are soon pursued by Og the leprechaun (Tommy Steele) who seeks to take back the gold from Finian. Finian believes if he buries the gold in the ground, it will grow like an plant and multiply. Sharon befriends Woody (Don Francks), who is being driven off his farm by orders of a bigoted judge (Keenan Wynn). Comedy ensues when Og grants a series of wishes, one of them that turns the Judge into a black man. He experiences firsthand the indignities of racial prejudice in this song filled comedy. Choreographer Hermes Pan was hired at the assistance of Astaire, his longtime friend who had previously worked with Astaire. Pan was fired by Coppola, who referred to the dance scenes as "abysmal." Pan referred to Coppola as "a real pain." Studio executives were impressed with the fact Coppola completed the feature in seven weeks for under 4 million dollars. He would later hit his stride with The Godfather and would become one of the best directors in the last half of the 20th century.
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Cast
- Fred Astaire
- Petula Clark
- Tommy Steele
- Don Francks
- Keenan Wynn
- Barbara Hancock
- Al Freeman Jr.
- Ronald Colby
- Dolph Sweet
- Wright King
- Louis Silas
- Avon Long
- Roy E. Glenn Sr.
- Jester Hairston
- Gordon Bau
- Dorothy Jeakins
- Ray Heindorf
- Hermes Pan
- Melvin Shapiro
- William L. Kuehl
- Phillip Abramson
- Hilyard M. Brown
- Hilyard Brown
- Dan Wallin
- E.Y. "Yip" Harburg
- Philip Lathrop
- E.Y. Harburg
- Fred Saidy
