Finian's Rainbow (DVD)

Excellently done with a variety of stars. A treasure from my childhood that I was excited to share with my grandchildren.

I remember the first time I saw this movie. My school went on an outing to see this movie and I immediately fell in love with it. I love old musicals.

"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. Despite this I agree with most of the critical comments about portions of the film.Unfortunately it was assembled as a 145 minute "roadshow" musical; these were overlong spectaculars which depended less on the charm of the performers (think 1930's) than on pre-sold event marketing (unnecessary, pretentious, overscale, and distracting production values; souvenir programs; etc.). Right around the time of its release these mega-productions were leading many of the studios to financial ruin. Warner Brothers took a hit from this one; box office was bad but fortunately Coppola worked cheap and had cranked this out on the back-lot with a relatively modest budget.Trim about 30 minutes from the film and you would have a much better production. There is a lot of stuff here that is supposed to be fun and just doesn't make it. Fortunately there are some real gems sandwiched throughout the film.Think bi-racial "Lil Abner" (1959) with a touch of "The Wizard of Oz" (1939). The Oz connection comes from lyricist E. Y. Harburg, the guy who gave us "If I Were the King of the Forest". There are enough such silly songs to make up for toughing out the musical clunker moments. Tommy Steele absolutely shines doing this material (insert Bert Lahr here) .Nothing wrong with the performances of Fred Astaire or Petula Clark either. And its not just his dancing and her singing, they both achieve excellent characterizations. Astaire at 70 does not look much different facially than Astaire at 30. But this time instead of a physically unlikely love interest he plays a warm old man still chasing a dream, and it's a much better fit. Clark does an excellent Debbie Reynolds and more than holds her own through the production.Unfortunately there is little good to say about the casting of Don Francks as Petula's love interest and Hancock's older brother. Most likely Coppola felt that the film needed a relatively hip looking guy in place of a Gordon MacRae type. But Francks comes off as more of an oily hotshot; the kind of guy who would proposition your 14 year-old sister.The plot has Finian and his daughter coming to Kentucky to bury a crock of gold he has stolen from a leprechaun back in Ireland. Finian believes that he can produce some kind of synergy by getting the gold within close range of Ft. Knox. They end up in a racially mixed Dogpatch named Rainbow Valley, where blacks and whites work side-by-side as tobacco sharecroppers. There is considerable intrigue involving the local racist political hacks, a new strain of mentholated tobacco being developed by a George Washington Carver type (nicely played by Al Freeman Jr.), back taxes on the sharecropping collective, romance, and a leprechaun who is slowly becoming human.Barbara Hancock, a young but quite accomplished ballet dancer, is fetching as "Susan the Silent" (who dances instead of talking). Coppola adds a lot of nice lyrical moments by showcasing her dancing. It is said that Astaire resented her being cast instead of an older dancer he recommended. They are not paired in any number, a failure conspicuous by its absence.The widescreen DVD looks great and the Coppola commentary is surprisingly interesting.Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

I am reluctantly giving only three stars for this movie. Properly executed it should easily have garnered five stars, as many have awarded it. With a more fine-grained scoring I would have given it 7/10.One thing I should say, especially for international buyers, the Blu-ray is Region Free. Had I not read this on another review I would not have bought it, as I actually am in New Zealand where the Blu-ray region is 'B' rather than 'A' for the US. Nowhere in the movie info does it mention anything about the region code of this disc. Sellers really should state the region code for the discs as many buyers, like myself, are international.The Blu-ray quality was very good but for a slightly detectable grain though that was easily dealt with by the noise filter on my OPPO player. Like a couple of other movies I have received recently, unusually, I had to lower the contrast and brightness to get what I see as the optimum look for this type of movie, also easily done.A few of the songs were repeated in various forms throughout the movie. But for me I was spoilt by the song "How Are Things in Glocca Morra?" which I had heard many times, over and over, on my parents Gracie Fields record dating back to 1947 or 1956. But the highlight was the four different renditions of that lovely song "Look To The Rainbow".But, regardless of the political situation, this is definitely not the right kind of movie for social commentary, racism. To bring this heavy subject into what should have been a light-hearted and uplifting movie was a mistake. With stolen crocks of gold and leprechauns, this is more of a fairy story. As Petula Clark said 'Francis Ford Coppola was at odds with the subject matter', this being one of his first movies. I believe, consequently, that he didn't get the best out of Fred Astaire or Petula Clark. Though they were a delight to watch, they were capable of better. But one standout was the lovely Barbara Hancock as Susan the Silent whose dancing was captivating. Tommy Steele as the leprechaun was also very good.I am still pleased to have this title on my shelf.

An underrated Fred Astaire film that got a bad rap. We loved the movie, but only had it in VHS. Decided to finally get it in dvd.

I love this movie! It's fun and entertaining!!! Fred Astaire was 68/69 while they were filming this, and he was awesome even then! His dance number during the "Idle Rich" song was the highlight of the entire film. He was definitely a great entertainer at any age. The entire cast did a wonderful job! When I first saw this film on TV as a kid, Tommy Steele as the leprechaun, Og, was my favorite; and I was fascinated with Fred Astaire and his dancing. I still think that, but have come to appreciate Fred Astaire a lot more now that I'm older. The only reason I'm not giving this 5 stars is because I feel that Francis Ford Coppola's direction on this film was a bit off. Live and learn, as they say, though. It was an early film for him. There was a bit of Old Hollywood vs. New Hollywood clashing going on. Cutting Fred Astaire's feet off, for example, to make way for a new filming style while he was dancing some of the numbers is at the top of my list of reasons. Hello?! Fred Astaire, dancing movie and stage legend; and he wasn't allowing the audience to see his feet the entire time while dancing?! When people watch a Fred Astaire movie, they want to see his feet when he dances. Other than that, I find it highly entertaining, and it has a great lesson about treating everyone equally. I highly recommend it!

Region Free Musical dated delight.. The set pieces for the musical numbers are brilliant a. Nd wonderful in blu ray but the script.. Ahem.. Very dodgy in parts

This was another Christmas present for my Dad which arrived on time for Christmas. I have not seen it myself but my Dad is happy with it.

I hadn't seen Finian's Rainbow since it was first released in the cinemas-(1968?) and I had not seen it available in shops, but now I'm online I've not only found it but actually possess it on DVD. I loved it at first sight with wonderful performances from Fred Astaire, Tommy Steel and Petula Clark.It's wall-to-wall songs and dance routines with never a dull moment.I can thoroughly recommend it to fans of musicals in general or these three stars in particular...buy it whilst it's still being made available.

This was part of a 70th birthday gift, bought along with other Tommy Steele films for an “old” fan!

I saw the play earlier this year and could not get the music out of my head. After some research I found the movie and ordered it and I think it is great, the perfect movie to watch on a rainy afternoon. Guaranteed to give you a good mood again!DVD plays in english as advertised. It comes with instructions how to chose the english version but it was not needed in my case as it plays English by default.