Rating: 
Summary: Bizzare 60's Musical
Review: Although the story is very complicated, I will try to tell it the best I can. Two Irish immigrants move to a backwoods town of bizarros, in order to bury some stolen gold. The guy who the gold was stolen from, (in this case a leprechaun), has tailed them to the backwoods to take it back. Between songs and dances like 'Woody's Here' and 'How Are Things In Glocka Morra' the town battles against the intense, ramshackle house-living Senator, played by Keenan Wynn. This is quite bizzare for the usual light-hearted, song-and-dance musical, but I really wouldn't expect anything else to come out of the late 1960's. If you are interested in a queer, sly movie, get this. But you won't really go for this if you are a fan of Seven Brides For Seven Brothers.
Rating: 
Summary: an enchanting film
Review: Finnian's Rainbow," is a truly enchanting and magical film. It involves romance comedy and a leprecaun with a pot of gold. Fred Astair eis ownderful in it. So is all the other cast. It's amust see for the entire family.
Rating:
Summary: an enchanting film
Review: Finnian's Rainbow," is a truly enchanting and magical film. It involves romance comedy and a leprecaun with a pot of gold. Fred Astaire is wonderful in it. So is all the other cast. It's a must see for the entire family. Tommy Steele is great as the lebracaun. Petula Clark has such a beautiful voice and she is so very pretty.
Rating:
Summary: Hurray for Tommy Steele!!
Review: It was neat to see Fred Astaire (I like old movies) and TOMMY STEELE! He was my favorite character in "Finian's Rainbow", also my favorite in "Happiest Millonare." I think Tommy Steele's character, Og, was one of the most interesting. This movie has romance, comedy, and drama. The main male character,Mr. Mclanagan,(Fred Astaire)came from Ireland to America to bury the crock of gold he stole from the leprachans back home. He also brings his daughter, Sharon, along (Petula Clark). Og (Tommy Steele) is the leprechan who follows Mr. Mcglanagan to America. Mcglanagan finds this out after he buries the crock. "Oh, give it back Mr. Mcglanagan," Og pleads, because now that the crock has left Ireland all the leprachans are turning mortal including himself. He has grown so much that by that scene his pant cuffs are above his ankles. Mr. Mcglanagan is too greedy and refuses to give it back. Sharon, on the other hand falls in love with a tobacco share cropper, Woody, Og falls in love with Sharon, and then Sharon, angry with the unfair way the senator was treating blacks, made a big wish on the senator and the crock granted it. It makes a whole mess of problems, because now the neighborhood thinks Sharon is a witch. My favorite scene is when Og woos Susan, Woody's mute sister, since Sharon's already taken by Woody. He thought Susan was Sharon at first, though, because when her back was turned she looked like Sharon: Og:I'm 99% mortal now, and my feelings for you, . . it's a frenzy, a frenzy! Ah, but it feels better just bein' near ye, the scent of the air the touch of your hand, oh the miracle of it, the miracle of it, the sweet, sweet, miracle of it! (He reaches for her hand to put it to his cheek and Susan pulls away startled) She loves me! Her hand fits me cheek! Oh, Sharon you are the only one, the only one! (He sees her face) Wha- but- you're not Sharon at all! You're Susan "the silent." . . yet I feel the same frenzy for you. . is this what it's like to be mortal? Is every girl the only girl? Huh! I'm beginin' to like it! (Then breaks into a funny song) This one of my favorite movies as you can tell!!
Rating: 
Summary: One of the Worst Musicals I have Ever Seen
Review: Let me say something before I go into how bad this movie really is. I am a seriously big Fred Astaire fan, and I can honestly say that 30 out of 31 of his musicals have been nothing less than atleast worthy of watching. That single one that slips up, and makes it to the list of "Fred Astaire Completists only" is this one, for sure. If Fred Astaire was not in this movie, it would not even get the one star rating, it would deserve absolutely nothing. This is a complete embarrassment, to the otherwise brilliant list of films Fred Astaire has been in. Being a completist, even I, myself have trouble over thinking that this movie is actually in my collection. Fred Astaire, the greatest male dancer to ever appear in the movies, is completely wasted here. For some stupid reason, the very little dancing that poor old Fred does in this movie, might aswell have been cut out completely. When filming a dance number, you should NOT cut out the view of the dancers feet. I am personally insulted by the waste of such a great talent. Fred Astaire is also a great - and very much underrated - singer. He does do a few numbers, but even they cannot save this movie. Moving away from Fred Astaire for a bit, I'll get on with the co-stars. Petula Clark is a fairly good singer, and she does actually have a few good songs to sing in this movie. But, then we have to be tortured by that leprechaun, played very annoyingly by Tommy Steele. This film is insulting in another way, also, which I wont explain here, because if you choose to watch the movie, you will know, more or less, straight away what I am referring to. I had to, simply HAD to sit through this movie, so that I could say I had seen it, and therefore complete the films of Fred Astaire, and I tried my best to watch it a second time. I managed to, but let me say this, it was one of the most torturing things I have ever had to put up with. The film is very long, also. I am amazed by the amount of people who have already written their own thoughts on this movie. Some of them even saying it is their "favourite movie". I can guarantee there are more people out there that hate this movie, than there are that like it. I have came across a whole load of them. I guess nobody seems to want to put it in print. This movie was a huge flop when it was released, and personally, I can't understand why the negative, and all prints of the film, were not burned. The only explanation I can think of, is due to Fred Astaire fans having to need to watch this, and then being able to say they have seen all of his movies. Believe me, Fred Astaire completists only should watch this. I can write so much about this movie that I hate, but I honestly cannot think of a single thing I like about it, except Fred's appearance. Nothing else. Terrible, terrible movie. It's torturing to watch. If only Fred had of not made this movie, I would never of had to watch it. Watch Fred Astaire in any of his other musicals, and just pretend he never made this, for your own good.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Performances In A Deeply Flawed Film
Review: Opening on Broadway in 1947 with music by Burton Lane and lyrics by E.Y. "Yip" Harburg (who wrote the lyrics for 1939's THE WIZARD OF OZ), FINIAN'S RAINBOW was an unexpected smash that generated one pop classic after another--"How Are Things In Glocca Morra?," "Old Devil Moon," and "Look To The Rainbow" to name but three. But when talk turned to a film version, not a single studio in Hollywood would touch it: although the story was fantasy, it was also extremely satirical, contained elements that had a decidedly socialist edge, and made one of the most wickedly funny statements on racism seen up to that time. With Hollywood operating under the production code and the nation drifting into the communist paranoia of the 1950s, the whole thing was impossibly hot. And so FINIAN'S RAINBOW remained off the screen for over twenty years... 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 in Tennessee, where Finian plans to bury a crock of gold stolen from a leprechan (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-like community of black and white tobacco sharecroppers who are 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 consistently 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. In the process they manage to blunt the edge of the original in a very significant sort of way. 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. Astaire is timeless, Tommy Steele almost walks away with the show, Keegan Wynn--in spite of some rather ill-advised make-up--gives a memorable performance as the bigoted Senator, and Al Freeman Jr. is absolutely hilarious in the sequence where he applies for the job of butler in the Senator's home--I laugh just thinking about it! But the real revelation here is Petula Clark. Best known as a pop singer, Clark is perfection as Sharon McLonergan; it is a tremendous pity that she was never again so well-cast on screen. And together they manage to gloss over most of the film's weaknesses; if you're a musical fan, you're likely to enjoy it. A word of warning, however. At present, FINIAN'S RAINBOW exists only on videotape, and while the VHS release is not bad per se, it is also pan-and-scan. Admittedly, the cinematography wasn't much to begin with, but purists (of which I am one when it comes to ratios) will be frustrated.
Rating:
Summary: I'll dance out the questions, and you dance out the answers!
Review: People seem to either love or hate this movie. And that's understandable. On the one hand we have beautiful cinematography, and some truly classic songs sung and danced by top talent. I LOVE the title song Look to the Rainbow. But then on the other we have a director who can't seem to make up his mind whether he wants to film this movie in the great outdoors (get a load of those huge musical numbers featuring enough people to have a convention), or indoors (in sets that feel like they were swiped from Camelot or Brigadoon). On the one hand we have some great actors Fred Astaire, Tommy Steele, and Petula Clark (I think I'm in love). And let's not forget the at times hilarious dialog ("It's an angel! An Irish angel.) But what really makes this a great movie is the way everyone involved put all their heart and soul into their role. That and the glorious use of widescreen and color (why this movie isn't out on dvd I will never know). But again, the switching back and forth from studio set to outdoor helicopter shot feels...strange. And one or two of the musical numbers and do seem to drag (just a bit). And man, the plot of this movie sure is out there (burying gold stole from faery-land near Fort Knox as an experiment?) Some of the characters are a little hard to strange as well (a lovely mute girl who talks by dancing and a Leprechaun who finds himself turning into a human?). But if you can get over the low points (or perhaps just unusual points) and just embrace it for what it is (and especially if you love musicals), I think you'll find Finian's Rainbow to be worthy purchase. Now if only they would just release it widescreen on DVD...
Rating: 
Summary: Really strange musical
Review: Some of the songs are pretty good (Look to the Rainbow and How are things in Gloca Morra) and it's always nice to hear Petula Clark and watch Fred Astaire do his thing. Tommy Steele's leprechaun is also appealing in an offbeat way. But the film itself is strange as it tries to tell too many stories at once without a cohesive conclusion. The racism angle comes off as really patronizing today, as the Black characters appear unable to help themselves in the film. Incidents and characters come and go without rhyme or reason, and too many songs coming too close behind each other doesn't help either. Overall, an interesting, but uneven effort.
Rating:
Summary: DVD Gods, please listen up!
Review: This has been one of my favourite films since I first saw it in the theatre in 1968. I am a lifelong Petula Clark fan. The issues in this film are perennial even if the particular setting is a bit dated; just a bit mind you! I think of this film as perhaps the tail end of the great musical era (eg Judy Garland, Debbie Reynolds, Gene Kelly, etc.) It stars Fred Astaire, certainly a member of that era of great musicals! Why in God's name has this wonderful film never been released on DVD?
Rating:
Summary: A Real Classic
Review: WHAT A GREAT COLLECTION OF PERFORMERS/ACTORS AND SUBJECT MATTER. IN MANY WAYS, AHEAD OF ITS TIME.
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