This was Fred Astaire's last major motion picture musical, It captures him in mostly a character (or supporting) role. He was then in his late 60s, and obviously in the twilight of a truly remarkable show business career. However, there are better records available for us to see just how great a dancer-performer Astaire was around this time. In the late 1950s through 1968, Astaire personally appeared in four made for television "specials." These were early color song and dance vehicles featuring the young Barrie Chase as his co-star, and contain some amazing examples of Astaire's unique dancing gifts as he gracefully moved into what is generally considered to be old age. Unfortunately, these video programs are currently ensnared in legal complications that make them generally viewable only at the Paley Center in New York City. If you can find it possible to now see them there, they will quickly erase any negative impression you may have about Astaire because of his rather limited work opportunity in Finian's Rainbow.
What does the film version of Finian's Rainbow have in common with the 1951 MGM musical film Royal Wedding? For one thing, both feature Fred Astaire. Secondly, both also star Keenan Wynn in a major supporting role. Finally, both contain performances by actors closely associated with the role of Finian McLonergan---Astaire in the film version of Finian's Rainbow and Albert Sharpe (the original Broadway Finian) in Royal Wedding as Astaire's future father-in-law!
Don Francks was a Canadian performer who made little impression on the American movie-going public as a result of his leading man effort in Finian's Rainbow. Often, he has been identified by reviewers as one of the film's major liabilities. He certainly left much to be desired in terms of acting ability. Too bad---because Francks had both a reasonably pleasant voice and a somewhat rugged appearance. However, he did seem too old for the part, and that may have been a distraction. Did anyone else notice that Francks shared a facial similarity with Robert Preston of Music Man fame?
In 1968, the Broadway Og leprechaun David Wayne was by then a fairly well known Hollywood actor. Given the quantity of criticism received by Tommy Steele for his Og film performance (including much from Coppola himself), it is a shame that Wayne was not offered the chance to reprise his stage role for the movie.
Coppola's maiden major film may have had its flaws--but it was overall a grand musical entertainment as well as a time capsule that captured an important Broadway musical with much of its magic intact. And while Fred Astaire will be remembered for his considerable body of better work, Finian's Rainbow was still a very respectable way for him to close out one of the greatest film careers in Hollywood history.
What does the film version of Finian's Rainbow have in common with the 1951 MGM musical film Royal Wedding? For one thing, both feature Fred Astaire. Secondly, both also star Keenan Wynn in a major supporting role. Finally, both contain performances by actors closely associated with the role of Finian McLonergan---Astaire in the film version of Finian's Rainbow and Albert Sharpe (the original Broadway Finian) in Royal Wedding as Astaire's future father-in-law!
Don Francks was a Canadian performer who made little impression on the American movie-going public as a result of his leading man effort in Finian's Rainbow. Often, he has been identified by reviewers as one of the film's major liabilities. He certainly left much to be desired in terms of acting ability. Too bad---because Francks had both a reasonably pleasant voice and a somewhat rugged appearance. However, he did seem too old for the part, and that may have been a distraction. Did anyone else notice that Francks shared a facial similarity with Robert Preston of Music Man fame?
In 1968, the Broadway Og leprechaun David Wayne was by then a fairly well known Hollywood actor. Given the quantity of criticism received by Tommy Steele for his Og film performance (including much from Coppola himself), it is a shame that Wayne was not offered the chance to reprise his stage role for the movie.
Coppola's maiden major film may have had its flaws--but it was overall a grand musical entertainment as well as a time capsule that captured an important Broadway musical with much of its magic intact. And while Fred Astaire will be remembered for his considerable body of better work, Finian's Rainbow was still a very respectable way for him to close out one of the greatest film careers in Hollywood history.