Finian's Rainbow (1968) | |
Director(s) | Francis Ford Coppola |
Producer(s) | Joel Freeman (associate), Joseph Landon |
Top Genres | Family, Fantasy, Film Adaptation, Musical |
Top Topics | Based on Play, Gold, Prejudice, Satire, Treasure |
Featured Cast:
Finian's Rainbow Overview:
Finian's Rainbow (1968) was a Musical - Fantasy Film directed by Francis Ford Coppola and produced by Joel Freeman and Joseph Landon.
Academy Awards 1968 --- Ceremony Number 41 (source: AMPAS)
Award | Recipient | Result |
Best Music - Scoring | Adaptation score by Ray Heindorf | Nominated |
Finian's Rainbow BlogHub Articles:
Warner Archive Blu-ray: Musical Stars Go Modern in Finian's Rainbow (1968) and S.O.B. (1981)
By KC on Apr 6, 2017 From Classic MoviesThis month, Warner Archive has released a pair of titles on Blu-ray where classic musical stars adapt themselves to modern times. Fred Astaire abandons the controlled environment of a big studio sound stage for wide open spaces in Finian's Rainbow (1968), while Julie Andrews exposes her raunchy side... Read full article
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Quotes from Finian's Rainbow
Senator Billboard Rawkins:
You've been violating the law, here.
Finian McLonergan: Since when?
Senator Billboard Rawkins: This afternoon. I just finished drafting this.
Senator Billboard Rawkins: [reading] Local ordinance number 7428: be it known that in the county of Rainbow Valley, it is a felony for members of the Caucasian and Negro races...
Finian McLonergan: But it seems to me that this law could not be a legal law...
Senator Billboard Rawkins: Of course it's legal! I don't know where you immigrants get these radical, foreign ideas!
Sharon McLonergan: From a wee book the immigration officer handed us. It's called 'The United States Constitution.'
Finian McLonergan: Haven't you read it?
Senator Billboard Rawkins: I don't have time to read it, I'm too busy defending it!
Woody Mahoney: How'd you get so pretty? And so rich?
Sharon McLonergan: Well, you see, in Glocca Morra, where we come from, there's an old legend, and it says: 'You'll never grow old and you'll never grow poor, if you look to the rainbow, beyond the next moor.'
Woody Mahoney: That's a lovely legend.
Sharon McLonergan: Aye.
Woody Mahoney: I wonder who thought it up.
Sharon McLonergan: My father: Finian McLonnergan.
Finian McLonergan: What do you think makes America different from Ireland?
Sharon McLonergan: It has more Irishmen?
read more quotes from Finian's Rainbow...
Finian McLonergan: Since when?
Senator Billboard Rawkins: This afternoon. I just finished drafting this.
Senator Billboard Rawkins: [reading] Local ordinance number 7428: be it known that in the county of Rainbow Valley, it is a felony for members of the Caucasian and Negro races...
Finian McLonergan: But it seems to me that this law could not be a legal law...
Senator Billboard Rawkins: Of course it's legal! I don't know where you immigrants get these radical, foreign ideas!
Sharon McLonergan: From a wee book the immigration officer handed us. It's called 'The United States Constitution.'
Finian McLonergan: Haven't you read it?
Senator Billboard Rawkins: I don't have time to read it, I'm too busy defending it!
Woody Mahoney: How'd you get so pretty? And so rich?
Sharon McLonergan: Well, you see, in Glocca Morra, where we come from, there's an old legend, and it says: 'You'll never grow old and you'll never grow poor, if you look to the rainbow, beyond the next moor.'
Woody Mahoney: That's a lovely legend.
Sharon McLonergan: Aye.
Woody Mahoney: I wonder who thought it up.
Sharon McLonergan: My father: Finian McLonnergan.
Finian McLonergan: What do you think makes America different from Ireland?
Sharon McLonergan: It has more Irishmen?
read more quotes from Finian's Rainbow...
Facts about Finian's Rainbow
The character of Billboard Rawkins, the racist senator, was based/suggested on the real-life Sen. Theodore Bilbo of Mississippi, who died while the show was being written.
Not heard in the film is a soulful rendition of "Necessity," taken from the Burton Lane-E.Y. Harburg 1947 Broadway score and sung by Brenda Arnau with a chorus. Fortunately, this version has been preserved on the soundtrack LP from Warner Bros. Records, and more recently, on the soundtrack CD from Rhino Handmade.
One early attempt to film the musical was as an animated feature to be directed by John Hubley. It was during development of this unfinished project that Hubley first collaborated with future wife Faith Hubley (then Faith Elliot). The soundtrack for the animated film was already completed and the entire film had been storyboarded. The voice talents included Frank Sinatra (as Woody), Barry Fitzgerald (Finian), Jim Backus (Senator Rawkins), Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong and from the original Broadway cast Ella Logan (Sharon) and David Wayne (Og). The project died when Hubley refused to "name names" when he testified before The House Un-American Activities Committee. Hubley was blacklisted and Chemical Bank, which was providing the financing, withdrew funding for the proposed film. Artwork done for the movie appears in the PBS documentary "Independent Spirits - The Faith and John Hubley Story" and the Sinatra prerecordings are available on the CD Box-set "Sinatra in Hollywood 1940-1964."
read more facts about Finian's Rainbow...
Not heard in the film is a soulful rendition of "Necessity," taken from the Burton Lane-E.Y. Harburg 1947 Broadway score and sung by Brenda Arnau with a chorus. Fortunately, this version has been preserved on the soundtrack LP from Warner Bros. Records, and more recently, on the soundtrack CD from Rhino Handmade.
One early attempt to film the musical was as an animated feature to be directed by John Hubley. It was during development of this unfinished project that Hubley first collaborated with future wife Faith Hubley (then Faith Elliot). The soundtrack for the animated film was already completed and the entire film had been storyboarded. The voice talents included Frank Sinatra (as Woody), Barry Fitzgerald (Finian), Jim Backus (Senator Rawkins), Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong and from the original Broadway cast Ella Logan (Sharon) and David Wayne (Og). The project died when Hubley refused to "name names" when he testified before The House Un-American Activities Committee. Hubley was blacklisted and Chemical Bank, which was providing the financing, withdrew funding for the proposed film. Artwork done for the movie appears in the PBS documentary "Independent Spirits - The Faith and John Hubley Story" and the Sinatra prerecordings are available on the CD Box-set "Sinatra in Hollywood 1940-1964."
read more facts about Finian's Rainbow...