Finian's Rainbow (1968)
Trivia
Many, including Fred Astaire, blamed director Francis Ford Coppola for cutting off Astaire's feet during filming of his dancing scenes, but it was Warners who decided, after the filming had been completed in 35mm, to convert the film to the wider 70mm and promote it as a "reserved-ticket roadshow attraction." This was achieved by cropping off the tops and bottoms of the film frame, including some shots of Astaire's footwork.
Because of its satire on racism, this popular 1947 Broadway musical was considered such a hot potato in Hollywood that studios would not touch it unless they were allowed to change the story. Its original creators, E.Y. Harburg, Burton Lane and Fred Saidy, held out and by 1968 it was able to be filmed with very few changes.
This was Fred Astaire's last (non-compilation) musical.
According to the commentary track on the DVD, choreographer Hermes Pan was fired part of the way through production because Francis Ford Coppola felt his choreography was too old-fashioned. Pan was replaced by a much younger choreographer, Claude Thompson, who was familiar to many of the dancers in the film.
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.
The character "Woody Mahoney" was based loosely on songwriting wanderer Woody Guthrie.
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."
The actor and actress who played the roles of Finian and his daughter in the original musical were still alive at the time the movie version was made but died within a year of each other shortly after it came to theatres.
The original Broadway production of "Finian's Rainbow" opened at the 46th Street Theater (since renamed the Richard Rogers) on January 10, 1947, ran for 725 performances and won the 1947 Tony Awards for the Best Actor (David Wayne), Music Director and Choreography.
Petula Clark, who had many hit records in French and English, does her own singing in the French-dubbed version of this film. The French audio track is included on the DVD.
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.
During Howard's job interview at the Senator's mansion, Buzz keeps calling Howard 'George.' This is a reference to the Pullman Railway Car Company, which hired only African-American men as porters and required each of them to answer to the name 'George' while on duty. The company became known for it's degrading treatment of its black employees, leading them to form the first all-black union in the United States.
This was originally controversial because it dared to confront racism. Now it's controversial because one of the characters in blackfaced for much of the show.
Many stars of this musical are linked professionally in other ways. Tommy Steele's role as Og the Leprechaun in this film came after he appeared in the Walt Disney film The Happiest Millionaire (1967) with Greer Garson, who originated the role of Katherine in Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939) that Tommy's co-star here, Petula Clark, would go on to play in the musical version Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1969). The Disney studio also cast Keenan Wynn in several live-action fantasy comedies before and after this, while he later replaced David Wayne, who originated the role of Og on Broadway, as Digger Barnes on Dallas (1978).
Albert Sharpe who had created the role of "Finian" in the original Broadway cast also appeared with Fred Astaire in "Royal Wedding."
The lyrics for this was written by Yip Harburg; the same man who wrote the lyrics for Wizard of Oz. Look to the Rainbow is a very similar song to Somewhere Over The Rainbow. And there's a line in Look To Rainbow which is also in Follow the Yellow Brick Road; "Follow the fellow who follows a dream."
