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DVD Finian's Rainbow
A funny thing happened to Finian's Rainbow in between its debut as a Broadway musical in 1947 and its appearance as a film in 1968. After 21 years, its theme of racial tension in the American South was no longer cutting edge, and the fact that its heroes are a group of sharecroppers called the Rainbow Valley Tobacco Cooperative dates it even further. Add a number of subplots and the heavy hand of a 29-year-old Francis Ford Coppola directing his first and only musical, and the two-and-a-half-hour running time feels bloated. Hermes Pan (best known for the classic Astaire-Rogers movies) is credited with choreographing the overbusy musical numbers, but he was reportedly overruled by Coppola at every turn. Still, there is a lot to enjoy in this movie, most notably Fred Astaire in his last lead role in a musical. Fred plays Finian McLonergan, an Irishman who has traveled to America in hopes of planting a pilfered pot of gold near Fort Knox and watching it grow. Even at 69, Fred shows he is still capable of a sprightly step and warbling "Look to the Rainbow." Another plus is the casting of '60s pop icon Petula Clark as his daughter, as she sings with an unaffected loveliness. Finally, the score by Burton Lane and E.Y. Harburg includes two of the best Broadway songs ever written--"Old Devil Moon" and "How Are Things in Glocca Morra?"--as well as the comic ditty "When I'm Not Near the Girl I Love." --David Horiuchi
I was so excited to see that Finian's Rainbow was finally formatted to DVD. The acting, singing, and dancing is just as fabulous as I remember it from my childhood. I would wager to say that Finian's Rainbow was my "first" musical. I couldn't be prouder of this masterpiece.
NICE RESTORATION FOR ASTAIRE'S LAST MUSICAL FILM
I've been waiting to see a decent print of FINIAN'S RAINBOW for sometime. Though not an all-time favorite, I do like the score, and I'm a huge Petula Clark fan. Other video versions I've seen were poor pan-scan versions with horrible color and bad sound. Warners has done the film justice. Widescreen, 5.1 Surround and a trip down memory lane with Francis Ford Coppola, the director.
An interesting note, this is the first time I am aware of where the lead actress in the film has dubbed the foreign language track. Petula Clark, being a marvelous singer in several languages, had a huge French-language career going at this time, parallel to her English-language one. Also being an actress from childhood, she fits perfect as Sharon here. However, this is the first time I've heard her French vocals of the score, as well as the dialog. The male leads are other artists (one doing a bad Chevalier for Astaire), but it is definitely Petula in French, as well as the original English soundtrack. This is an absolute treat and collectible for all Petula fans around the world.
Recommended!
odd, in a good way
it takes a special kind of person to watch the entire movie without developing a migraine, but if you go the distance, you'll love it. it's quirky, silly, goofy, insert synonym, and it sticks with you. I first saw it when i was 10, and it's one of my favorite movies. i often find myself singing the songs, especially "Look to the Rainbow" and "When I'm not Near the Girl I Love."
Don Hewes (Fred Astaire) is devastated when his longtime dancing partner, Nadine Hale (Ann Miller), breaks up the team to set out on her own. Determined to prove that he can succeed without her, Astaire vows that he can pick any random chorus girl and make her a star. Fortunately for him, the chorus girl he picks happens to be one of the greatest entertainers of the 20th century, Judy Garland (playing Hannah Brown). Easter Parade turned out to be the first and only collaboration between the two screen legends. Garland made the 1948 film despite ongoing health problems then had to pull out of a planned follow-up, The Barkleys of Broadway (Ginger Rogers replaced her); Astaire had retired following Blue Skies in 1946 but was brought in for this film as an emergency... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Judy Garland - Fred Astaire Director(s): Charles Walters DVD Release Date: Released the 15 March 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Judy Holliday's final film, Bells Are Ringing, is, fittingly enough, a tailor-made vehicle for her brassy talent. She'd won a Tony for the Broadway version of the show, playing an overly sympathetic telephone receptionist who gets involved in her customers' lives. Betty Comden and Adolph Green adapted their stage musical, amusingly framing the film as a TV commercial for "Susanswerphone," the answering service Judy works for. Director Vincente Minnelli, in one of his less inspired outings, seems content to showcase Holliday's crack comic timing, which appears to have been transferred almost intact from the stage. Despite the somewhat muted tone, there are delightful bits: a typical Comden & Green showbiz party (with a number about name-dropping), Frank Gorshin's send-up of a... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Judy Holliday - Dean Martin Director(s): Vincente Minnelli DVD Release Date: Released the 15 March 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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This Cinemascope production brought Lerner and Loewe's hit Broadway musical to the big screen with Gene Kelly and Van Johnson as the American hunters who stumble upon Brigadoon, the magical Scottish village that went to sleep in 1754 and awakens for just one day each century. MGM had originally planned to shoot this film on location in Scotland, but budget considerations turned it into a studio production, costarring Cyd Charisse as the bonny lass who wins Kelly's heart. Although it has never been ranked among the great musicals of MGM's golden age, Brigadoon has still got plenty of charm and continues to gain a loyal following. --Jeff ShannonMore Info about this DVD Actor(s): Gene Kelly - Van Johnson Director(s): Vincente Minnelli DVD Release Date: Released the 15 March 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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The Band Wagon (1953) marked the culmination of a series of near-autobiographical pictures Fred Astaire made for MGM following his return from premature retirement in the late '40s. Astaire plays Tony Hunter, a fading film star (his big hit: Flying Down to Panama) who decides to return to his former glory, the Broadway stage. (In 1931, Astaire had starred on Broadway with sister Adele in The Band Wagon, a revue that lent some of its songs to this film.) His playwright-songwriter friends (Nanette Fabray and Oscar Levant) hook him up with Broadway's hottest director, Jeffrey Cordova (a nicely hammy Jack Buchanan), who proves that the "new" theater traditions can be an awkward fit with the old. Hunter also finds himself at odds with his prima ballerina leading lady (Cyd... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Fred Astaire - Cyd Charisse Director(s): Vincente Minnelli DVD Release Date: Released the 15 March 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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This is one movie musical that doesn't bother adapting its stage presentation for the big screen: Li'l Abner cheerfully uses brightly colored, patently fake backdrops and stage sets for its mythical setting. And why not? A movie musical based on a cartoon strip is about as far from reality as you can get. Al Capp's legendary comic about the hillbilly denizens of Dogpatch was brought to Broadway by the estimable comedy team Melvin Frank and Norman Panama, who also produced the movie. Along with sampling Capp's world (the pursuit of noncommittal Abner by Daisy Mae on Sadie Hawkins Day is a major plot device), the movie is a goofy record of 1950s attitudes and concerns--in fact, Dogpatch is threatened with destruction when the government wants to use it as an atomic test site. The... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Leslie Parrish - Stubby Kaye Director(s): Melvin Frank DVD Release Date: Released the 19 April 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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