Similar to Fred Astaire, Petula Clark - Finian's Rainbow (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) which is for a Santa Maria pressing. (This one is possibly a Pitman Pressing) On the sleeve: BS 2550 Printed in U.S.A. Made in U.S.A. On the labels: BS 2550 Made in The U.S.A. Warner Bros.-Seven Arts Records Inc. Finian's Rainbow 1968 by Fred Astaire; Petula Clark; Tommy Steele; Don. Lots of extended scenes which weren't in the original cinema release, at least not. The print is exceptional, and the 5:1 restored soundtrack a pleasure to behold. Find album reviews, stream songs, credits and award information for Falsettoland Original Off-Broadway Cast - Original Broadway Cast on AllMusic - 1990.

1. Finian's Rainbow Film
2. Finian's Rainbow Full Movie

Click to expand. I've said it a few times before on this forum, but these four albums are essential for any collectors ofany of these artists who were all in their vocal prime when they recorded these tracks in 1963.I seem to recall back in the early sixties seeing these individual albums (not in a box set) in departmentstore record departments (remember those?), plus one of my friends father had two of them, which Iborrowed and recorded to reel to reel.

But they went out of print shortly after.At any rate, I bought the 2000 CD box set when it was released, and these recordings are a revelationto this day.Some time back I ripped seven of the tracks and posted them on my youtube channel: if anyone wants to hear someof my favorites. Also, when Debbie Reynolds passed away, my posting of her doing 'Happy Talk'eventually had 17,000 views on youtube.Here's Frank and Rosemary Clooney doing 'Some Enchanted Evening' from the South Pacificset. It doesn't get any better than this.

Click to expand.Yes, I may have obscured the facts earlier. First editions were available with gatefold covers by mail order from Curtis Publishing Company (e.g. The Saturday Evening Post) in November-December 1963, both individually and in a slipcase box set. (See 's which began this thread.)The following year, retail editions appeared on US store shelves with non-gatefold sleeves, along with a deluxe box set in November 1964.

The retail edition box did not contain outer cardboard jackets, just the four records in paper liner sleeves. (See my above.)There were also unboxed UK editions (distributed by Pye Records) in the '60s and '70s, and Japanese editions (Warner-Pioneer 'Evergreen Popular Vocal Masterpieces 2200' Series) in the '80s. In 1970,Harmony,Columbia's budget label, released abbreviated LPs of the Guys and Dolls and South Pacific recordings. The South Pacific cover art looks like a typical $1.99 budget bin title of the era,with simple title & artists listed-odd that Dean Martin gets top billing.

Guys and Dolls features a caricature of the artists in a boat(Sit Down,You're Rockin' the Boat) though a sea of dice drawn by Rick Meyerowitz;kinda weird as Meyerowitz was actively drawing for the very much anti-establishment National Lampoon(the Mona Lisa as a gorilla was iconic for the rag)and later did the poster for NL's Animal House film.Something odd about the Guys and Dolls is that it features Allen Sherman in a duet with Debbie Reynolds(Sue Me),but Sit Down is performed by Sammy Davis Jr. And not Sherman as he would has been a great second choice,filling in for Stubby Kaye,who owned the song on Broadway & film. Just finding Sherman in a non-parody song is startling,yet he does OK. Sammy's OK here,but if he did the duet with Debbie in place of Sherman,outside of rotten,stupid prejudices,that choice would have made musical sense.

Sammy does a great job on all of the other shows in the set,(he had an actual Broadway presence, more than anyone else in the venture)but he was not given any of the romantic ballads,even as solo material.Another oddity with the Harmony/Reprise titles,Warner had more than a few other MOR titles leased to Harmony,including Kelly Smith,Bob Newhart,Sammy and the Everly Bros. Guessing here,but since Warner had no budget label and didn't need to start one as they were gradually dominating the charts they could get some loose change from leasing these titles to Columbia. ​Related to a discussion of the first edition of the releases (beginning in this ), here are some additional details and clarifications regarding their mail-order history.The Reprise Musical Repertory Theatre deluxe collector's box and its associated LPs were originally offered via mail-order coupon in Curtis Publishing Company magazines starting in November and December 1963, as part of Reprise's promotional strategy.Details from the article 'Reprise Leans on Magazine' in the November 30, 1963 issue of Billboard. 'Ads for the 'South Pacific,' 'Kiss Me Kate,' 'Finian's Rainbow' and 'Guys And Dolls' albums are scheduled for the Saturday Evening Post, Holiday magazine and Ladies' Home Journal and will run through February 1964. The first ads have already appeared in the Post.'

.' The main thought behind offering the series exclusively to Curtis readers was the idea of merchandising the LP's in an unorthodox manner.'

Through these ads, which will equal the $500,000 appropriation,' a diskery official stated: 'We are exposing this unique product to millions of people in a rather special way.' '​All configurations, the individual LPs and the box set edition, were available through the mail-order campaign in 1963 and traditional retail commencing in November 1964. The individual records and the deluxe collector's box are listed as options on the Curtis Publishing mail-order form (left) and are pictured in a double-truck ad from the November 14, 1964 Billboard (right).

. All countries. United States. United Kingdom. Canada.

Australia. Germany. France.

Spain. Italy.

Argentina. Austria. Belgium. Brazil.

Bulgaria. Chile. China. Colombia. Czech Republic. Denmark. Finland.

Greece. Holland. Hong Kong. Hungary. Iceland. Indonesia.

Ireland. Israel. India.

Japan. Malaysia. Mexico.

New Zealand. Norway. Philippines. Poland.

Portugal. Romania. Russia.

Singapore. South Africa. South Korea. Sweden.

Switzerland. Taiwan. Thailand. Turkey. Ukraine. United Arab Emirates.

Finian's Rainbow (1968)Finian's Rainbow Blu-ray delivers stunning video and audio in this fan-pleasing Blu-ray releaseAn Irish rogue plants a stolen crock of leprechaun gold in the soil near Fort Knox to reap what he thinks will be a rich harvest. In tow are his spirited daughter, a lovestruck leprechaun and a bigoted Southern senator transformed by misbegotten magic.For more about Finian's Rainbow and the Finian's Rainbow Blu-ray release, see published by Michael Reuben on March 10, 2017 where this Blu-ray release scored 3.0 out of 5.Director:Writers:,Starring:,Producers:,».

Finian's Rainbow Blu-ray ReviewLucky CharmsReviewed by, March 10, 2017Finian's Rainbow was the first studio film directed by Francis Ford Coppola after hisapprenticeship with Roger Corman, and the future director of the andleapt at the opportunity to enterthe ranks of legitimate Hollywood. Coppolaknew the score of the 1957 Broadway musical by heart, but as he would later lament, he shouldhave paid more attention to the show's book, which worked on stage but was clunky andoverstuffed when transferred to the screen without major revision. Instead of stripping down theplay and streamlining the narrative for the camera, Coppola tried to remedy its flaws by piling onstill more plot devices. (In his defense, as a newcomer he probably didn't have the clout todemand a script overhaul.) The result was an unwieldy, overlong contraption that was mildlysuccessful in its day due to the casting of Fred Astaire in what would be his last musical, butFinian has aged badly.

The original stage show, by contrast, provided a lively and satisfyingrevival on Broadway as recently as 2009—a tribute to the quality of the underlying material.Finian has its charms, which include the incomparable grace of Fred Astaire, still light on hisfeet at the age of 69, as well as pop star Petula Clark, who surprised American critics andaudiences by demonstrating that she really did know how to act. The memorable songs bycomposer Burton Lane ( ) and lyricist E.Y. Harburg ( ) remain as catchy as ever. For those who remember Coppola's Finian fondly, theWarner Archive Collection has provided a first-rate Blu-ray presentation.The Finian of the title is Finian McLongergan (Astaire), who has left his native Ireland to seekhis fortune in America, dragging along his dutiful daughter, Sharon (Clark), whose homesicknessinspires one of the show's most famous songs ('How Are Things in Glocca Morra?'

Finian'sgimmick for striking it rich is emblematic of the story's fanciful spirit: He has stolen a pot ofgold from the leprechauns, and he intends to plant it in the soil near Fort Knox, which he believesto have magical properties that will yield a bounteous crop of new gold. But Finian doesn'trealize that his theft from the leprechauns —or 'borrowing', as Finian insists—is devastating tothe sprightly spirits, who are turning mortal without their precious metal. The leprechauns havedispatched one of their number, Og (Tommy Steele), to recover the missing gold. He catches upwith Finian in the fictional Rainbow Valley, Missitucky, where the cheerful Irishman has justrented a plot of land from tobacco farmer Woody Mahoney (Don Francks).On this fairy tale foundation, screenwriters Harburg and Fred Saidy (adapting their original play)erect a baroque structure encompassing everything from a romantic triangle—when both Og andWoody fall for Sharon McLongergan—to social commentary, as Woody and the otherinhabitants of Rainbow Valley battle Senator Billboard Rawkins (Keenan Wynn) for control oftheir land. Besides being greedy, Senator Rawkins is also an unapologetic racist, which makes ita serious problem when an accidental overflow of magic from the leprechauns' buried goldtransforms him into an African-American. Accusations of witchcraft threaten Sharon's life, andthe only person who can exonerate her is Woody's mute sister, Susan (Barbara Hancock), though shecannot say what she knows (and apparently can't write it either).

Og and his magic eventuallysave the day, but at the price of turning Og into a mortal—which the former leprechaun doesn'tmind so much when he realizes that he loves Susan even more than Sharon ('When I'm Not Nearthe Girl I Love'). Three guesses on whether Susan recovers the power of speech.Such whimsical material requires a delicate touch to sustain the fantasy, but the young Coppolabecame preoccupied with making Finian 'realistic' (whatever that means in a film where a maincharacter is a leprechaun). Instead of cutting down the sequences that drag on thenarrative—which is true of almost every dialogue scene —he adds new ones, such as anunnecessary subplot about the efforts of Woody and his botanist friend, Howard (Al FreemanJr.), to cross-breed tobacco with mint, thereby producing naturally mentholated tobacco. Wherethe stage play opens on the citizens of Rainbow Valley, establishing both the locale and itsatmosphere, Coppola begins with an extended montage of Finian and Sharon trekking acrossAmerica, a decision he would later attribute to his frustration at not being allowed to shoot onlocation. It's a weirdly assembled montage for someone purportedly striving for 'realism', as theMcLongergans traipse from New York's Statue of Liberty to San Francisco's Golden GateBridge, then backtrack to the Grand Canyon and Mt. Rushmore before finally returning east tothe vicinity of Fort Knox. Scenery rules the day, and geography be damned.The whole of Finian is directed with the same lack of focus reflected in that opening sequence,resulting in a lethargic pace even while the cast is expending frantic energy to enliven theproceedings.

(Tommy Steele's Og is especially overcooked, as if the actor were still on stageprojecting his performance to the balcony.) The musical interludes remain the highlight ofFinian, recapturing some of the ethereal quality that this fable of magical blarney requires.Astaire's long-time collaborator, Hermes Pan, choreographed most of the dance moves beforeCoppola fired him, a decision the director now says he regrets. For Coppola, Pan represented theold Hollywood style against which the young filmmaker was rebelling, but Finian was an ill-chosen project for an insurgent talent toattempt something new. In the DVD commentaryrecorded almost forty years later, Coppola repeatedly says that a director's essential task is tomake the film come alive on screen, but Finian does so only intermittently.(Note that WAC's Blu-ray of Finian contains the full 'roadshow' version, complete withoverture, intermission/entr'acte and exit music.). Finian's Rainbow was shot by Philip C. Lathrop, whose credits extend from comedy ) to drama ( ) togenre pictures ( ). Consistent with itsnow-standard practice, the Warner Archive Collection commissioned a new scan for the film'sBlu-ray debut, which was performed at 2K by Warner's Motion Picture Imaging facilty, using aninterpositive of recent vintage.

After color correction and cleanup, the image on WAC's 1080p,AVC-encoded Blu-ray is impressive, showcasing the verdant greens and other bright colors ofthe soundstages and locations that the production used to create Rainbow Valley. The whimsicalcostume design, which is less historically accurate than theatrically eccentric, can beappreciated in all its detail, as well as the elaborate sets that make up the town and itssurroundings. You can see every wrinkle in Fred Astaire's face, which shocked moviegoers ofthe period, for whom the youthful hoofer of and remained permanentlyfrozen in memory.

Fine detail falls off slightly in long shots, especially when the camera ismoving, but this appears to be inherent in the source (and would certainly be consistent with thebehavior of anamorphic lenses from that period). Nighttime blacks and shadows are properlyrendered, and the film's grain pattern is finely resolved. WAC has mastered Finian at its usualhigh bitrate, here 34.99 Mbps. Finian's Rainbow was released to theaters in both mono (for 35mm prints) and a six-track mix toaccompany a 70mm blow-up. The lossless DTS-HD MA 5.1 track on WAC's Blu-ray has beensourced from the magnetic masters for the six-track mix.

Perhaps reflecting its mono origins, themix remains front-oriented, with the surrounds limited to expansion of the sonic space. Stereoseparation is most apparent in the orchestrations scored by Ray Heindorf ( ), whoalso contributed incidental underscoring. The dialogue and vocals are clearly reproduced, as arethe essential sound effects that help 'sell' some of the fanciful happenings onscreen.

Thedynamic range is wide for a film of this vintage, and the fidelity and clarity are excellent. The extras have been ported over from Warner's 2005 DVD of Finian's Rainbow. Commentary with Director Francis Ford Coppola: Coppola does great commentaries,but this isn't one of his best. Watching his youthful effort nearly forty years later, thedirector is obviously troubled by its shortcomings and says repeatedly that he would liketo take a print of the film and cut it down. Still, interesting tidbits are tucked among thelaments: stories about how the director was hired, his impressions of Warner Brothers inthe late Sixties, tales of working with Astaire, and even an account of how a youngGeorge Lucas ended up assisting his former film school classmate, which ultimately ledto their collaboration on, writtenand directed by Lucas and producedby Coppola.

Finian's Rainbow Film

The single best anecdote is when Lucas describes accompanying Astaire to aperformance of the musical, which the elderly starjust couldn't 'get', even afterCoppola tried to explain it to him. Francis Ford Coppola: DVD Introduction (480i; 1.78:1, enhanced; 5:26): Many of thecommentary's highlights also appear in this short introduction, which leads directly intothe film, as Coppola continues speaking while the overture plays. The film continues withthe commentary switched on. The World Premiere of Finian's Rainbow (480i; 1.33:1; 25:37): This made-for-TVpromotional feature focuses on the film's New York premiere. Host Lee Phillipinterviews performers Al Freeman Jr., Barbara Hancock, Tommy Steele, Don Francksand Fred Astaire, as well as director Francis Ford Coppola. Petula Clark supplies aseparately filmed contribution. Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 2.35:1; 2:58): 'Look to the rainbow!

Look to Fred Astaire!Look to Petula Clark!' Coppola has never had much luck with musicals, as confirmed by his financially disastrousexperimental film,. Even whenthe genre was still popular, it was hard to getit right, and the fact that Warner Brothers would entrust such a demanding project to an as-yetunproven director speaks to the studios' desperation to discover a winning formula in the era ofand. Tubeplus.

Finian's Rainbow Full Movie

The filmed version of Finian doesn'tbegin to capture thecharm of the stage original, but it has some interesting performances, and the musical sequencesare rescued by the quality of the songs. WAC's Blu-ray presentation is recommended on itstechnical merits; the film itself is an acquired taste.