IMDb plot summary: An Irish immigrant and his daughter move into a town in the American South with a magical piece of gold that will change people's lives, including a struggling farmer and African American citizens threatened by a bigoted politician.
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Starring Fred Astaire, Petula Clark, Tommy Steele, and Don Francks.
This is maybe the best possible film adaptation of one of the worst musicals everrrrrrrrrr. Coppola embraces the cringey nonsensicalness of the script in a way that ends up giving it some really beautiful nonlinear magic, especially in the music numbers, which feel more like music videos in the style of giant Hollywood musicals than anything else. The second rendition (of five, for some reason) of "Look to the Rainbow" is especially a joy. It's one of those numbers that taps deeply into why I love musicals so much. The movie could cut out everything in between the musical numbers, make just about as much narrative sense, and be quite a bit more enjoyable. But what works, REALLY works, and even though there were a lot of other moments that made me go, "Oh, my, no," it's the first movie in awhile that I've really been swept away by, and almost every single musical number managed that.
How it entered my Flickchart:
Finian's Rainbow > The Miracle Worker
Finian's Rainbow > Henry V
Finian's Rainbow < Grease
Finian's Rainbow < Easy A
Finian's Rainbow < La La Land
Finian's Rainbow > Reservoir Dogs
Finian's Rainbow > Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day
Finian's Rainbow > Brave
Finian's Rainbow < Dust
Finian's Rainbow > National Lampoon's Vacation
Finian's Rainbow > Robot and Frank
Final spot: #659 out of 2986.
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