Word: finian
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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Tension and tears are constant. But there are moments of triumph as well: the completion of A Bridge Too Far, published two months before the author's death; the night Ryan conducts the orchestra in a local production of Finian's Rainbow star ring his daughter Vicki...
...time a song ended, as the ten talented cast members re-positioned themselves on the stage for the next number. Speaking of numbers, there were 30 numbers lifted in the program, a very few of which were left out. They came from shows like A Chorus Line, Godspell, Pippin, Finian's Rainbow, and Fiddler on the Roof. The music was good: Broadway showtunes that would have made Lawrence Welk. The dancing was good; a guy did a somersault and knocked over the only flat on the stage. The singing was good; the show's high point definitely came when...
COPPOLA'S DIRECTION is among the best that ever has been done in American film. He's created some puerile nonsense previously, but knowing the territory here seems to have given him the spark plug he's needed. (What could a Coppola expect to do with Finian's Rainbow anyway?) Every scene--even the most violent--is played for character, and timed with the perfection needed to bring off such cocky middle-distance lensing. Coppola knew that in Gordon Willis he had the best colorist in current Hollywood credits. So he lets Willis react to the setting in color while...
Dynasty and Power. Coppola was an established screenwriter (he won an Oscar last year for co-authoring Patton), but he had an indifferent record as a director (Finian's Rainbow, You're a Big Boy Now). Nevertheless, Evans had faith in Coppola's ability, and attached particular importance to the fact that he was Italian-American. Says Evans: "He knew the way these men in The Godfather ate their food, kissed each other, talked. He knew the grit." Coppola, deeply in debt, could have used an offer to direct traffic, let alone a movie like The Godfather...
...realize how quickly the "modern" musical has aged, how unacceptable these shows are now to most theatregoers under fifty. Certainly Hollywood studio heads are the most blind in this respect, which explains their financing of such colossal bombs as the film versions of Dolly, Paint Your Wagon and Finian's Rainbow...