A Few Words About A few words about...™ Finian's Rainbow -- in Blu-ray (9 Viewers)

[Eric Vedowski]

Was the musical number "Necessity" ever filmed? ( The song is on the CD and it's wonderful)

I've wondered the same thing. According to this it was filmed-https://books.google.com/books?id=N89_4hYsS-wC&pg=PA269&dq="finian's+rainbow"+necessity+arnau&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiymangnavSAhUH2oMKHYoqAIYQ6AEIHDAA#v=onepage&q="finian's rainbow" necessity arnau&f=false
Here's a story about the singer, Brenda Arnau, at the bottom of the page, mentions the song. This is a pdf.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct...bEzgas94xSFEfopwg&sig2=wAs5JZrbjN3exygvDGFnWQ

 

[PMF]

Interviewed him for Half a Sixpence. Had seen the show. Very nice chap. Unaffected.

Half a Sixpence was the film that introduced me to Tommy Steele @ the age of 7.
Loved that film; wore out two vinyl's listening to Mr. Steele and those perfect orchestrations of Irwin Kostel. I even begged for a banjo for my eighth birthday; and was disappointed that what was presented to me was just a toy version of the real thing. "Banjo, banjo, gotta get a banjo" became the mantra, thereafter.
Eventually, "Half a Sixpence" was playing live in the city of Boston.
I am no longer clear if Mr. Steele was to be performing in it. My parents warned me, though, that if they spent the money on the tickets that I should not expect the play to be the same as the movie. Well, at that young age my silent thinking process was along the lines of, "Why would I want to see a play called Half a Sixpence, if it isn't the same story"? So I turned down the offer.
Boy, would I love Half a Sixpence to come out on BD. I wonder how Kostel's score would sound in 5.1; as well as how Geoffrey Unsworth's cinematography would come across, since seeing that one-time theatrical release. Fantastic, on both fronts, no doubt.
"Very nice chap", says RAH of his meeting with Mr. Steele. That is great to hear, as it matches how I had imagined him to be. Some say he was an over-the-top performer; and on film, this may very well be a valid argument. But, at the same time, I viewed his showmanship as being something more along the lines of a talent who was overflowing with generous fortuosities towards his audience.

 

[PMF]

Well, for this BD incarnation of "Finian's Rainbow" we have many improvements known to us thus far:
1. It's from WAC, which is always a good thing.
2. It's received scores of 5's across the board from Robert Harris.
3. It's the Roadshow version.

Of course, this is plenty;
but I was wondering if there are other known improvements, scenes or songs added that were not present before within the other existing formats?

 

[Mike Frezon]

I only know Tommy Steele from The Happiest Millionaire...

 

[Matt Hough]

I only know Tommy Steele from The Happiest Millionaire...

Well, if you liked him in that, you should equally enjoy him in his starring role in Half a Sixpence and in Finian's Rainbow.

 

[PMF]

Just looked up Tommy Steele on Wiki.
Can you believe that there's actually a 1957 UK movie known as "The Tommy Steele Story"?
And even better, it stars Mr. Steele, himself.
The title was changed in America and its known as "Rock Around the World".
That should be an interesting viewing, to say the least.

One would hope that someone will capture Mr. Steele's commentaries for a BD track, as he is living in London and is now age 80.

 

[Brian Sharp]

I only know Tommy Steele from The Happiest Millionaire...

I think that this was his worst film. Mind you I saw it as a postage stamp sized image lost on the Cinerama screen.

 

[Chelsearicky]

...but, at any price, to finally have possession of this brilliant score in 5.1 is - in and of itself - a Steele.

I suspect that Tommy was an old-school British Music Hall type.
More of a "reach-the-back-row-of-the-third-balcony" kind of entertainer.
I suspect that Mr. Steele gave such audiences his optimum and effective best;
boundless energy;
but, quizzically, I always felt that his film directors didn't teach him how to lessen it down for the camera.
Just a guess on the techniques of acting; nothing more.

BOTTOM LINE: "Finian's Rainbow" will be an absolute and definite purchase.

I always thought he was a more logical choice for 'Burt' in "Marry Poppins". IMHO, Dick V. was badly miscast.

 

[John Maher_289910]

I always thought he was a more logical choice for 'Burt' in "Marry Poppins". IMHO, Dick V. was badly miscast.

Oh, dear God! I can't even process this statement.

 

[Chelsearicky]

Oh, dear God! I can't even process this statement.

Calm down, Mary!

 

[cinemiracle]

Just looked up Tommy Steele on Wiki.
Can you believe that there's actually a 1957 UK movie known as "The Tommy Steele Story"?
And even better, it stars Mr. Steele, himself.
The title was changed in America and its known as "Rock Around the World".
That should be an interesting viewing, to say the least.

One would hope that someone will capture Mr. Steele's commentaries for a BD track, as he is living in London and is now age 80.

THE TOMMY STEELE STORY was his first film..It was screening at the cinema where I worked.I often watch the dvd to-day as it has some great songs. I also saw him on stage when he was touring Australia.

 

[Nick*Z]

I only know Tommy Steele from The Happiest Millionaire...

Sadly underrated and under-performing Disney flick. Great stuff in it, apart from Mr. Steele, Gladys Cooper and Geraldine Page as a pair of sparring ole biddies. Love the moment they really go to town on each other's reputation in the tart song, 'There Are Those'. John Davidson might have had a career in movie musicals if only they were not on the wane by then. Leslie Ann Warren, however, always left me a little flat. Too fresh faced, even for a Disney flick. No sex appeal there. Best Tommy Steele moment...wow, hard to choose: Mr. Steele's inimitable charm shines from all points whenever he opens his mouth. It must be Fortuosity!

PS - would love for Paramount to do a Blu of Half a Sixpence. Finian's Rainbow has never been a fav of mine, despite Petula Clark (whom I adore) and Steele and of course the inimitable Fred Astaire, who danced far too little and feigned the blarney stone far too much herein...at least IMO. I'll still get it, but I can think of at least a half dozen Astaire movies from WAC I'd rather have before this: Swing Time, Royal Wedding, Top Hat, The Barkeley's of Broadway, The Belle of New York, The Gay Divorcee.

 

[cinemiracle]

I think that this was his worst film. Mind you I saw it as a postage stamp sized image lost on the Cinerama screen.

I imagine that you saw it at the Warner Cinerama cinema in Hollywood? That is where I saw it . I watched it recently on dvd and loved every minute of it.I regard it as his best film after FINIAN'S RAINBOW.The songs were great as were the superb cast. I maybe wrong, but I seem to remember that the running time was shortened in some countries. I have seen all of Tommy Steele's films. Not all were good but all were watchable, mainly because of the songs.It is time for a bluray release of HAPPIEST MILLIONAIRE.

 

[Nick*Z]

Don't hold your breath with Disney Inc. It's also high time for a release of the original Parent Trap, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Darby O'Gill and the Little People, the complete Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Three Lives of Thomasina, That Darn Cat, The Shaggy Dog, The Moon Spinners etc. and so on.

 

[cinemiracle]

Well, if you liked him in that, you should equally enjoy him in his starring role in Half a Sixpence and in Finian's Rainbow.

I recently watched HALF-A -SIXPENCE for the first time since it was first released. I found it to be very overlong and tedious.I am a great fan of Tommy Steele and musicals and this was a disaster. There were no 70mm prints of the film in Australia. I understand that the film was a huge flop.I wonder if the recent London stage revival was a hit?

 

[verneaux]

I've always had problems with this film. Main problem is Coppola. I don't like any musical with which he has been associated. Astaire revolutionized the filming of dance. Objecting to the flash editing and close ups of feet, Astaire insisted on the dance being filmed with the full body visible with very few edits. Flying Down to Rio was Astaire's second film and the last to have flashy editing. Until Coppola. Either Coppola didn't trust his performers or he had to show off his own technique. Even so, Coppola is restrained compared to today's musicals. Chicago seems to have an edit every four beats in its dances. No trust in the performers. I'm no dancer but even I could have done the numbers if I only had to do four beats at a time. Rob Marshall talks about how wonderful the performances were and how they did the entire routines. It would have been nice to see that.

 

[Nick*Z]

I've always had problems with this film. Main problem is Coppola. I don't like any musical with which he has been associated. Astaire revolutionized the filming of dance. Objecting to the flash editing and close ups of feet, Astaire insisted on the dance being filmed with the full body visible with very few edits. Flying Down to Rio was Astaire's second film and the last to have flashy editing. Until Coppola. Either Coppola didn't trust his performers or he had to show off his own technique. Even so, Coppola is restrained compared to today's musicals. Chicago seems to have an edit every four beats in its dances. No trust in the performers. I'm no dancer but even I could have done the numbers if I only had to do four beats at a time. Rob Marshall talks about how wonderful the performances were and how they did the entire routines. It would have been nice to see that.

The problem is, of course, time. Musicals require performers whose innate gift is song and dance. But then there is the little factor of 'rehearsal' to consider. Most Hollywood musicals of yore had the luxury of extensive pre-production in which performers like Astaire were able to iron out virtually all of the kinks in their routines before a single shot was filmed. It just 'looks' flawless. But that finesse was very hard won indeed. Today's shorter and shorter prep time, plus the fact musicals are increasingly cast with non-musical performers in the leads is what continues to tank Hollywood's efforts to put on a razzamatazz spectacle as in days of old. Every once in a while they hit the bull's eye.

Think Moulin Rouge or Hairspray. Great choreography in the latter. But you need the essential ingredients to be present before the magic can begin to work. Astaire was hardly a spring chicken by the time Finian's Rainbow went into production and, of all the musicals he partook, this one just seems to be a performance he 'phoned in'. And yes, Coppola was the wrong director for a musical. Ditto for Sidney Lumet. The Wiz...anyone?!? Arthur Hiller...Man of La Mancha?!? Joshua Logan...Paint Your Wagon?!?! Camelot ?!?!? Finian is really the last gasp of that ole regime.

No foolin', there were others that came afterward and some quite amusing, and a few breathtakingly inspired. But virtually all of the hits that followed paid short-shrift to the dance routines. Think The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Victor/Victoria, Pete's Dragon (the original). Lots of great songs and singing by the likes of a Dolly Parton, Helen Reddy or Julie Andrews. Not too much in the way of precision high-stepping though. Of course, there are other virtues to these aforementioned heart-warmers; comedy, the presence of a star who can command the screen and, to be sure, good solid scores and songs. But dance - the one essential requiring a great investment in time - is either lacking or cut out entirely; the camera swirling about to fill in the gaps, and editing increasingly becoming the greatest tool to mask the inadequacies of performers who lack the seasoning to do more than four steps together and call it a routine. Think La La Land here!

 

[PMF]

I think that this was his worst film. Mind you I saw it as a postage stamp sized image lost on the Cinerama screen.

ANY film seen on a screen that's the size of a postage stamp would be, most assuredly, anyone's worst film.

 

[PMF]

[...] PS - would love for Paramount to do a Blu of Half a Sixpence. [...]

Ditto - But that's Paramount .

 

[PMF]

[...] Finian's Rainbow has never been a fav of mine, despite Petula Clark (whom I adore) and Steele and of course the inimitable Fred Astaire, who danced far too little [...]

One could only hope to be as graceful and able as he, in making those very moves upon reaching that very age.