It is obvious that the director, Francis Ford Coppola, is as aware as anyone else of this film's failings. Though he doesn't say so, the miscasting of the leads Petula Clark, Don Franks and even Fred Astaire doesn't help. In the major "extra" on the DVD, Coppola comments on the film while it is playing and with the sound usually dampened. Since Mr. Coppola is now considered to be one of the major American film directors, one must take his youth at the time of this filming into account.
Though he also felt that Tommy Steele was not right for the part of Og the Leprechaun (he thought he should be shy and not a vaudevillian) , I felt that he was quite adequate. I did agree that Keenan Wynn did a good job of grounding the musical in some sort of reality and he played the part of the bigoted senator with considerable warmth, and even more so after his change of heart. In fact, I thought Keenan was never over-the-top even before that. (It seems the senator was based on a real person, probably the segregationist senator Theodore G. Bilbo of Mississippi (1877-1947) The character's first name "Billboard" even seems to derive from "Bilbo".) This was Fred's first dancing role in 11 years and, even so, this production is conceived partly as a vehicle for him. And he generally carries it off well despite his age (68 or 69) but it is questionable if he was really convincing in the part of Finian or even in singing the songs for which his style seems unsuited, in my opinion.
Even if Petula was the right age to be Fred's daughter, she just seems too old, too sophisticated and not the right type for the part. Don Franks seems even more wrong here physically as well as in age and personality though he sings very well. Francis berates himself for not understanding that Franks kept his character's confrontational personality when he was not acting with the results that they didn't get along very well. It is possible that a more experienced director would have made Don's concept work better.
An interesting failure as an attempt to update a musical with a fine musical score but a rather creaky story some years after its Broadway run (1940s.) and in the light of the then-current civil-rights struggle.
Though he also felt that Tommy Steele was not right for the part of Og the Leprechaun (he thought he should be shy and not a vaudevillian) , I felt that he was quite adequate. I did agree that Keenan Wynn did a good job of grounding the musical in some sort of reality and he played the part of the bigoted senator with considerable warmth, and even more so after his change of heart. In fact, I thought Keenan was never over-the-top even before that. (It seems the senator was based on a real person, probably the segregationist senator Theodore G. Bilbo of Mississippi (1877-1947) The character's first name "Billboard" even seems to derive from "Bilbo".) This was Fred's first dancing role in 11 years and, even so, this production is conceived partly as a vehicle for him. And he generally carries it off well despite his age (68 or 69) but it is questionable if he was really convincing in the part of Finian or even in singing the songs for which his style seems unsuited, in my opinion.
Even if Petula was the right age to be Fred's daughter, she just seems too old, too sophisticated and not the right type for the part. Don Franks seems even more wrong here physically as well as in age and personality though he sings very well. Francis berates himself for not understanding that Franks kept his character's confrontational personality when he was not acting with the results that they didn't get along very well. It is possible that a more experienced director would have made Don's concept work better.
An interesting failure as an attempt to update a musical with a fine musical score but a rather creaky story some years after its Broadway run (1940s.) and in the light of the then-current civil-rights struggle.