It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

Go in cold, and you're likely to emerge with your blood boiling. This has to be seen to be believed.

The movie runs out of plot and jokes well before the end of a two-hour running time, long for a light comedy.

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

Where to start? Well, the answer to that question is usually ... The Beginning ... and that is where this film began going wrong! The opening shows stand-ins, for Fred and Petula, traveling across America on there way to Fort Knox! I have a feeling that the film cutters didn't get much schooling, because, in one shot you have them at The Golden Gate Bridge (will they ever paint it gold), in another shot you see them at Mount Rushmore, and in the very next shot they are at the Grand Canyon! Petty silly mistake that even the director never noticed! And, while mentioning the Director ... this movie could've done better with a better director ... talk about delusions of grandeur ... if it weren't for the great cast, this movie would have lost every penny that went into it! I got so tired of seeing the color of yellow everywhere! The sets ... some are good, some are pretty pathetic. At one point you can see the squares of grass used to represent a lush Irish setting! And did I see yellow daffodils growing in bushes and trees? I think I did! And what about when the pot of gold is buried, with dirt shoveled into the pot ... and when it is found, by the death mute, there is no dirt in the crock? There is also a part when Petula is laying in the grass and begins to sing, but all of the sudden she's sitting up, then she's laying down again in the next shot.By the way ... there appears to be several sexual innuendos in the movie. One in the song about the mortgage, one during the first wedding scene ... plus a couple more.Petula Clark is great in the film, and it surprises me that she didn't do much after this film ... perhaps because this movie was lacking the quality it should have had, and the actor's careers suffered do to that? Or was it a problem of not advertising the movie and its stars well enough? Because the songs, the singing, the star power, and the acting, was fabulous ... however, a major downer was the prejudice theme within the movie, which is something I have a problem with when it comes to using prejudices in any form of entertainment ... its extremely subliminal, brainwashing! True, the stars got angry about anyone being prejudice against someone just because they're black ... which was good ... but these problems should not find themselves in any of our forms of entertainment! And the part in regards to the Senators bromo was too long! Anyhoots ... basically, there are plenty of goofs in this movie, it should get an award for them all ... or at least be entered into The Guinness Book Of Records! But, guess what ... I actually liking listening to this movie ... I just don't like watching it!By the way, I loved it when the deaf mute received her voice, and sang with everyone ... because she is no singer, but the realism of the moment was perfect directing ... it suited her part in the movie.

Strange musical--the second film by Francis Ford Coppola. Finian (Fred Astaire), an Irish man, comes to Rainbow Valley with a pot of gold and his strong-willed daughter Sharon (Petula Clark). He plans to bury it hoping it will grow more gold (don't ask). In Rainbow Valley black and white people live together peacefully. Sharon meets hunky Woody (Don Francks) and falls in love. And then there's the racist mayor (Keenan Wynn) who wants to throw everybody out of the valley. The plot is really silly but that's the bare bones.This was a play in 1947 and considered pretty strong stuff because it dealt with racist politics. Twenty years later though it came across as pretty silly. Plot aside though this is fun. The songs are great, everybody can sing and the dances are colorful and full of energy. Clark and Francks especially have great voices. And it's lots of fun to see Astaire still able to dance when he was in his late 60s! On the bad side Tommy Steele (as a leprechaun) overacts, it's too long and Coppola really doesn't know how to direct a musical. Still it was fun.

Until TCM ran it, I never saw it complete. My old local TV station used to cut it to pieces for "time", I thought. Now I know they were uncomfortable with the subject matter. This movie is not "PC." It makes fun of racism in much the same way of Mel Brooks' films: with outrageous comedy. Keenan Wynn is marvelous as the white senator who gets "wished" black. The mint tobacco crop won't burn, but it puts out fires! Both Tommy Steele and Petula Clark (who is surprisingly good) are perfect. Fred Astaire, in his last musical, can still dance at age 69. To his credit, Francis Ford-Coppola does not over-direct. Harburg's lyrics are great (oh, yes, you remember that other film of his "The Wizard of Oz"?) although slightly dated; as this Broadway musical is from 1947. Several memorable songs, including: "That Ole Devil Moon","Look to the Rainbow", "When I'm Not Near the Girl I Love, I Love the Girl I'm With". This film is a fantasy and a fable. It even includes a miracle: a "mute" finds her voice. (Barbara Hancock as "Silent Susan" is a beautiful dancer.) A fairy tale, this film will be way too sweet for some, but it is a better musical than anything produced today. Best seen on a big screen because of its lush outdoor settings and cinematography. Some reviewers think this film is "deeply flawed" because of it's racial humor. It's because of people with "attitude" like that that no one can buy a (legal) copy of "Song of the South".

To nutshell it this garners a ten plus for Fred Astaire, a nine for the score and a three or four tops for everything else. Yip Harburg who wrote the lyrics and co-wrote the Book with Fred Saidy had a large streak of socialist/satirist in him - he did, after all, provide the lyrics for Buddy, Can You Spare A Dime, the great anthem of the Depression - and the Book was a major contributor to the success on Broadway in 1947. Twenty years later the goalposts had been moved so it would have been wise to retain the timeframe instead of attempting to update it but there you go. Though it's a great score even in the theatre it tended to be unbalanced with almost all the lyrical ballads in the first act and all the upbeat satirical numbers toward the end. Sadly it was Fred's last full scale musical which means it will always be dear to Astaire buffs, Pet Clark manages to hold her own but Tommy Steele camps it up outrageously as Og and isn't a patch on David Wayne who created the role on Broadway. See it for Fred and the score.