Finian's Rainbow (1968)

An Irishman (Fred Astaire) and his daughter (Petula Clark) emigrate to America. What she doesn't know is that her father has stolen a pot of gold from the leprechauns and plans to bury it near Fort Knox where he believes it will multiply. What he doesn't know is that he's been followed by a leprechaun (Tommy Steele) who is rapidly turning mortal unless he can return the gold to its Irish roots. This bit of folksy Irish whimsy with a social commentary must have seemed rather old fashioned even in 1947 when it became a hit Broadway musical. Twenty years later, the cobwebs have been dusted off and it's brought to the screen pretty much intact. It's creakiness doomed it in 1968, the year of more innovative fare like 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, ROSEMARY'S BABY, PETULIA and FACES. Seen some 35 years later, its antiquated scenario now seems rather sweet and naive. But its the glorious songs by E.Y. Harburg and Burton Lane that make this a perennial favorite of musical lovers: Old Devil Moon (the sensual duet by Clark and Don Francks is the film's highpoint), How Are Things In Glocca Mora, When I'm Not Near The Girl I Love, Look To The Rainbow, If This Isn't Love among others. Astaire's musical swan song. Directed by Francis Ford Coppola. With Keenan Wynn (one of the last major actors required to do blackface), Roy Glenn and Al Freeman Jr. (one of the last black actors required to shuffle and say "massah").