Finian's Rainbow (film) Finian's Rainbow (film) Finian's Rainbow is a 1968 Irish-American musical film directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Fred Astaire and Petula Clark. The screenplay by E. Y. Harburg and Fred Saidy is based on their 1947 stage musical of the same name. It is a fantasy about an Irishman and his daughter who steal a leprechaun's magic pot of gold and emigrate to the United States, where they become involved in a dispute between rural landowners and a greedy, racist U.S. Senator. The film was nominated for several Academy Awards, Golden Globe Awards, and a Writers Guild of America
Irish folklore of Caeilte of the Fianna, an ancient clan of Celtic warriors). All in all, the current Irish folklore shows a strong absorption of Christianity, including its lesson of morality and spiritual beliefs, creating a “singular brand of fairy tale tradition”. Folklore is a part of national identity, and is evolving through time. During the 16th century, the English conquest overthrew the traditional political and religious autonomy of the country. The Great famine of 1840’s, and the deaths and emigration it brought, weakened a still powerful Gaelic culture, especially within the rural proletariat, which was at the time the most traditional