Page "Francis Ford Coppola" Paragraph 11

Following the success of You're a Big Boy Now, Coppola was offered the reins of the movie version of the Broadway musical Finian's Rainbow, starring Petula Clark, in her first American film, and veteran Fred Astaire.

Producer Jack Warner was nonplussed by Coppola's shaggy-haired, bearded, " hippie " appearance and generally left him to his own devices.

He took his cast to the Napa Valley for much of the outdoor shooting, but these scenes were in sharp contrast to those obviously filmed on a Hollywood soundstage, resulting in a disjointed look to the film.

Dealing with outdated material at a time when the popularity of film musicals was already on the downslide, Coppola's result was only semi-successful, but his work with Clark no doubt contributed to her Golden Globe Best Actress nomination.

The film introduced George Lucas to him, who became his lifelong friend as well as production assistant in his next film The Rain People in 1969.

It was written, directed and initially produced by Coppola himself, though as the movie advanced, he fell short of his budget and the studio had to underwrite the remainder of the movie.

The film won the Golden Shell at the 1969 San Sebastian Film Festival.