Darby O'Gill
and the Little People

(1959, U.S.) color 93 minutes
Walt Disney Pictures / Buena Vista Pictures
Story by H.T. Kavanagh (from his stories)
Screenplay: Lawrence Edward Watkin
Music: Oliver Wallace
Cinematography by Winton C. Hoch
Produced by Walt Disney
Directed by Robert Stevenson

With: Albert Sharpe (Darby O'Gill), Janet Munro (Katie), Sean Connery (Michael McBride), Jimmy O'Dea (King Brian), Kieron Moore (Pony Sugrue), Estelle Winwood (Sheelah), Walter Fitzgerald (Lord Fitzpatrick), Denis O'Dea (Father Murphy)

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Plot Outline: In the enchanted Emerald Isle, the elderly Darby O'Gill spins tall tales of leprechauns and banshees. Unfortunately, when he actually meets up with the king of the leprechauns and discovers their hidden treasure, no one will believe him...

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DARBY O'GILL AND THE LITTLE PEOPLE is a terrific film, one of Disney's best period fantasies, with a creepy gothic feel to it, and some excellent and engaging visual effects.

A toothy young Sean Connery, and a toothier Janet Munro, make an affable pair of young lovers amidst all the enchantment, singing some memorable tunes, including the haunting "Lovely Irish Girl". Indeed, the whole film seems Irish to a fault, and the magical people, who live in a place curiously looking like Stonehenge, somehow eschew the ethical philosophy of guilt and faith and redemption that one might find at the corner Catholic church...

And then there are the fantastic special effects, including myriad encounters with the little people. In DARBY... the woods are literally crawling with the "little people," who are both delightful and mischievous. There's also an incredible later scene with a banshee's death carriage, which makes awesome a death scene which could have easily been merely morbid. An impressive achievement in 1950's fantasy film. Indeed, this gorgeous and breathtaking film still packs a wallop today, thanks both to the exquisite countryside and the remarkable f/x.

Its interesting to note that Disney made this film, in part, to cash in on the success of the "big & little people" craze started two years earlier with science fiction classics THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN and THE AMAZING COLOSSAL MAN. It's really one the best films of that odd science/fantasy genre. (Others of note are THE 3 WORLDS OF GULLIVER and "tom thumb".)

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from Kevin S. Butler: Albert Sharpe, who played the title role of "Darby O' Gill", also appeared in the MGM Movie musical ROYAL WEDDING (1950), as a local pubkeeper who is the father of a dancer. This young dancer is in love with the character played by Fred Astaire. Sharpe appeared in another MGM musical, BRIGADOON (1954) with Gene Kelly, Cyd Charrisse (wife of actor/singer Tony Martin), and two gentleman that I was lucky enough to meet: Eddie Quillin (who is sadly no longer with us), and Van Johnson. Sharpe was the original "Finian McLoughlin" in the 1947 Broadway Stage Production of "Finian's Rainbow".

Video/DVD availability: VHS/DVD (Disney Home Video)