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Darby O'Gill and the Little People (1959)

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39 comments in total

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15 out of 15 people found the following comment useful :-
Memorable, 27 October 2002

Author: Rosabel from Ottawa, Canada

I saw this movie on TV as a child, and the scenes of the banshee and the death coach scared and impressed me so much, I carried the memory of them all my life. When I was an adult and saw it on video, I was astonished to find that the scenes are STILL impressive and creepy! Considering how sophisticated special effects have become since 'Darby O'Gill' was made in 1959, that's quite a tribute to the moviemaking skills of the day. The scenery is lovely, the actors skilful and wholeheartedly into their work, the music catchy and delightful, and really there's nothing not to like in this movie. The duels between Darby and his nemesis, King Brian, are wonderfully funny, as each tries to outsmart the other. The village characters are all well-drawn and likeable personalities. Pony Sugrue seems more 'American' than the others, but then, he's not supposed really to fit in in the village, and his punishment at the end is an enjoyable comeuppance. Favourite scenes - the banshee and death coach at the end, as mentioned, and all the leprechauns dancing under the fairy mountain then riding their little white horses out into the night as Darby plays them a wild tune on his fiddle. Don't be put off by the date on this movie; it's as good now as the day it was made.

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15 out of 16 people found the following comment useful :-
Here's to Darby O'Gill, 10 June 2004

Author: someguy889 (someguy889@sbcglobal.net) from Dallas, Texas

I do not know how much I would like this movie if I saw it today for the first time. But, since I grew up on this movie, I have no choice but to absolutely love it. We had this videocassette in our closet for years, it didn't have a cover on it, but it didn't need one. Wow, how I grew up on those colorful special effects. Those leprechauns riding small white horses around an old Irish man playing the fiddle. The horse turning silvery when enchanted by the leprechauns. The Banshee. Oh, that Banshee. You've never seen a scarier Banshee on film and you never will. A fantastic movie. A young Sean Connery is in it, and that old woman with that scary voice is fantastic. And Darby O'Gill...ahh.. one of the best family films and fantasy movies out there. ANd don't forget the scary, black creativity of the Death Cab.

Here's to Darby O'Gill. Clink

My grade: 9/10

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13 out of 15 people found the following comment useful :-
One of Disneys Best, 17 March 2003

Author: Michael J. Mercer from Holbrook, NY

I first saw this film when I was 6 years old (I'm 49 now) and it stayed with me since then. The special effects are so good that I REALLY believed that the "little people" existed.(I also love Walt Disneys acknowledgement in the credits, thanking the "wee folk" for their cooperation in making the film). I still watch the film (usually around St.Patricks day) and after 43 years it still delights me. The story is short sweet and to the point, the acting wonderful, especially Albert Sharpe, Janet Munro and a very young Sean Connery(who sings very nicely), and Robert Stevensons' direction is right on the money. The later scenes, with the death carriage and the banshees scared me silly as a child and are still quite creepy. This is a film that holds up extraordinarily well and is terrific for family viewing. I have a copy on laser disc but look foward to its eventual release on DVD.

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10 out of 12 people found the following comment useful :-
Make a wish, 1 January 2005

Author: Spirit_of_73 from United Kingdom

This is a truly enchanting film for all ages. It takes the viewer to the small Irish village of Rushcullen in County Kerry where not much happens except to one person, Darby O'Gill.

Darby is a lovable old caretaker for the local Lord of the Manor whom the Lord jokes retired years ago but never told anyone. Darby's wanderings up to the ruins above the village have led him into contact with the 'little people' ruled by the likable but cunning King Brian.

The battle of wits between Darby and King Brian are the central theme running through the film but the subplots surrounding Darby's beautiful daughter Katie (played by the English actress Janet Munro who tragically died at only 38) and the competition between her suitor's, Sean Connery and Kieron Moore keep the older viewers interest. Add to this a bit of drama surrounding a death carriage and a scary banshee and you have a film which works on even more levels.

This is something of a forgotten gem of the family film genre. With tales of leprechaun's and banshee's all told through the wonderful west coast brogue, it doesn't fail to captivate.

It's somewhat idealised version of Irish life in the 1920's is also a delight. Okay, not all Irish people lived in thatched cottages, tipped their caps to the local priest or went to the pub to catch up on the craig, but a lot did.

As family films go this is right up there with Mary Poppins and The Lion King, 10 out of 10.

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5 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
One of the greatest Disney films ever made, 12 September 2004
Author: Jeff Gilchrist from Cascade, Maryland

Like "The Wizard of Oz", this is one of those movies that transcends time itself. It is a true family movie that will never go out of style. One of my favorite scenes in this movie is the approach of the Death Coach, coming to claim his sick daughter. Having no where else to turn, the hysterically-frightened Darby calls for his old friendly nemesis, King Brian. See if you feel the same sense of relief at his appearance as I did!

This movie covers the entire spectrum of emotions. It's sad, funny, scary, happy, you name it. You might want to shield the arrival of the Banshee from the little ones, as I remember how it frightened me at that age, but don't let that sway you from watching this masterpiece.

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5 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
Shies away from treacle--and Albert Sharpe is wonderful, 25 July 2004

Author: moonspinner55 from redlands, ca

Until "Mary Poppins" came along, I don't think Hollywood took Walt Disney seriously as a live-action movie producer. James Baskett got a 'special Oscar' for "Song of the South", as did Hayley Mills for "Pollyanna", but a good many of the performances in Walt's early output deserved a more substantial recognition(as with "The Sword and the Rose")and Albert Sharpe as storytelling oldster Darby O'Gill in this hit film is no exception. He is fabulous spinning tall tales in a quaint Irish village who captures himself a real leprechaun and is then rewarded with three wishes for setting the little guy free. A very colorful outing, better for adults than, say, "The Gnome Mobile", because it relies less on sugary sentiment and doting tots than it does on old-fashioned whimsy. Sean Connery has a nice romance with Janet Munro(who is always a pleasure)and the special effects, particularly near the end, are quite marvelous. *** from ****

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6 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
Old geezer and half pints romp in fantasy land, 24 February 2001

Author: helpless_dancer from Broken Bow, Oklahoma

Good special effects and a lively story kept this movie kicking right along. I liked the mischievous, drunken, but kindly old fairy king the best. What a scalawag! He and the boozy old caretaker were a riot with their give and take verbal pokes at one another. And the Death Coach....creepy! This would be a good one for the kids to see.

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4 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
Those Tricky Little People, 19 December 2006

Author: bkoganbing from Buffalo, New York

As a lad I well remember the kind of campaigns Walt Disney used to publicize his films. He used all the available outlets he had such as his Mickey Mouse Club show or the Walt Disney Wonderful World of Color television shows. If Walt Disney could have worked it out, he'd have plugged Darby O'Gill and the Little People on Zorro.

I remember Disney on one of his shows having a formal meeting with King Brian of Knocknasheega to sign over screen rights to the story of the leprechauns. It was all done with a kind of serious pomp that would impress a kid with Disney and Jimmy O'Dea who played the leprechaun king, Brian Conners.

According to the Films of Walt Disney by Leonard Maltin, Disney had it in mind to do an Irish story for over 15 years before Darby O'Gill was released. In fact when he saw the original Broadway production of Finian's Rainbow, he had his leading man in mind in the person of Albert Sharpe.

Sharpe's Darby O'Gill is a gamekeeper on the grounds of Lord Fitzpatrick who in his declining years spends more time at the local pub, regaling the patrons with his tales of encounters with the leprechauns. As Walter Fitzgerald who plays Lord Fitzpatrick says, Darby retired a couple of years ago without telling me. So he's hired himself a young new gamekeeper, an outsider from Dublin named Michael McBride played by a pre-James Bond Sean Connery.

Connery's a decent chap though and he'll give Sharpe time enough to vacate the gamekeeper's gate cottage. Besides Connery's taken a liking to Darby's daughter Katie in the person of winsome Janet Munro.

The film alternates and then blends the story of Connery's courtship of Munro with the person of her other suitor, the town bully played by Kieron Moore and Sharpe's adventures with the leprechauns. King Brian tricks him a couple of times, but Darby captures him by getting him drunk and keeping him out until daylight when he has no powers.

If Darby O'Gill had been made by someone other than Disney probably Barry Fitzgerald would have played Darby. Sharpe certainly has the elfin charm of Fitzgerald's Michaeleen O'Flynn from The Quiet Man. And because he was not a movie name, he worked a lot cheaper for Disney, always a consideration in The Magic Kingdom.

The special effects are really good here considering this was the age before computer generated graphics. Enough to give even a twelve year old a fright with the appearance of the banshee and the costa bower, the death coach.

The answer to a movie trivia question is this film if it is ever asked whether Sean Connery sang in a movie. It's in fact him singing, My Little Irish Girl, both he and Janet Munro sing it alone and duet it for the finale. No dubbing, in fact Sean Connery cut a 45 rpm record of it back in the day. Probably worth a fortune if you could find one.

Janet Munro did a few films for Disney. She was a wholesome lass in his films, very appealing and her death at too young and age was a real tragedy. Either Disney didn't spot anything in Sean Connery or Connery was too smart to be tied down to a long term contract to that studio. Connery after Dr. No premiered spent the next dozen years or so trying to prove both artistically and financially that he was capable of more than James Bond.

But it sure would be fascinating to speculate on what turn Sean Connery's career would have taken if I had starred in a half a dozen or so Disney features. Can you imagine him trying to escape that kind of typecasting?

Darby O'Gill and the Little People is a children's film and I think it still has charm a-plenty even for today's generation who might be skeptical about leprechauns.

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4 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
Unanimously a favourite, 8 July 2005

Author: bigdinosaur from Wyoming

Upon reading comments of earlier reviewers of this title, I find myself in an unusual situation...I totally agree with them all! This is a wonderful movie. And excellent for all ages (except maybe for very small children due to the banshee scenes).

I'm very impressed with the effects considering when this was made. Almost flawless! And the story is so delightful and engaging, I can't imagine anyone not getting a lift from this hour-and-a-half of leprechaun fantasy.

Sean Connery is a little weak on the singing, but it certainly doesn't detract from the movie.

I've had this movie on VHS since way back, but recently I upgraded to a DVD. There are some interesting supplemental items on the DVD: Including a 'making-of' that explain the effects; And there is a "Wonderful World of Disney" excerpt with Darby O'Gill, King Brian, & Walt Disney that's cute.

I was surprised how much my teenage boys liked this movie. Usually they are too 'cool' to watch 'kids' movies (as they call them). And they were stodgy at first, but soon they were totally enrapt.

This is one of the best family movies I've seen. Get this one and hold onto it because they just don't make em like this anymore.

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4 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
Funny, 15 March 2005
Author: jlon from Dublin

One of those movies that was impossible to watch a few year's back but is now available everywhere to buy. DVD review.

Tall story-teller O'Gill (Albert Sharpe) captures a leprechaun (O'Dea) but no-one believes him. Connery is the new replacement for Sharpe's old job.

Enjoyable movie featuring a pre-James Bond Connery and beautiful Munro. But the best parts of the movie feature the scenes with Sharpe and O'Dea. Some good songs sung by the main cast, usual Irish pub scenes, a touch of comedy, some scary moments involving a headless carriage-driver, nice locations, and a family friendly storyline. Timeless movie that will bring a smile to every audience member.

Darby O'Gill is work a look.

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