Darby O'Gill and the Little People
by Robert Stevenson
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DVD details
Actor: Albert Sharpe, Janet Munro, Paul Frees, Sean Connery, Walt DisneyDirector: Robert Stevenson
Brand: Buena Vista Home Video
Cinematographer: Winton C. Hoch
Editor: Stanley E. Johnson
Writer: H.T. Kavanagh
Writer: Lawrence Edward Watkin
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 91 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-08-03
Audience Rating: G (General Audience)
Studio: Walt Disney Video
Product features:
- Take a wee bit of ancient folklore, mix in some spectacular special effects and a magical cast (including Sean Connery) -- and you've got one of the most enchanting fantasies of all time! A frisky old storyteller named Darby O'Gill is desperately seeking the proverbial pot of gold. There's just one tiny thing standing in his way: a 21-inch leprechaun named King Brian. In order to get t
DVD Reviews of Darby O'Gill and the Little People
DVD Review: Ahh...Tis Grand!
Summary: 5 Stars
Those days of Walt Disney movies are timeless, fun, humorous, adventurous, heart-warming and perfect for the family. "Darby O'Gill and the Little People" is no exception. This magical film, created in 1959, gives you a "wee bit" of that Irish charm that you will want to see over and over.
Let me start by saying that I'm only 24 years old and grew up with this movie. I remember going to a movie theater to watch this with my parents as a little kid, though I could never understand all of it at the time. On a personal note, my family and I are very proud of our Irish heritage and take great pride in watching this movie. It is great for St. Patrick's day or any time of the year.
This movie is about a loveable, funny and feisty Irishman named Darby O'Gill played wonderfully by the late Albert Sharpe, and his adventures with the Little People. Darby lives for making his beautiful daughter Katie (played by the late Janet Monroe) happy, as well as tending to the "Gatehouse" for the Lord Fitzpatrick, and most of all, catching the eye of the leprechauns and telling stories in the pub about their leader, King Brian (a fantastic performance by the late Jimmy O'Dea). Who wouldn't want to run into the spunky little King and ask for "three grand wishes?" From a crock of gold, to a crock of potatoes, you can have what you desire (but don't wish a fourth mind you, or you will lose everything!)
For you Sean Connery fans, you're in for a real treat. A young and handsome Connery plays Michael McBride, a man from Dublin who has come to take Darby's place in working under Fitzpatrick. When McBride moves into the "Gatehouse" with Darby and Katie, a gradual attraction starts to form between Katie and Michael. You kind of get a sense of family there with Katie, Micheal and Darby. But a couple mischievous people; a wisecracking, barhopping jerk named Pony and his elderly mother, have plans of their own. Pony wants to be the one to take Darby's place and he will go to various lengths from harassing Katie, to beating Michael over the head and making him look like a drunk. His nosy mother meanwhile is busy sticking her nose where it doesn't belong at the "Gatehouse." Though Katie thinks she's a "poor old woman," her father Darby thinks otherwise.
The adventure with the "Little People" begins when Darby attempts to capture his runaway horse, Cleopatra. After the horse becomes possessed by mysterious powers (probably caused by the "Little People"), the horse makes Darby fall into what looks like a well. The leprechauns find him and take him to a large room where leprechauns can be seen from end to end dancing their hearts out rapidly to an Irish jig played by King Brian on a bagpipe. There, Darby is greeted by the little King and is invited to stay with them, without going back. Energetic Darby entertains the "Little People" with a catchy Irish jig he brings forth from a violin. This is one of the best parts of the movie, where the dancing and the music get faster and faster, and the little people end up taking off on their little white horses for the "fox chase."
But cunning Darby has plans. After escaping from the home of the leprechauns, Darby returns to his home to await a disgruntled King Brian, who is angry with Darby for leaving. But the contagious pair eventually break into one of the funniest parts of the movie where they drink Irish liquor and play "the Wishing Song." The Little King ends up getting drunk as a skunk, loses track of time and before he knows it, it's daylight; a time where he cannot use his powers to escape. Now he is at Darby's mercy and Darby uses one of his wishes in wishing King Brian to stay with him until he makes his final two. So Darby in the meantime, takes to toting King Brian around in a sack over his shoulder and boasting about how he "captured the King of the Little People."
But King Brian will not be going home so soon. For Darby wants to make sure Katie is "pleased" and has what she desires before he makes any more wishes. The key here is to somehow get Katie and Michael together. So King Brian takes to "visiting Katie and Michael's dreams" where he tries to persuade the two that they should be together and are meant for each other. But it seems that Katie and Michael are not ready for commitment yet.
But things start to take a turn for the worst after Katie receives a note telling her that she and her father must move from the Gatehouse immediately to make way for Michael to take Darby's place. Unfortunately the Gatehouse had become a home to Darby and Katie especially. Darby knew that they were on borrowed time in the Gatehouse, but he failed to tell Katie about it right away, for fear of upsetting her. So Katie eventually found out the hard way. When Michael walks in on Katie as she's packing, Katie lashes out at Michael for not telling her of the arrangements. Despite Michael expressing his love to Katie and his wish to marry her, Katie storms out of the Gatehouse and eventually winds up at the pub where Darby is there with King Brian in the bag. In a desperate attempt to get her father's attention, Katie throws the bag to the ground and King Brian, appearing as a rabbit, escapes.
Later that night, Katie has another confrontation with Michael in the barn near the Gatehouse. Despite Michael's attempts to stop Katie from going to the mountainside to catch her father's horse Cleopatera, Katie slaps him in the face and walks out and up the mountainside. Later on, Darby finds Michael after Pony had beaten him over the head and poured liquor over him in an attempt to make him look like a drunk when the Lord Fitzpatrick would come by. Darby and Michael are beginning to talk when the ghostly wail of the Banshee glides eerily through the dark. Darby knows what this means. The Banshee is almost like an Irish reaper; a ghost that resembles death or someone about to die. Darby knows now that they have to find Katie.
Darby and Michael take off to the mountainside littered with rocks and old castle ruins. They call for Katie and look high and low. Then Darby spots his horse looking over the edge of a cliff and runs to where the horse was and looks over the side to find Katie lying on the ground unconscious. As he approaches Katie, lightning crashing around him, he looks up to see the Banshee. With some terrific special effects for a 1959 movie, the Banshee appears; ghostly white and transparent coming toward them through the air. Darby tries to shoo the Banshee away from Katie and after he throws his lantern at the ghost, she finally disappears.
After Michael and Darby take Katie home, they find that she is feverish and on the edge of death. Not only that but the dreaded Banshee is still lurking around and Darby, in desperation, takes off after the Banshee, swinging a shovel at her. So to make matters worse, the Banshee beckons the "The Death Coach" to come for Katie. And with more great 1959 special effects, a ghostly image of a coach with the eerie sound of galloping horse hooves comes out of the darkness. Darby is terrified and calls out for King Brian who eventually appears. Despite Darby's wishes for Brian to send the Death Coach away, Brian is unable to do so, as it is "not within his powers." So a desperate Darby makes his third wish; to let the Death Coach take him instead of Katie. Very reluctantly and sadly, Brian grants his wish and not long after, the Coach comes up to Darby and in an echoing voice, the headless horseman orders Darby to get into the Coach. Slowly and reluctantly, Darby gets into the Coach.
But Darby has a surprise visitor awaiting him in the Coach. It's none other than King Brian, who gives Darby the good news that Katie's fever broke as soon as he had stepped into the Coach. After a humble and mournful Darby expresses his thanks and talks of how "it's better for the old to die than the young," King Brian cleverly tricks Darby into making a fourth wish which means he loses all his wishes. So Brian, with that little contagious laugh, basically pushes Darby out of the Coach with the power exerted from his finger and Darby is left back in front of his home in a puddle of rain.
From then on, everything is on the up and up. Katie gets well again and she and Michael rekindle their romance. Darby gets to brag to the guys at the pub of how he must be the only man to have survived riding in the Death Coach, while Michael gets to beat the heck out of Pony for beating him over the head and making him look like a drunk. But I guess when it's all said and done, you can thank King Brian for his lessons well taught.
You know, sometimes when I think of a movie from the 50's or before, I have to laugh at the cheesy special effects that they must have. But when it comes to "Darby O'Gill and the Little People," I do not laugh. Only Disney could pull off such fantastic special effects for the era. In addition to the great work with the Banshee and the Death Coach, there is also the way they made the "Little People" (played of course by regular sized people) actually look like little people, especially when next to the regular-sized Darby O'Gill. That was very well done.
As I mentioned before, you get plenty of Irish charm in this film from Irish jigs, Irish liquor, and such catch phrases as "I'll kill ya dead and murder ya entirely," "Ah, the devil take ya!" "he'll put the come-heather on you and make you his slave for ever more," and "hold your whist!" You also get a good taste of what life and culture is like in Ireland and how the people are with one another. I personally hope I get to visit this land of my roots someday.
This timeless film holds the perfect blend of drama, humor, adventure and spookiness all rolled into one. It is a "grand" movie that the family will love and the acting is very well done. You'll love listening to the distinctive Irish accents and those Irish songs such as "My Pretty Irish Girl" and "She Is My Dear My Darling One," will get stuck in your head.
This is a charming movie and worth a crock of gold! You'll also get a few crowned jewels with the special features that are provided on this DVD.
Description of Darby O'Gill and the Little People
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