Mission accomplished: My “Darby O’Gill” review
While I was homebound earlier this week with a stubborn upper respiratory infection, Blockbuster, via the U.S. Postal Service, delivered my promised copy of “Darby O’Gill and the Little People.” I laid off the heavy decongestants for a few hours so that I could fulfill my St. Patrick’s Day vow to watch this 1959 Disney tale of a leprechaun king, a banshee and a dentally-challenged codger.
My suspicions and hopes proved correct: “Darby O’Gill” got trailer trashed. While all the scenes from the trailer appear in the movie (apparently, the in-the-trailer-but-not-the-movie switcheroo is a more modern phenomenon), the preview is cut in such a way to make the story appear freaky rather than charming.
And old-fashioned Irish charm is just what “Darby O’Gill” has in spades. The movie stars Albert Sharpe as the titular character, an old rascal who spends his days spinning stories about leprechauns in the pub in the hamlet of Rathcullen. He is supposed to work as the keeper of the Lord Fitzpatrick’s (Walter Fitzgerald) country manor, but he leaves much of the work to his sweet-natured but independently minded daughter, Katie (Janet Munro).
When his lordship makes a surprise visit, he brings bad news for Darby: He is officially retiring his aging employee and replacing him with young Dublin man Michael McBride (Sean Connery in one of his earliest film roles). Darby and Katie will have to leave their fine home in the manor’s gatehouse for a more humble cottage, and they will have to get by on half of Darby’s salary.
Darby convinces the lord and Michael to let him break the news to Katie, and he puts off this unpleasant business, hoping a solution to their new money problems will come up. While chasing his ornery horse that night through the hills outside of town, Darby falls into a well and lands in the realm of leprechaun King Brian Connors.
It turns out that Darby’s seemingly tall tales of little people actually are true: He and King Brian are longtime friends/adversaries. Sympathizing with Darby’s plight, the king took the liberty of luring him into the leprechaun kingdom with plans to make him a permanent resident.
But Darby doesn’t want to leave his daughter behind, so he uses his wily brain and prodigious fiddling skills to trick the leprechauns into leaving him unattended. Darby goes back home, but King Brian soon confronts him, angry at being fooled.
The old man and immortal leprechaun engage in another battle of wits, and Darby gains the prize of three wishes from the king. He uses his first to keep the leprechaun at his side until all three wishes are granted, and the feisty leprechaun tricks him into wasting the second.
Meanwhile, sparks are flying between Katie and Michael, and Darby and King Brian do everything they can to fan the flames. Darby figures if his daughter marries Michael, she will be taken care of and can stay in the gatehouse. But Michael has a rival in local bully Pony Sugrue (Kieron Moore), who has his eye on both Katie and Michael’s job.
Naturally, Katie finds out about her father’s forced retirement and Michael’s succession. Showing some fiery Irish temper, she storms off into the hills on a blustery night and is badly injured.
Darby sees the banshee, herald of death, and predicts that his daughter will not recover. Desperate to save her, he uses his third wish to take Katie’s place on the death coach. But King Brian has a plan to save his buddy and guarantee a happy ending.
The movie features an engaging story, interesting characters and strong acting. The special effects are surprisingly good for a 1950s production. Amazing matte paintings help give the sound stages and California locations a convincing Irish pastoral look. The ghostly glow of the banshee and death coach is pretty old-school, but effectively creepy. And the filmmakers used the same forced perspective technique to make the leprechauns appear tiny that Peter Jackson and Co. later used for the hobbits in the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy.
The DVD includes a behind-the-scenes featurette on the effects, a recent interview with Connery and the TV feature/marketing stunt Walt Disney created in which he claimed that he actually captured the leprechaun king for the movie. (The movie even includes a thank you to King Brian at the beginning to continue the illusion.)
All the aspects of the trailer that freaked me out as a child, from the speed-dancing leprechauns to Darby’s gross teeth to Connery’s prodigious eyebrows all worked for me in the context of the film.
“Darby O’Gill” isn’t my favorite Disney movie (still a toss-up between “Dumbo” and “Beauty and the Beast”), but it might just become a new St. Patrick’s Day tradition for me, along with green attire and corned beef and cabbage.
-BAM
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I still think it looks creepy.