Watch Darby O'Gill and the Little People For Free

Pretty Good

Perfect cast and a good story

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

I first saw Darby O'Gill in 1999. The film was already a classic then, and the first time I saw Sean Connery not playing Bond or Indiana Jones' father. He was young in this film, and he sang. Something I don't believe he has ever done again since. An interesting fact about Sean Connery (as of this writing), he is the only cast member still alive.Albert Sharpe came out of retirement, as a favor to Walt Disney, to make this film. He was around his mid seventies. He was a pretty swell actor in this film, but I've nothing to compare him since this is the only film I've seen him act.Darby O'Gill is a fun, family film. Great for St. Patrick's Day.

Disney created cinematic wonders on his back lot in Burbank, California. Even the church steeple is matted in! So are the mountains, lush meadows, and most buildings and backgrounds. Note the traveling matte with ominous rainclouds at the climax. It's not really there, just like the seaside of "Pete's Dragon"! Disney magic all-around, utilizing the ahead-of-it's-time sodium bromide "yellow screen" process, invented by special effects genius Ub Iwerks. This required so much light it caused a true power black-out, in the City of Burbank, while filming the "Hall of the Leprechaun King" sequence. Truly enchanting with Sean Connery (Michael) and Albert Sharpe (Darby). More amazing special effects such as "Cleopatra" the horse, the "Death Coach" and the Banshee". Maybe too scary for real little kids but minor "Disneyfied" fisticuffs. The use of split screen and over-sized props make the leprechauns look absolutely real! May be too long for the youngsters, but a beautiful blend of charm, magic, music, and fantasy with a very engaging cast. You may have seen it in black and white on TV as a child, but you must see it in Technicolor. It's dazzling! I also recommend the often overlooked "The Three Lives of Tomasina", also Disney color and live action, about a mysterious cat that "may" be magical as well.

Before he was Bond...James Bond, Sean Connery was in this tale of a little Irish village and its simple inhabitants. Darby O'Gill (Albert Sharpe) loves to tell stories of leprechauns and such, so when he finally catches of the king of 'em all, no one believes him. He is also being ousted out of his job as caretaker and gardener of the village and being replaced by Sean. He is waiting to tell his daughter, played by Janet Munro, at the right time. Then there's Pony Segrue (Keiron Moore) who likes her, but she doesn't like him. Enter Sean. Enough said.All these details make for the plot, but the true star is Ireland itself, with all the magic, folklore, and leprechauns that go with it. Jimmy O'Dea plays a memorable King of the Leprachauns who is kidnapped. This may be a bit frightening for little kids as there is the presence of the "banshee" and the "death coach" near the end.But if you want a good Irish movie for St. Patrick's Day viewing, forget all those corny over-the-top 30s and 40s MGM movies about Irish cops and watch the only film truly dedicated to and worthy of the heart of an Irishman. Disney does it best with'"Darby O'Gill and the little people."

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.