Have you ever seen Darby O'Gill and the Little People (1959)
Yes, but not since I was a little kid. I seem to remember it frightening me.
It's a weird film, but I like it. On the one hand, it's a standard romantic fantasy with colorful characters and the occasional song. On the other, it has a genuinely eerie otherworld, an unsentimental storyteller, and the feel of a folktale. Around the turn of the twentieth century in Ireland, Darby O'Gill (Albert Sharpe) is the old groundskeeper for Lord Fitzpatrick, but he would rather tell stories than cut weeds and keep off poachers—he's a fixture down at the local pub, where he's recounted his battles of wits with Brian Connors (Jimmy O'Dea), the wily King of the Leprechauns at Knocknasheega, until his audience can nearly recite them; no one believes him, but he spins a terrific story. But the old man's actually telling the truth, and he's determined that no leprechaun will get the better of him. The story follows Darby's capture of Brian Connors, in an effort to obtain the traditional three wishes from him, and the repercussions of this act in both the human and the fairy world. There’s also the romance between Darby's daughter Katie (Janet Munro) and Michael McBride (Sean Connery), as the new groundskeeper who hasn't yet told his sweetheart that he’s supposed to take her father’s job, but I'm much less interested in that . . . It's a fun movie, and folkloric. I had also seen it as a small child and only remembered the death-coach and the banshee. I was really impressed when I re-watched it a few years ago. And it was apparently one of Walt Disney's pet projects.
no subject
Yes, but not since I was a little kid. I seem to remember it frightening me.
It's a weird film, but I like it. On the one hand, it's a standard romantic fantasy with colorful characters and the occasional song. On the other, it has a genuinely eerie otherworld, an unsentimental storyteller, and the feel of a folktale. Around the turn of the twentieth century in Ireland, Darby O'Gill (Albert Sharpe) is the old groundskeeper for Lord Fitzpatrick, but he would rather tell stories than cut weeds and keep off poachers—he's a fixture down at the local pub, where he's recounted his battles of wits with Brian Connors (Jimmy O'Dea), the wily King of the Leprechauns at Knocknasheega, until his audience can nearly recite them; no one believes him, but he spins a terrific story. But the old man's actually telling the truth, and he's determined that no leprechaun will get the better of him. The story follows Darby's capture of Brian Connors, in an effort to obtain the traditional three wishes from him, and the repercussions of this act in both the human and the fairy world. There’s also the romance between Darby's daughter Katie (Janet Munro) and Michael McBride (Sean Connery), as the new groundskeeper who hasn't yet told his sweetheart that he’s supposed to take her father’s job, but I'm much less interested in that . . . It's a fun movie, and folkloric. I had also seen it as a small child and only remembered the death-coach and the banshee. I was really impressed when I re-watched it a few years ago. And it was apparently one of Walt Disney's pet projects.