Darby O'Gill and the Little People
| Darby O'Gill and the Little People | |
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| Directed by | Robert Stevenson |
| Produced by | Walt Disney |
| Written by |
H. T. Kavanagh (stories) Lawrence Edward Watkin |
| Starring |
Albert Sharpe Janet Munro Sean Connery Jimmy O'Dea |
| Music by | Oliver Wallace |
| Cinematography | Winton Hoch |
| Edited by | Stanley Johnson |
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Production
company |
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| Distributed by | Buena Vista Distribution |
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Release date
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Running time
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93 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English Irish |
| Box office |
Original release: $2.6 million (est. US/ Canada rentals) 1969 re-release: $2.3 million (US/ Canada rentals) |
Darby O'Gill and the Little People is a 1959 Walt Disney Productions feature film starring Albert Sharpe, Janet Munro, Sean Connery and Jimmy O'Dea, in a tale about a wily Irishman and his battle of wits with leprechauns. The film was directed by Robert Stevenson and its screenplay written by Lawrence Edward Watkin after the books of Herminie Templeton Kavanagh.
The film's title is a slight modification of one of the two Kavanagh books, Darby O'Gill and the Good People. This book and her other book, The Ashes of Old Wishes And Other Darby O'Gill Tales, were the sources for this movie.
Darby O'Gill (Albert Sharpe) is the aging caretaker of Lord Fitzpatrick's (Walter Fitzgerald) estate in the small Irish town of Rathcullen, where he lives in the gatehouse with his lovely, almost grown, daughter Katie (Janet Munro). Darby spends most of his time in the town pub, regaling his friends with tales of his attempts to catch the leprechauns, in particular, their king, Brian Connors (Jimmy O'Dea).
Darby is past his prime as a laborer, so Lord Fitzpatrick decides to retire him on half pay and give him and Katie another cottage to live in, rent-free, and give his job to a young Dubliner named Michael McBride (Sean Connery). Darby begs Michael not to tell Katie that he is being replaced, to which Michael reluctantly agrees. That very night, Darby is captured by the leprechauns while chasing his runaway horse Cleopatra (revealed to be a Pooka), on top of the fairy mountain Knocknasheega. Darby learns that King Brian has brought him into the mountain so he could avoid the shameful admission to Katie about losing his job. However, this would mean that Darby would not be allowed to return to Rathcullen and must remain with the leprechauns permanently.
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Wikipedia