Darby O'Gill And The Little People (DVD)

...Herminie T. Kavanagh's two books Darby O'Gill and the Good People and Ashes of Old Wishes and Other Darby O' Gill Tales. Darby O' Gill is the groundskeeper for a local estate who spends a lot more time at the pub spinning yarns about his adventures with the Little people than he does doing his actual job. This is not due to his being merely shiftless however, for Darby is actually getting on in years and so the decision is made by his employer to ...
...Darby is aghast, not thinking himself ready to be put out to pasture, and so tells his daughter that the young man is seasonal help. Quite how he expected her to believe that when his retirement would also mean losing the tied cottage, I don't think even Darby knew. What Darby also did not realise, is that his tales about the Little People were not as fanciful as he and everyone else thought. For King Brian of the leprechauns has familiarised himself ... more

In 1959, Walt Disney made this little gem of a movie, based upon Irish immigrant Herminie T. Kavanagh's two books Darby O'Gill and the Good People and Ashes of Old Wishes and Other Darby O' Gill Tales. Darby O' Gill is the groundskeeper for a local estate who spends a lot more time at the pub spinning yarns about his adventures with the Little people than he does doing his actual job. This is not due to his being merely shiftless however, for Darby is actually getting on in years and so the decision is made by his employer to hire a younger man to replace him after retiring Darby. Darby is aghast, not thinking himself ready to be put out to pasture, and so tells his daughter that the young man is seasonal help. Quite how he expected her to believe that when his retirement would also mean losing the tied cottage, I don't think even Darby knew. What Darby also did not realise, is that his tales about the Little People were not as fanciful as he and everyone else thought. For King Brian of the leprechauns has familiarised himself with Darby and feels sorrow for the old rogue. Deciding to end Darby's misery, he entices Darby into following him into the faerie realm, where he is trapped.King Brian thinks this grand, after all, Darby will remain as he is forever and never need face the ignominy of retirement and being found out by his daughter. Darby however, sees things differently, and wily rogue that he is, has other plans. What follows is an adventure as every bit lively and entertaining as the fox hunt fiddle piece Darby plays for his faerie friends. Will Darby escape, and does his daughter Kate come to terms with the changes in their lives? And will the local bully get his way? Then there is the dark and handsome young man...

Ironically, this little family fluff piece was to prove to be Sean Connery's big break as it brought him to the attention of the director who was casting for the new James Bond flick, Dr No. Playing the tall dark and handsome young stranger (Michael Mac Bride) with such style made his role memorable enough that it led to him becoming James Bond, so if no other reason, many may find this film worth a glance. Seasoned Irish actor Albert Sharpe played Darby O' Gill with panache as well, making the piece utterly believable. The way he talks to what would have been air during filming looks so completely natural, that you have no problem suspending disbelief when you see the leprechaun he is addressing. Janet Munro plays daughter Katie somewhat by the numbers, but never woodenly. The real magic onscreen though lies with Jimmy O'Dea (King Brian). Oh, he makes for a wonderful little rogue and the interplay between himself and Albert Sharpe is truly magical. And speaking of magical..the special effects were so top of the line for 1959 that they stand up exceedingly well today, right up to the point that the techniques used inspired many of the effects seen in the recent Lord of the Rings films. Particular scenes to watch out for in this regard involve the banshee and the death coach (and if watching with children be warned, it's pretty scary).

I just wish I could heap as much praise on the DVD release. Both the region 1 and Region 2 DVD releases at first glance seem identical. That is, the prints were not returned to their original wide screen aspect ratio and have no extras or anything, just the movie. But I am going to tell you, if you can watch Region 1 films on your DVD player, bother spending the little bit of change extra to get the Region 1 version. This is because for some inexplicable reason, the North American version has the actor's original voices intact, including the leprechauns speaking to each other in Irish Gaelic. The Region 2 version however has been inexplicably over dubbed, with American voices and dialogue! It's grating to say the least and all quite puzzling as to why the this would be done, and just what Buena Vista was thinking of when they provided such a travesty to audiences on the home shores as it were of the actors involved. ARGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!

Also a tragedy is the un restoration of the original prints before digitising. This film was an enormous box office smash on both shores upon its original cinematic release, so surely someone would think to give it a little more respect? No, it's rush to get out the DVD, and while viewable, the picture is not as as high quality as it could have been and the colours also seem a bit off. it's not unwatchable though and my children certainly have not complained, but its these small details which scream budget release instead of mega bargain buy. These things aside, it remains a great family film that can be enjoyed by the post Cbeebies crowd as well as the older members of the family as it has something for everyone and can be recommended not only by myself, but by my kids as well. 

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