Scanialara
You won't be disappointed!
TrueHello
Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.
Dirtylogy
It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.
That's Mr Boyd to You
I haven't seen this movie in nearly 15 years, and I remembered only the terrifying banshee scaring the hell out of me as a child. So now that I'm 25, I felt like I could overcome my childhood fears and finally give it another go.Watching it now, I realise that this is purely Walt Disney at his best. The special effects wowed me beyond anything I've seen in the last few years (and this came out in 1959). These guys were geniuses. Nowadays when you see effects, you can tell almost immediately they're computer graphics. But with Darby O'Gill, and anything predating the mid 80s, you had to guess how they did these effects. They look brilliant and there's NO computers whatsoever.The story is quite good as are the actors, including Sean Connery in his first movie role ever."Darby O'Gill" is now among my favourite films of all time due to those two things above and the joy that I had watching it all these years later.
JLRMovieReviews
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."
sharkey197
Certainly not Mr. Disney. I loved this film as a child and today saw it for the first time in maybe 25 years. I was astonished at how good the special effects were. The Little People were totally believable! The DVD had a wonderful making of which explained the forced perspective technique and showed exactly how it was done. It also finally cleared up any confusion on how matte painting is used and from a technical viewpoint, this film is remarkable. Disney always went the extra mile. That's why he was such a master of film making. I was also delighted with the accents and the use of real Gaelic terms and Irish expressions and could only wonder if they had confused me as a child until I read that this movie had had two soundtracks and one had been dubbed on after the accents were deemed too difficult for American audiences. Fortunately, the original is on the DVD. With captioning, it's not hard to follow at all. And how Disney, to have a rider where he "thanks" the leprechauns for helping him make this picture! Of course, the looked so real, you could actually believe it.
Martin Bradley
I first saw this film when I was about 9 years old and it scared the hell out of me, (when the banshee appeared I was under the seat). Over the years, as a self-respecting Irishman, I should have put this cod stage-Oirish nonsense behind me, (as indeed any self-respecting Irishman should put "The Quiet Man" behind him). But the magic this film casts is hard to shake off. I still get misty-eyed every time I see "Darby O'Gill" and wonder is it nostalgia, (for my childhood? for a 'mythological' Ireland or just an Ireland from a happier time?), or is it simply because this is a wonderful film, a great piece of story-telling, beautifully directed by the under-valued Robert Stevenson and splendidly played by a great cast, some of whom weren't Irish at all. (The young Sean Connery at his most handsome and showing the promise of what was to come; Janet Munro as Darby's daughter).The great Albert Sharpe, (the kind of role that comes along once in a lifetime), is Darby, the old gate-keeper about to be put out to pasture by 'his lordship' and Connery is the younger man about to take his place. What plot there is has Darby capturing King Brian of the Leprechauns, (the wonderful Jimmy O'Dea, and the special effects are pretty marvelous, too). It's the kind of yarn that would make a good story around a turf fire of a Winter's night and all the better for downing several glasses of poteen but then we wouldn't have those wonderful effects, (the dancing leprechauns, a banshee out of any child's worst nightmare, the death-coach), and a cast that also includes the magnificent Estelle Winwood as the bad-hearted widow and Kieron Moore as her gombeen of a son. It's a classic and outside of Ireland it really ought to be better known.
