Darby O'Gill and his daughter Katie live together in the small Irish town of Rathcullen. Darby works as the caretaker of an estate owned by Lord Fitzpatrick and tries to catch a tribe of leprechauns, particularly their king, Brian Connors. Lord Fitzpatrick retires Darby, replacing him with a young Dubliner named Michael McBride. Darby begs Michael not to tell Katie he is replacing him, and he reluctantly agrees. While chasing Fitzpatrick's horse Cleopatra, who is actually a pooka, Darby is captured by Brian and the leprechauns and brought to their mountain lair, Knocknasheega. Darby learns Brian has brought him to the mountain to avoid his secret getting out to Katie, but Darby cannot leave Knocknasheega as a consequence. Darby escapes by tricking the leprechauns into leaving the mountain by playing "The Fox Chase" on a violin Brian loaned him. Expecting Brian to pursue him, Darby traps him in a drinking game with a jug of poitín, allowing him to capture the leprechaun at sunrise when his magic has no effect. Since Darby caught him, Brian gives him three wishes, granting his first for Brian to stay at his side for two weeks or until Darby runs out of wishes. Brian tricks Darby into using his second wish to draw the enamored Katie and Michael closer together. Pony Sugrue, the town bully, learns of Michael's new job and decides to take it and Katie for himself. He has his mother Sheelah tell Katie of Darby's joblessness, causing her to angrily confront Darby and Michael. Katie discovers Cleopatra and chases her to Knocknasheega, but Darby finds her stricken with a fever. A banshee appears and summons the Dullahan on a death couch to take Katie's soul away, but Darby uses his third wish to take his daughter's place. To save Darby, Brian has him make a fourth wish for Brian to join him in the afterlife. Since Darby can only make three wishes, all his wishes are rendered void, freeing him from the death couch. He returns to Katie, who makes a full recovery. Michael confronts and humiliates Pony at the pub, and he and Katie begin a relationship together with Darby's approval.
Cast
Production
conceived the film during a trip to Ireland with the Irish Folklore Commission in 1947. The following year, Disney announced he would make a film titled Three Wishes, based on a script from Watkin about an Irishman battling a leprechaun, which was to involve both live action and animation. However, the script was never produced. Disney took a second trip to Ireland in 1956 and announced a new film that October, The Three Wishes of Darby O'Gill, based on Kavanagh's 1903 book Darby O'Gill and the Good People,retaining Watkin as writer. Disney studied Gaelic folklore for three months at the Dublin Library and received input from seanchaí while developing the film. During casting in London in February 1958, the film's title became Darby O'Gill and the Little People. Barry Fitzgerald was Disney's first choice to play both Darby and Brian. Sharpe and O'Dea were instead cast in the lead roles after Disney spotted O'Dea in a pantomime. Munro was cast in March after Disney signed her for a five-year contract, while Connery was borrowed from 20th Century Fox, where he was then under contract. Filming started on the Disney backlot in May 1958, though some location work was done at Albertson Ranch in the San Fernando Valley. Munro and Connery sing a duet in the film titled "Pretty Irish Girl", apparently dubbing over vocals by Brendan O'Dowda and Ruby Murray, which was released in the UK as a single in 1959. Connery recorded the song solo for the 1992 compilation The Music of Disney: A Legacy of Song. Dell Comics produced a graphic novel adaptation of the film in August 1959.
Reception
Writing for The New York Times, A. H. Weiler praised the cast but described Connery as "merely tall, dark, and handsome", and called the film an "overpoweringly charming concoction of standard Gaelic tall stories, fantasy and romance." Variety called the film a "rollicking Gaelic fantasy" with "meticulously painstaking production" and "a gem" of a performance from Sharpe, though Connery was called "artificial" and "the weakest link in Robert Stevenson's otherwise distinguished direction." Charles Stinson of the Los Angeles Times wrote, "Being a Disney product, it is as technically perfect a job as can be had: the Technicolor, the camera work, the special effects, the Irish music and all are a rich feast for anyone's eye and ear." The Monthly Film Bulletin called the special effects "brilliantly executed" but found that "all attempts at Irish charm seem pretty synthetic, a notable exception being the playing of Jimmy O'Dea, who makes King Brian the most likeable and beguiling leprechaun yet to appear on the screen." Leonard Maltin praises the film in his book The Disney Films, calling it "not only one of Disney's best films, but is certainly one of the best fantasies ever put on film." Maltin rates the movie so highly that in a later article he included it among a list of outstanding lesser-known Disney films. The film has a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 15 reviews, with an average grade of 7 out of 10. Munro won the 1960 Golden Globe for New Star of the Year for her performance in the film.
