Starring Albert Sharpe, Janet (THE TROLLENBERG TERROR) Munro, Sean (HIGHLANDER) Connery, Jimmy O’Dea, Kieron (THE DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS) Moore, Estelle (THE MAGIC SWORD) Winwood and Walter Fitzgerald. Written by Lawrence Edward Watkin and directed by Robert (BEDKNOBS AND BROOMSTICKS) Stevenson.

Darby O’Gill prefers to go down to the pub in the nearby Irish town of Rathcullen, to tell tales of his meetings with Brian Connors, the king of the leprechauns, rather than tend to Lord Fitzpatrick’s estate, which is his job. When Lord Fitzpatrick arrives and informs Darby (Sharpe) that he is going to be moved out of his lovely gatehouse so that Michael McBride (Connery), a younger, fitter man, can take over the upkeep of the estate, Darby asks Michael to keep this a secret from his daughter Katie (Munro) for a while. Michael reluctantly agrees to this, starts to fall for Katie, but, when she eventually finds out that she and her father must leave the gatehouse, Katie becomes very upset and storms away… but a banshee is waiting for her on the nearby mountain…

DARBY O’GILL AND THE LITTLE PEOPLE is a wonderfully-formed gem of a fantasy film. Its plot is perfectly structured: at the start we get to see Darby spinning his yarns in the pub, talking about his attempts to get gold from the leprechauns, and then the ticking clock element of the script is promptly added, when Lord Fitzpatrick informs Darby that he doesn’t have long before he must vacate the gatehouse so that Michael can move in. This spurs Darby to try and catch Brian in order to hopefully get the pot of gold that will keep Katie and himself financially secure. Darby intensifies his tricky battle of wits with Brian, but a meddling local woman (Winwood), who is hoping to secure the groundsman job for her bullyboy son Pony Sugrue (Moore), makes sure that Katie discovers the truth about Darby losing his job, triggering Katie’s fateful trek up the mountainside, chasing the family horse. This is when Katie takes a tumble and catches a fever. With a creepy banshee signalling that something terrible is on its way, Darby sees a death coach flying through the night sky, heading for the gatehouse to take away Katie’s soul. Darby begs for his soul to be driven away by the headless coach-driver and not his daughter’s – and so Darby is transported skywards by the coach, where he is visited by Brian… who encourages Darby to make a final wish…

Shot in the USA, this Disney production used exquisite Peter Ellenshaw matte paintings to concoct an idealised Irish picture book world and utilised brilliantly-designed in-camera forced perspective special effects to bring the little people to the screen.

Based on stories by Irish writer Herminie Templeton Kavanagh, DARBY O’GILL AND THE LITTLE PEOPLE handles the scenes of fantasy well, with Darby turning out to be the only character who actually sees the various folkloric beings, which include the leprechauns, the banshee, a horse that momentarily changes colour to become a ‘pooka’ creature, and the headless coach-driver. Even when Darby does try to show the king of the leprechauns to other people, all anybody else ever sees is a rabbit in a bag.

The finale becomes somewhat darker in tone once the banshee appears near Katie’s unconscious body. Darby tries to ward the female spirit away, though the banshee is merely a scary sign of impending doom, and it is Dullahan, the headless coach-driver, who Darby must really deal with, which he does by volunteering to get onboard the death coach instead of his daughter. Things obviously turn out fine for everyone in this live action Disney flick, which ends with Sean Connery having a barroom fistfight with Kieron Moore! Nice!

Connery and Munro are good as the young couple – and they even get to sing together! But the film belongs to Albert Sharpe as Darby O’Gill and Jimmy O’Dea, who is especially good as Brian the king of the little folk.

The film’s highlights include Darby’s visit to the leprechauns’ underground kingdom, Peter Ellenshaw’s moody matte paintings of the ruins atop Knocknasheega mountain, and the looming spectre of the banshee. All in all, this good-natured Technicolor film, which is full of wish-making and blarney, is a cracking yarn!

Okay, one last look at the banshee…