Darby O'Gill and the Little People

Darby O'Gill and the Little People is a 1959 American fantasy adventure film produced by Walt Disney Productions, adapted from the Darby O'Gill stories of Herminie Templeton Kavanagh. Directed by Robert Stevenson and written by Lawrence Edward Watkin, the film stars Albert Sharpe as O'Gill alongside Janet Munro, Sean Connery, and Jimmy O'Dea. Plot Darby O'Gill and his daughter, Katie, live in Rathcullen, a small Irish town, where Darby is the caretaker for Lord Fitzpatrick's estate. Darby continually 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 has been replaced, and he reluctantly agrees. While chasing a púca disguised as Fitzpatrick's horse Cleopatra, Darby is captured by the leprechauns and taken to their mountain lair, Knocknasheega. Brian has brought Darby there to prevent Katie from learning he lost his job, and Darby cannot leave Knocknasheega as a consequence. Darby tricks the leprechauns into opening the mountain and leaving by playing "The Fox Chase" on Brian's Stradivarius violin. Darby escapes, and expecting Brian to pursue him, later engages 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 has caught him, Brian grants him three wishes. Brian tries to trick Darby into making additional wishes, but Darby recalls from their previous encounter that wishing for a fourth forfeits them all. Darby's first wish is for Brian to stay by his side for two weeks or until Darby runs out of wishes. Darby tries to show Michael the King whilst he's trapped in a sack, but Michael sees only a rabbit, Darby accidentally wishes that Michael could see Brian, which the fairy king grants with the caveat that "He does see me, he sees me as a rabbit".