Darby O'Gill and the Little People (1959)

Based on the books Darby O'Gill and the Good People (1st published as a series of stories in 1901 and 1902), and Ashes of Old Wishes and other Darby O'Gill Tales (1st published in 1926), by Herminie Templeton Kavanagh (born Herminie McGibney).

The plot revolves aroung an estate's caretaker who is being forcefully retired, his young daughter, and a man who has been hired as the new caretaker. There are also leprechauns who grant wishes.

This is a worthy film, which addresses important issues in a very entertaining fashion. The dominant theme is that of marrying a person from out of one's town. The underlying unspoken concern is that of inbreeding, which should be avoided. The local bachelors are depicted as either morally deficient or as weak. The ideal suitor comes from a big city, but the film makes clear the commonality of culture between him and the girl. This is the principle of the Nation State, which allows people of various places to mix, but with a very definite territorial delimitation. He is an outsider, but not a foreigner. There is also the question of the "little people", which hint strongly at an allegorical representation of Capitalism, what with pots of gold, and wish granting which is never realized. But this is a benign view of Capitalism, of which deception is a component, but destructiveness is not.

Rating: 63