At a recent talk I gave at the Veritas Press Teacher Training Conference, some of the participants asked questions about watching movies, and what some recommended films might be. We talked about how movie-watching can be a part of a family storytelling culture. My good wife has a website over at This Parenting Adventure, and on Fridays, she posts a movie review, covering family favorites we've collected over the years. And for good reason, for Fridays have been designated (happily, if not too originally) Family Movie Night in the Newsom household. So I thought I would draw from her reviews, and give the Fatherly perspective, particularly as these films relate to the idea of building a family culture of storytelling, which, as will be known to any of you who have read my books, is a major point of emphasis for me.
Angela recently reviewed Darby O'Gill and the Little People. This was a film produced by Disney in (if memory serves) 1959. One of a string of successful (and mostly excellent) live action films that had begun with Treasure Island, Darby O’Gill is possibly the best thing old Walt ever put on film. From an excellent script to outstanding comic performances, to ground-breaking special effects (forty years later, Peter Jackson borrowed the forced perspective techniques used in Darby for his Lord of the Rings trilogy), this film has it all. It’s clever, hilarious, even a bit scary in places. The movie is based on the book by Hermione Kavanagh, but Disney’s story is original (though drawing heavily from the characters, lore, and language of the book); whereas the book tells tales of a young Darby, the film picks up with Darby as an old man.
Darby (masterfully played by Albert Sharpe) has a long history of interaction with “the Little People,” better known as Leprechauns. The film tells the story of Darby’s friendly battles of wits with Brian O’Connor, King of the Leprechauns (just as masterfully played by Jimmy O’Dea). The interaction between these two is what makes the film. I won’t go deeper than that into the story: I’d rather let you experience it for yourself, while I spend the time I have talking about some of the more interesting elements, at least in the opinion of your humble correspondent.
