Irish fairy‐tale films
Irish fairy‐tale films,as often made and set in America as in Ireland. In the post‐war period Irish gold, magic, blarney, and little people were popular both in Hollywood and on Broadway: 1947 gave rise not only to a match‐making leprechaun, but also to a successful stage musical in which a granted wish delivers a lesson about racial prejudice. The Luck of the Irish begins with an American on holiday in Ireland. Encountering a leprechaun, he wins gratitude by not stealing his gold. Back in New York, he falls for an Irish woman but is uncertain how to approach her, till guidance comes from a manservant who turns out to be the leprechaun. The path to romance is cleared, the three return to Ireland, and the leprechaun's help is acknowledged by the nightly gift of a bottle of whiskey. One of his kin, Og, is likewise far from home in the musical Finian's Rainbow (which crossed from stage to screen in 1967). Og has followed Finian to the...
[The entire page is 720 words long]
Join eNotes
Over 3,500 study guides, question and answer forums, literature criticism, reference content, and much more!
Oxford University Press Titles
