MARIO GAUCI Mildly entertaining romantic comedy with a touch of whimsy, rather too slight to live in the memory – but, nevertheless, worthwhile for Cecil Kellaway's delightful Oscar-nominated performance as a mischievous leprechaun.Newspaperman Tyrone Power is on his way to meet gruff boss Lee J. Cobb (with a bicarbonate-of-soda bottle never far from reach!), who harbors political ambitions and wants to appoint the hero as his 'ghost writer' – even if their views on the matter are on a different wavelength! Actually, Cobb's daughter (Jayne Meadows), who's also Power's fiancée is the one pulling the strings; the trouble is that, while passing through Ireland, he falls for inn-keeper's daughter Anne Baxter…not to mention running into 'cobbler' Kellaway by a waterfall (although the residents deny the existence of both man and location!).Back in the States, Power beckons to the will of Cobb (or rather Meadows); he's even given a plush apartment to live in…but, when calling for a manservant, it's Kellaway who turns up! Besides, a chance encounter – actually 'arranged' by the genial leprechaun – with Baxter (who has come to America for some private family business) relights his interest, obviously reciprocated, in the girl; consequently, he begins to neglect his work in order to be with her. Eventually, though, Cobb is ready to appoint Power as editor of his old newspaper if he's elected to the Senate himself – a position he politely declines; realizing she's beaten, Meadows gives him up and Power and Baxter are free to return to carefree Ireland.In the last scene, Power – now married and living at Baxter's father's tavern – is shown following a local custom (which he had himself witnessed the old man perform earlier on) by placing a whiskey bottle outside the tavern door…which is then said to be picked up by a leprechaun (and, just as he had done before, the prancing and giggling Kellaway appears soon after to retrieve it).

Robert J. Maxwell This is an amusing and charming Irish fairy tale. A reporter and columnist, Steven Fitzgerald (Tyrone Power) gets lost on a visit to Ireland and finds himself at a country inn run by Nora (Ann Baxter) and her father. He bumps into a leprechaun (Cecil Calloway), forces him to offer up his pot of gold, and, thinking the little guy is some kind of fruitcake, gives it back to him. Calloway promises eternal gratitude and gives him a Spanish doubloon as a good luck piece. Power and Baxter are attracted to one another but Power has other plans in New York and takes his leave.In New York, he's been hired at a high salary to write speeches and essays in support of a politician, Lee J. Cobb. Cobb's influential, rich, and powerful daughter (Jayne Meadows) goes with the job. But Power and Cobb have their disagreements. On top of that, a "man" shows up, claiming to have been sent by the agency, to take care of Powers' modern new apartment. He bears a suspicious resemblance to the leprechaun and is played by the same actor. Baxter shows up in New York to attend a kinsman's wedding and meets Power by accident on a crowded subway. Powers' dissatisfaction with his new responsibilities grows until he finally leaves his fiancée and his job, marries Baxter, and returns to Ireland to work.The first half hour and the last few minutes are set in the Irish village and they're as charming as a child's fairy tale. The much longer center section is a morality tale with serious overtones, and I'm afraid it turns into a story of a man who discovers his life is empty and decides to change it radically. (Power has done this trip before, in "The Razor's Edge.") The "peasants" are pretty generic. So are the cold-hearted cosmopolites back in New York. The former all have large families, are fun loving, cheerful, a little careless about punctuality, believe in legends, know how to drink, have dances and play lots of music, and put away big meals, and don't much worry about money. This is true of all generic peasants. It doesn't matter whether they're Irish or Jewish or Italian or Polish or Greek or anything else. Zorba the Mick.But that doesn't matter much. It's still fun. There are some people in Ireland who believe that Americans have a fairy-tale view of the Auld Sod, but although H. L. Mencken argued that nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people, I think we're all smart enough to know a fairy tale when we see one. Why are all such Irish fantasies set in a green countryside, with stone walls, rolling hills, patches of woodland, and softly flowing brooks? Partly because so much of the country actually looks like that, and partly because the cities do not. Anyone for Belfast? Power is handsome. Baxter and Calloway all do respectable Irish accents. Rod Serling probably would have enjoyed adapting this for a Twilight Zone episode. Overall, it's quite enjoyable.

bkoganbing The Luck of the Irish has Tyrone Power on holiday in the country of his ancestors. He meets a sprightly colleen in Anne Baxter and happens to capture a leprechaun's treasure. But the leprechaun pulls a whole drama scene on him and feeling sorry for him, he lets the leprechaun keep the treasure. The leprechaun played by Cecil Kellaway wishes him good luck and travels back to America to see that Power gets it or at least what Kellaway considers good fortune. Kellaway is a bit of a scamp, but it turns out he's got a wise old Irish head on his shoulders.This may very well have been Cecil Kellaway's career role. He rips off the film from the leads especially Tyrone Power who he has most of his scenes with. Kellaway got an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor.Supposedly when first released the Irish scenes had a green sepia tint to them. Not on the print I saw, it was straight black and white. One wonders why Darryl Zanuck didn't bother to do the whole thing in color for his favorite star, Tyrone Power.Other performances of note are Lee J. Cobb as the publishing magnate whose political views Power is diametrically opposed to, but who accepts a position with him. Also Jayne Meadows who is Cobb's daughter and purportedly one of the perks that goes along with the job. She's got her eyes set on Power as a husband.Money and the comforts of life that can be bought with it are not easy things to turn down, especially if one has a taste for them. It's led to many a good person's downfall. It's the dilemma Power is faced with and I think you can figure out how he resolves it.The Luck of the Irish is a nice whimsical film and it's good family entertainment.

renfield54 Tyrone Power and Cecil Kellaway (the leprechaun) make this modern day, comic, fairy tale a wonder to behold (and I'm not even Irish). Their performances are excellent and make a possibly hokey story into a gem. The old traditions that may seem "quaint" to an outsider, or in this case, our sophisticated hero (visiting the bumpkins), are just as odd to a displaced leprechaun in New York City (there to settle a debt of honor). The traditions and ties borrowed from the old country will touch your heart and help better define what is true-ly important in life.Our leprechaun is a bit unorthodox (of course), but he makes a believer our of our hero, cynical to the extreme. "Luck of the Irish" makes you want to believe, and at the end of the movie, will leave you warm and content, with a smile on your face.....