The Luck of the Irish (1948)

Director:

Henry Koster

Writers:

Philip Dunne (writer)
Constance Jones (novel)

Release Date:

15 September 1948 (USA)

Genre:

Fantasy | Comedy | Romance

Plot:

Steven Fitzgerald, a newpaper reporter from New York, meets a leprechaun and a beautiful young woman while traveling in Ireland...

Plot Keywords:

Irish American | New York City | Leprechaun | Based On Novel

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

Cast

Tyrone Power	...	Stephen Fitzgerald
Anne Baxter	...	Nora
Cecil Kellaway	...	Horace (A Leprechaun)
Lee J. Cobb	...	D. C. Augur
James Todd	...	Bill Clark
Jayne Meadows	...	Frances Augur
J.M. Kerrigan	...	Tatie
Phil Brown	...	Tom Higginbotham
Charles Irwin	...	Cornelius

Also Known As:

Leave It to the Irish (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

99 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White (partly) | Black and White (tinted) (partly)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Finland:S

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Quotes:

[first lines]
Stephen Fitzgerald: This can't be right. Let me see that map.

Soundtrack:

The Irish Washerwoman

Eye-catching sparkle of a film

I am a voracious channel surfer. I freely admit that. And when I was laid up with a heating pad applied to a sore neck one morning, the poor remote control was nearly smoking from the furious usage. But I stopped in my tracks as AMC portrayed Anne Baxter as Nora. She looked like the Mira Sorvino of her generation, right down to the delicate brow wrinkles of concern. Then the story drew me in. I didn't move for the next two hours. The leprechaun faded as a cultural image and became instead a vehicle of introspection and divine influence. The character played by Tyrone Power is ageless - men in the workplace are forever torn between following the dreams of their heart, or selling out to "the man" for stability and comfort. For Tyrone, the cost would have included his morality and honesty, which in today's world are sacrificed too easily and too often in the business arena. One comment worth making about the character of Nora; I was pleasantly surprised by how she never tried to manipulate situations to gain what she longed for. She accepted outcomes in a strong and self-assured manner, when it would have been easy to fall back on feminine wiles to turn things her way. A timeless film containing many lessons worth learning!