Henry Koster has never been a favourite director of mine. He did do some good films, the wonderful 'Harvey' being a strong contender for his best, but most of the films of his seen fall in the competent but not spectacular category. The cast is a very talented one, Cecil Kellaway and Lee J Cobb were fine actors and Tyrone Power did shine in the right role, as did Anne Baxter. Really liked the premise for 'The Luck of the Irish' too.

'The Luck of the Irish' really impressed me on the whole. It is not perfect and won't be an all-time favourite any time soon. There are so many great things here and it is such an easy watch when in the right mood. As far as Koster's films go, and this is probably not going to be a popular opinion, 'The Luck of the Irish' is to me one of his better ones and one of his more accessible. It is a shame that it is not better known as it does deserve to be.

Will agree that the tinting is distracting and was not needed.

Also with that the political parts of the story sucked the energy/momentum when it featured and felt a bit out of kilter heavy.

On the other hand, there are no complaints on my part to be had with any of the performances. Power is a very likeable lead and personally thought he had a natural presence and showed that he did have a comic touch. Baxter is also charming and looks radiant, their chemistry is appropriately sweet and light-hearted. Kellaway is a joy and steals every scene he appears in. Would have liked to have seen more of Cobb, but he plays his role very well (firm but never resorting to scenery chewing). Koster directs with confidence and his direction does have personality.

Excepting the tinting, the film looks very nice and is lovingly photographed in particular. The music adds a lot to the whimsy and doesn't come over as too chirpy while having personality. The script is light-hearted and amusing and even if the story is very slight it was also very heart-warming and charming, not coming over as dull.

In conclusion, really lovely film. Was not in a good mood before watching and it really lifted the spirits afterwards. 8/10

The DVD for this film from 20th Century-Fox is interesting because it offers you the choice of seeing it in glorious black & white or in the bizarre manner that it was originally shown--with all the sequences in Ireland (almost half the film) tinted Kool-Aid green! Now tinting was common in the silent movie days, but doing so in 1948 was odd. You may wonder why they didn't just film it in color--and there's a very good reason they couldn't do that. Just like when they filmed HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY (set in Wales),they couldn't make the film a color one because there is a lot of dirt and dry scrub in Southern California where they make films--and the film was set in a very lush green land. The wrong locale would have been VERY obvious in color films and had they used color, no one might have been convinced it was "the old country" (Ireland). However, the color tinting really wasn't very clever, as it made the film butt-ugly. I watched the DVD that way but fortunately you can choose--and I strongly suggest you try any way other than tinted!!

As for the film, it's a lovely little fantasy film about Tyrone Power getting himself a Leprechaun "helper" in the form of Cecil Kellaway--who is adorable in the film but a bit too large to be one of the little people! Still, with such a lovely acting job, this can be forgiven. In some ways, Power having this magical friend who only wants to help straighten out his life is very reminiscent of the later Burl Ives film, THE BRASS BOTTLE--though Kellaway uses far less obvious magic and the film isn't nearly as crazy as THE BRASS BOTTLE. In fact, though there is a bit of magic, most of the help Kellaway gives is in the form of advice and a small helping hand. The problem is that Power doesn't think he needs help and is blindly walking into a life he'll soon regret. Heck, everyone in the audience and all his friends in the film recognize this, but fat-headed Tyrone is too single-minded to see it for himself.

The film is clever and cute without being too obvious and too kooky. Overall, it earns a 7 for quality, though the fun factor is higher--and if I were to score how much I enjoyed the film, an 8 might be more appropriate. It's a lovely little romantic film that deserves a look--just NOT in the (yuck) tinted version--saints preserve us!

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.