Tuesday, May 3, 2022

The Magic Sword

The goofy 60s fantasy film The Magic Sword stars Gary Lockwood as an orphan raised by a sorceress (Estelle Winwood) who steals a number of magical gifts from his foster mother to save the princess (Anne Helm) he's fallen in love with from afar when she is abducted by an evil sorcerer (Basil Rathbone) who has a habit of kidnapping princesses and feeding them to his dragon. Armed with a magic sword, armor, and steed, along with chivalrous knights, Sir George begins his quest to fight through the seven curses put in place by the sorcerer while also dealing with a traitor in his midst.

The magical effects, as you may guess, are pretty limited for the time and haven't aged that well, likely one of the reasons the movie earned a spot on Mystery Science Theater 3000 (although two of the characters admitted it was better than they expected).

Rathbone is fun as the mustache-twirling villain, even if the effects (mostly thunderous noises and lights flickering when he raises his hands) do him no favors. Lockwood is fine as the rather bland hero (whose stalkerish obsession with the princess is a little more creepy today than it might have been at the time) as he walks his companions to doom through what looks like reused sets from other films. The decidedly B-movie is more of a curiosity than anything else. The very loose adaptation of "Saint George and the Dragon" has been rereleased as part of Alpha Video's Retrograde collection. 

Watch the trailer
  • Title: The Magic Sword
  • IMDb: link

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