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The Magic Sword

  • 1962
  • Approved
  • 1h 20m
IMDb RATING
4.8/10
2.8K
YOUR RATING
The Magic Sword (1962)
The son of a sorceress, armed with weapons, armour and six magically summoned knights, embarks on a quest to save a princess from a vengeful wizard.
Play trailer2:42
1 Video
44 Photos
QuestSword & SorceryAdventureDramaFantasy

The son of a sorceress, armed with weapons, armour and six magically summoned knights, embarks on a quest to save a princess from a vengeful wizard.The son of a sorceress, armed with weapons, armour and six magically summoned knights, embarks on a quest to save a princess from a vengeful wizard.The son of a sorceress, armed with weapons, armour and six magically summoned knights, embarks on a quest to save a princess from a vengeful wizard.

  • Director
    • Bert I. Gordon
  • Writers
    • Bert I. Gordon
    • Bernard C. Schoenfeld
  • Stars
    • Basil Rathbone
    • Estelle Winwood
    • Gary Lockwood
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    4.8/10
    2.8K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Bert I. Gordon
    • Writers
      • Bert I. Gordon
      • Bernard C. Schoenfeld
    • Stars
      • Basil Rathbone
      • Estelle Winwood
      • Gary Lockwood
    • 73User reviews
    • 45Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Videos1

    Trailer
    Trailer 2:42
    Trailer

    Photos44

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    Top cast23

    Edit
    Basil Rathbone
    Basil Rathbone
    • Lodac
    Estelle Winwood
    Estelle Winwood
    • Sybil
    Gary Lockwood
    Gary Lockwood
    • Sir George
    Anne Helm
    Anne Helm
    • Princess Helene
    Liam Sullivan
    Liam Sullivan
    • Sir Branton
    Danielle De Metz
    Danielle De Metz
    • Mignonette
    Merritt Stone
    • King
    Jacques Gallo
    • Sir Dennis of France
    David Cross
    • Sir Pedro of Spain
    John Mauldin
    • Sir Patrick of Ireland
    Taldo Kenyon
    • Sir Anthony of Italy
    Angus Duncan
    Angus Duncan
    • Sir James of Scotland
    Leroy Johnson
    • Sir Ulrich of Germany
    Marlene Callahan
    • Princess Grace
    Nick Bon Tempi
    • Left Siamese Twin
    Paul Bon Tempi
    • Right Siamese Twin
    Ann Graves
    Ann Graves
    • Princess Laura
    Lorrie Richards
    • Anne
    • Director
      • Bert I. Gordon
    • Writers
      • Bert I. Gordon
      • Bernard C. Schoenfeld
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews73

    4.82.8K
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    Featured reviews

    6Richie-67-485852

    CHILDHOOD MAGIC

    When this came out to the people of that time it served its purpose well and became a good source of entertainment for its time. Children were deeply affected and even adults were able to sit through this making it believe it or not a family movie with fun, popcorn and memories. Scary by its time and standards and not so much today, those that captured this for the first time scored well. Who hasn't dreamed of a magic sword, a fast horse or pet, loyal friends and someone to love? How a bout a bad guy who doesn't like anyone? A silly old grandma who loves and spoils?
    gohb

    Good film for kids

    I was 7 years old when this movie came out, and although I didn't see it then, I bet I would have loved it. Swashbuckling knights, a quest, plenty of adventure, some pretty evil bad guys, and a few memorable creepy images. Of course, I wound up seeing it at the age of 47, and I have to admit it's for the most part pretty cheesy. Gary Lockwood and Anne Helm are so badly miscast it's hilarious, the attempts at humor are excruciatingly bad, the plot is kind of lumpy (the 7 curses don't seem to have any pattern to them), and so on. But hey -- some films are for kids and not adults, and this is about as good as you're going to get from Bert I. Gordon. Let's give him his due on this one.
    4ladyrazorsharp

    Brings back memories of Sunday afternoon TV!

    I'm a Basil Rathbone fan, and a friend of mine picked this up for me somewhere--who knows where! The transfer isn't great, but the movie itself is wonderfully campy and has some cool moments if you're willing to stick with it and dig a little under the surface. Besides, I appreciated Mr. R.'s performance, and he managed to have some really good 'bad guy' moments in this (the scene where he had Helene watch her fellow prisoners being eaten by his dragon made an impression on me as being one of the best 'bad guy' moments I've seen, made even better by his distinctive baritone voice).

    That said, the villains were better than the 'good' guys! Sir Branton's lines were atrocious, but would have been even mildly redeemable if they'd been delivered in more than an off-hand manner. George and Helene acted like spoiled brats, though they played their parts as the gallant knight (I chuckled when the orphan George introduced himself as 'Sir George' to the king who had never seen him, much less knighted him) and damsel in distress well.

    The makeup in this movie was really creepy, and I'm sure the special effects were quite cutting edge for their time. I don't think I'd recommend this for kids younger than ten, as the monsters, the dark tone of the plot, and a 'little-too-sexy-for-the-movies' moment when Helene comes up out of the bath (my copy put a mosaic over a briefly topless Helene).
    BrianDanaCamp

    Powerful fantasy storytelling, despite an ultra-low budget

    THE MAGIC SWORD (1962) is a fantasy film that enthralled me as a child when I sat in a Bronx theater with a packed house of kids on a summer afternoon. We talked about it for days afterwards and acted it out in our street games. As a grown-up, when I returned to it on TV, I may have found some of the effects less than convincing, particularly the dragon, but I still found the film quite engaging and consistently memorable. The images have a bold graphic quality reminiscent of the best comic book art. Each shot cuts right to its essential information and uses whatever low-budget means at the filmmaker's disposal--make-up, costumes, color, lighting, simple optical effects--to make the image stand out. In addition, there are strong performers on hand who have a kind of comic book/fairy tale aspect to them, e.g. Estelle Winwood, as the hero's spell-casting guardian; Basil Rathbone, as the sorcerer villain; and Vampira as a beautiful woman the knights meet on the road, who turns monstrous at a moment's notice.

    The film is not afraid of grotesque imagery and doles it out in small, effective portions. As an adult I was struck by the horrific nature of some of the images, e.g. the withered old hag that Vampira turns into; the acid pool that yields up the skeleton of a victim who'd fallen into it just moments earlier; the burned, reddened skins of two of the knights as they're caught in some kind of intense sun ray. But as a child, I wasn't frightened by these images; they helped make the story more believable and more involving. Filmmaker Bert I. Gordon (THE AMAZING COLOSSAL MAN) was not afraid to show us the dark, gruesome side of this mythical tale. He wasn't trying to shield the kids in the audience the way bigger-budgeted Hollywood films of this stripe would have at the time (e.g., Harryhausen films like SEVENTH VOYAGE OF SINBAD and THREE WORLDS OF GULLIVER). There was an honesty to Gordon's approach that I think we, as kids, even without being able to articulate it, appreciated and respected. As an adult, I can't get this film out of my mind, while more recent spectacles like the overstuffed LORD OF THE RINGS are but a dim memory.
    ptb-8

    magic lumps

    Why a re people so unkind to this very funny fantasy. Any adult can tell it is not meant to be taken as some sort of 'magnificent spectacle'. Yes it is low budget but it knows it, and Basil and Estelle seemed to be having a very sly old time brewing potent hammy acting to fling at each other and the hopeful cast. Kids love this film even today; it has the sort of 'crummy but fascinating' manginess cheap color fantasies have. Does anyone remember those equally hilarious and ghastly 'storybook productions' like Mother Goose or Jack and the Beanstalk? Terrible but lovably hopeless and thoroughly entertaining. THE MAGIC SWORD even has a pre 2001 Gary Lockwood; boy I bet he's glad Kubrick saw something in him after this. Kubrick would have seen this, you know, I am sure he saw everything Gary Lockwood made before casting him in 2001. And he still hired him. Besides, MAGIC SWORD has the unforgettable Estelle Winwood. She is like Edward Everett Horton in a dress. Pantomime? Sure. Hilarious? Yes. Enjoyable? Thoroughly in its mangy matinée way. Can you believe I saw this on a double feature with SINK THE BISMARK! Such were kids matinées in Australia in 1962. The next week we saw CAPTAIN SINBAD which almost looks like the out takes of THE MAGIC SWORD.

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    Related interests

    Judy Garland, Ray Bolger, Jack Haley, and Bert Lahr in The Wizard of Oz (1939)
    Quest
    Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sandahl Bergman, and Gerry Lopez in Conan the Barbarian (1982)
    Sword & Sorcery
    Still frame
    Adventure
    Mahershala Ali and Alex R. Hibbert in Moonlight (2016)
    Drama
    Elijah Wood in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
    Fantasy

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The film was skewered in The Magic Sword (1992). In the "Mystery Science Theater 3000 Amazing Colossal Episode Guide" book, the show's creators admitted that "this is actually a pretty good movie."
    • Goofs
      Even though modern Italian state did not exist until 1861, the region corresponding to it has been referred to as "Italy" since Roman times. And during the setting of this film, they would've spoken a form of Italian. And they would've been referred to as Italian-Speakers or Italians. Also, between 800 A.D. and 1806, there was an entity called the "Kingdom of Italy" which consisted of mostly of Northern and Central Italy except for Venice. It was one of the three constituent kingdoms of the so called Holy Roman Empire along with Germany and Burgundy. They were nominally ruled by the German Holy Roman Emperor, but in reality, central government was usually non-existent so the "Kingdom of Italy" only existed on paper. Still, "Sir Anthony of Italy" would not have been an incorrect title.
    • Quotes

      Sir Branton: Was it magic?

      Lodac: No. Not magic.

      Sir Branton: Then how did George escape?

      Lodac: I think... yes. Something stronger than magic. The power of Patrick's faith.

    • Crazy credits
      Ross Wheat (dragon-puppet operator) as "dragon trainer."
    • Connections
      Edited into The Man Who Saved the World (1982)
    • Soundtracks
      Frere Jacques
      (Traditional French Song)

      Sung by pretty girl to French knight outside mill

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    FAQ14

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • January 25, 1962 (Mexico)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Official site
      • Watch on Pave TV
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • La espada mágica
    • Filming locations
      • Bronson Caves, Bronson Canyon, Griffith Park - 4730 Crystal Springs Drive, Los Angeles, California, USA
    • Production company
      • Bert I. Gordon Productions
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 1h 20m(80 min)
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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