Lackluster as well as low-budget sword and sorcery shenanigans from producer & director Bert I. Gordon who ventures back to the medieval days of Sir George and the Dragon. Basil Rathbone takes top billing as the treacherous wizard Lodac who casts seven curses on anybody that would try to rescue Princess Helene. Lodac means to serve the comely princess to his two-headed, fire-breathing dragon in seven days. Twenty-year old George (Gary Lockwood of "2001: A Space Odyssey")dreams of marrying Helene (Anne Helm of "Follow That Dream") and launches a crusade with six other noble knight to free her from Lodac. George faces stiff competition from another knight, Sir Branton (Liam Sullivan of "That Darn Cat!"), who is in cahoots with Lodac. Sir Branton has somehow stolen a powerful ring from Lodac and he uses it as leverage to get who he wants, Helene, in return for giving Lodac his ring back. Meanwhile, a witch named Sybil (Estelle Winwood), who raised George after his royal parents died, promises to give him a magic sword and a horse on his birthday. George tricks his foster stepmom and rides off on his crusade. Halfway through these antics, George loses his magic sword and his absent-minded guardian can save him if she can only remember a word that sounds like rack for a spell that she wants desperately to cast to save George. Sybil serves as comic relief and Winwood is funny.
Basically, "The Magic Sword" rehashes the legend of Saint George and the Dragon. Obviously, "Amazing Colossal Man" director Bert I. Gordon aimed this lightweight opus at juveniles and all the special effects are bottom of the barrel, especially a dragon that looks like it was stolen from a Chinatown parade. There is also a girl who turns into a hag and the hag make-up is hilariously terrible. Nevertheless, Rathbone of Sherlock Holmes fame is perfect as the evil villain and Lockwood is convincing enough as the heroic Sir George. Had Gordon played everything in a straightforward fashion, "The Magic Sword" might have been a cutting edge fantasy. As it remains, this modestly budgeted United Artists release looks pathetic compared with the mega-budget epics that Hollywood turns out. Gordon couldn't resist throwing in a gigantic ogre (really awful looking) and some shrunken people who help our hero out during a crucial moment. The ending qualifies as a minor surprise. Of course, George and Helene realize happiness when the king pronounced them man and wife. This is the kind of hokum that illuminated drive-in movie screens back in the 1960s. A little more gusto and less contrivance might have elevated this predictable pabulum. "The Magic Sword" is not bad enough to be truly campy and it is not as good as some of the other movies that Gordon helmed. Indeed, it is difficult to see why this harmless yarn encountered so much trouble with British censors as one commentator has written in his review.
Nevertheless, despite its shoddy special effects, "The Magic Sword" recouped its money and went on to become a hit film.
Basically, "The Magic Sword" rehashes the legend of Saint George and the Dragon. Obviously, "Amazing Colossal Man" director Bert I. Gordon aimed this lightweight opus at juveniles and all the special effects are bottom of the barrel, especially a dragon that looks like it was stolen from a Chinatown parade. There is also a girl who turns into a hag and the hag make-up is hilariously terrible. Nevertheless, Rathbone of Sherlock Holmes fame is perfect as the evil villain and Lockwood is convincing enough as the heroic Sir George. Had Gordon played everything in a straightforward fashion, "The Magic Sword" might have been a cutting edge fantasy. As it remains, this modestly budgeted United Artists release looks pathetic compared with the mega-budget epics that Hollywood turns out. Gordon couldn't resist throwing in a gigantic ogre (really awful looking) and some shrunken people who help our hero out during a crucial moment. The ending qualifies as a minor surprise. Of course, George and Helene realize happiness when the king pronounced them man and wife. This is the kind of hokum that illuminated drive-in movie screens back in the 1960s. A little more gusto and less contrivance might have elevated this predictable pabulum. "The Magic Sword" is not bad enough to be truly campy and it is not as good as some of the other movies that Gordon helmed. Indeed, it is difficult to see why this harmless yarn encountered so much trouble with British censors as one commentator has written in his review.
Nevertheless, despite its shoddy special effects, "The Magic Sword" recouped its money and went on to become a hit film.