Das Zauberschwert

A friend of mine lent me their copy of The Magic Sword, a 1962 film directed by Bert I. Gordon. While it's still fresh on my mind, I thought I would crank out a review.

The film is based loosely on the medieval legend of St. George and the Dragon, or so I read on Wikipedia. I don't know much about the legend myself, but I probably would after a bit of searching.

Anyway, the plot of The Magic Sword is your typical "brave knight goes on a quest to save a princess from an evil wizard" deal. The sword in the title has to do with the fact that the main character wields a sword that apparently has some kind of magical powers.

Despite the use of the tired old "save the princess" plot, the film itself is surprisingly good and was a lot of fun to watch. The acting is just a bit on the hammy side, but I think it's one of the things that made watching the film fun. The film moves along nicely from scene to scene and didn't seem to drag anywhere. The special effects, though a bit cheesy compared to what we're used to seeing these days, were still pretty good considering the time the film was done. The dragon effects near the end were really cool.

There might be a scene or three that might be deemed inappropriate for very young children. There's some boobage, though very brief, near the beginning (although the version I saw blotted it out with a mosaic... the bastards). A couple of other scenes were just due to some really disturbing makeup effects. Other than that, the film is pretty family friendly.

Overall I recommend this film. It was fun to watch and there was never a dull moment. But mostly because Basil Rathbone is such a badass as the evil wizard.

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.

To compare this film unfavorably to the high standards we hold for today's films would be unjust. This film has to be judged by the era that made it. Great films like "Jason and the Argonauts", "Hercules Unchained" and others of that ilk were popular and had an audience albeit a limited one. I remember seeing this film at the ripe age of six and being awestruck and terrified. Basil Rathbone was sinister as the evil wizard. The dragon seemed an insurmountable obstacle to the hero. There were little people inside a large bird cage crying for help,an evil temptress witch with green glowing eyes that lured one of the good guys to his doom and a horrible bubbling swamp that ate the flesh off of one of the good knights when his horse stumbled and he fell in. I'm glad I was six when I saw this film. I've remembered it for years and just thought to pay it a visit again on this site.

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.

I saw this film at a matinée in 1962 when I was seven. I remembered it over the years as 70 minutes of pure excitement. I watched it again on DVD with my kids. Yes, it is low budget. Yes, it has cheesy special effects by today's standards. Yes, it has a corny plot and weak acting from some of the characters. Yet, I found it to have charm and my kids were just as enthralled as I was 43 years ago when I suspended my disbelief in the dark of the Saturday matinée. This film is, in its genre, a minor classic. Further, Basil Rathbone as the heavy is very good in the waning years of his life and career--much better than Torin Thatcher who played similar "heavy" roles in similar adventure movies.