MAGIC SWORD, THE (aka: St. George and the Seven Curses)

(director: Bert I. Gordon; screenwriters: story by Bert I. Gordon/Bernard C. Schoenfeld; cinematographer: Paul Vogel; editor: Harry Gerstad; music: Richard Markowitz; cast: Basil Rathbone (Lodac), Estelle Winwood (Sybil), Gary Lockwood (Sir George), Anne Helm (Princess Helene), Liam Sullivan (Sir Branton), Danielle De Metz (Mignonette), Merritt Stone (King); Runtime: 80; MPAA Rating: NR; producer: Bert I. Gordon; MGM; 1962)
“Looking like a Beach Party movie with swords.”

Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz

This low-budget genre spoofing children’s pic, looking like a Beach Party movie with swords, tries in vain to recapture the success of Ray Harryhausen’s The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958). Bert I. Gordon (“Village of the Giants”/”The Food of the Gods”/”King Dinosaur “) directs this quest film from a story of his; it’s written by Bernard C. Schoenfeld.

It’s set in medieval England. The wicked magician Lodac (Basil Rathbone) abducts Princess Helene (Anne Helm) and plans to feed her to his dragon. The knight George (Gary Lockwood), the adopted son of the witch Sybil (Estelle Winwood), fell in love with Helene before she was abducted by gazing at her from far away and is pumped to rescue her especially upon learning that the king (Merritt Stone) offers Helene’s hand in marriage to her rescuer. George hurries off to the rescue with the help of six knights he releases from fossilization, as Sybil presents George with a magical sword, invincible armor, and an enchanted horse (all necessary things needed in such rescue work). But George was in such a hurry that Sybil forgets to give George supernatural powers, which results in his capture by Lodac’s black magic. But Sybil, the well-intentioned witch, kills the sorcerer, as she takes the form of a panther. Meanwhile George uses his magic sword to slay the two-headed dragon and save the princess.

REVIEWED ON 10/8/2008 GRADE: C+