Welcome to Public Domain Theater, your home for the wonderful world of films that have (in the United States, at least) fallen into the public domain, and are free for everyone to see!

This time around, we’re proud to present the 1962 fantasy-adventure film The Magic Sword … and, wow, is this thing a silly bit of fun.

Loosely adapting the legend of St. George the Dragon Slayer, it has George seek to rescue a princess from an evil wizard (played by Basil Rathbone) who makes feeding princesses to their pet dragon a weekly occurrence. George is aided by some magic doodads provided by their mother (a sorceress who wouldn’t feel out of place in an episode of Bewitched) and a team of six brave knights who exist to fight by George’s side get killed along the way to keep things interesting.

Everyone here is dialing up their performances to Maximum Ham, and the plot moves with giddy speed from one set piece to the next. This is the sort of fantasy film that throws as many monsters and magic spells at you as it can, not worrying if it has the budget to make them look good – it trusts in the sheer quantity of fantastical stuff on display to make up for how goofy most of it looks.

I haven’t seen the RiffTrax or Mystery Science Theater 3000 takes on this movie, but I definitely see how it gives them a lot to work with.

Sticking to this “goofy fantasy adventure” theme, we’ve decided to pair this movie with the cartoon “Ancient Fistory”, which transplants Popeye the Sailor Man, Olive Oyl, and Bluto into a fairy tale world, with Popeye in the role of “Cinderfella” trying to win the heart of Princess Olive. Do I even need to say that it ends in a big ol’ fistfight?

So come journey back with me to the days of once upon a time, and enjoy these silly little tales from ye olden days of the Public Domain.

Opening Cartoon:

Feature Presentation: