The Magic Sword
About The Magic Sword
On a palace roof a knight and his lady dance. A witch comes for the lady. When the knight closes on her, she sits on a broom and flies to the moon. Hobgoblins swarm the couple and one carries the lady off. A fairy gives the knight a magic sword and tells him he can win her back. He then faces an ogre, ghosts, a shape-shifting witch, and flying heads.
Cast & crew
More about The Magic Sword
Walter R. Booth directed. Robert W. Paul produced. Also titled The Magic Sword; or, A Medieval Mystery. About 2 minutes 50 seconds, or 180 feet. Paul's Animatograph Works, not the Mutoscope company.
Themes
Making
Booth stacks several tricks inside single shots: double exposure, superimposition, and a broomstick takeoff toward the moon.
Reviews
Michael Brooke, writing for BFI Screenonline, quotes stage illusionist J. N. Maskelyne calling The Magic Sword the finest trick film made up to that time.
Technique
One shot holds multiple exposures, including the witch's flight on the broom.
Preservation
The BFI holds the film. A Screenonline clip runs the short complete, about two minutes.
Scenes
- The witch leaves the roof on a broom and heads for the moon.
- The fairy hands the knight the sword.
