The Magic Sword (1901)
- Directed by
- Walter R. Booth
- Genre
- fantasy film, silent film
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Runtime
- 3 min
- Rating
- 6.4 of 10 from 7 voters
- Elsewhere
- IMDb
The catalogue in 3D
The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.
How it feels
A medieval knight fights an ogre and a witch to rescue a damsel. The film uses early special effects like double exposures to create magic tricks.
whimsicalfantasticaldatedsilenttheatricalsimpleslow-pacedvisually inventive
What happens
The Magic Sword; or, A Medieval Mystery (AKA: Magical Sword) is a 1901 British silent fantasy trick film, directed by Walter R. Booth, featuring a mediaeval knight battling to save a damsel from an ogre and a witch. The film, "is impressively elaborate, with single shots containing multiple trick effects achieved through complex double exposures and superimpositions," and according to Michael Brooke of BFI Screenonline, "was so startling that it moved the legendary stage illusionist J.N. Maskelyne (of Maskelyne and Devant fame) to describe The Magic Sword as the finest trick film made up to then." (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)
More like this
The Waif and the Wizard (1901)
Excelsior! (1901)
The Mysterious Knight (1899)
A Good Trick (1901)
A Maiden's Paradise (1901)
The Tempest (1908)
The Fairy's Sword (1908)
The Artist's Dilemma (1901)- More like this film, on a shelf you can walk up to.It's the lit case on the top shelf.