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| Judi Meredith and Kerwin Mathews |
The evil wizard Pendragon (Torin Thatcher), who wants to seize the throne of Cornwall, tries to kidnap Princess Elaine (Judi Meredith) via a dancing doll named Cormoran that grows into a cloven-hoofed giant. Elaine is rescued by farmer Jack (Kerwin Mathews), who is able to slay the giant. Assigned to protect Elaine as she sails to a convent, instead he must watch helplessly as she is spirited off by a horde of Pendragon's ghastly witches. With the aid of a small boy, Peter (Roger Mobley), a sailor, Sigurd (Barry Kelley), and a leprechaun (Don Beddoe), Jack attempts to save the princess and defeat Pendragon for good.
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| two-headed monster vs sea serpent |
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| Jack vs the transformed Pendragon |
I believe I actually saw Jack before I saw 7th Voyage -- I loved the picture as a child -- and didn't see the latter film until its theatrical re-release in the 1970's. Right away I could see that it was a much better picture, although Jack still has its moments. Jack has a decent enough score by Sawtell and Shefter, but it can't compare to the gorgeous work done by Bernard Herrmann for 7th Voyage.
Verdict: Okay fantasy film that is simply not in the league of its progenitor. **1/2.
This is a good one, I remember liking it almost as much as Sinbad as a kid. Has been a long time--need to check out again. Kerwin Matthews was adorable.
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Mathews was a very, very handsome guy. I believe he retired to run a flower shop with his boyfriend, but don't quote me.
ReplyDeleteDid you ever see the ersatz musical that producer Edward Small tried to re-edit JACK into after it did poorly at the box office? Wow, did it ever stink! He hired the guy who did the music for SANTA CLAUS CONQUERS THE MARTIANS and then scenes were run backwards and forwards as songs were sandwiched into them, as if the actors were singing them. It didn't work--spectacularly so--especially when you noticed things like waves and clouds suddenly going in reverse in the background. I wanted to see this again as an adult really badly--and I came across the musical version first. To say I was horrified and bewildered was putting it mildly. To this day, I can't see the film without thinking of the terrible songs inserted into it. For example: PENDRAGON'S SERVANT (singing): "We have failed master, we have failed!" PENDRAGON (singing): "The Princess. Where is she?" PENDRAGON'S SERVANT (singing): "We have failed master, we have failed!" I think the original song-less version is still pretty entertaining, even if it doesn't compare very favorably to 7TH VOYAGE. I recall for a long time thinking JACK might even be better, because I remembered it having a somewhat more fleshed-out story and characters, as well as all those scary solarized witches and monsters (who seemed to have escaped from the same universe as the Banshee from DARBY O'GILL). As a kid I really DID find them scary. Standout scenes for me were Cormoran's jester's dance, his growing into giant-size in the princess' bedroom, and the scene where Jack kills him by strangling him at the mill--it was surprisingly gruesome! But I think one may need to have seen this as a kid to really like it.
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It was definitely geared for children, and I fond it enthralling when I was a boy. Never saw the musical version and I'm glad that I haven.t! Parts of this flick -- the non-musical version -- are still entertaining and fun, especially the parts with the jester.
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