Jack the Giant Killer (1962) is a United Artists feature film starring Kerwin Mathews in a fairy tale story about a young man who defends a princess against a sorcerer’s giants and demons. The film was loosely based on the traditional tale “Jack the Giant Killer” and features extensive use of stop motion animation. The film was directed by Nathan H. Juran and later re-edited and re-released as a musical by producer Edward Small.
Trivia:
Producer Edward Small re-released this film as a musical. Songs were dubbed onto the soundtrack. Some of the footage was doctored to make it look like some of the original cast were singing rather than speaking their dialog.
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This was producer Edward Small’s attempt to cash in on the huge success of The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958). He even hired the same director (Nathan Juran), hero (Kerwin Mathews) and villain (Torin Thatcher).
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The film was unreleased in the UK until 1967 and then received cuts for an ‘A’ certificate to edit the witch attack on the ship, Princess Elaine being attacked by the giant, and Jack’s fight with the dragon.
The 7th Voyage of Sinbad is a 1958 Technicolor fantasy film released by Columbia Pictures, directed by Nathan H. Juran, and was the first of three Sinbad films made by Columbia which were conceptualized and animated by Ray Harryhausen (the others being The Golden Voyage of Sinbad and Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger).
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While similarly named, the film does not follow the plot of the tale “The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad the Sailor.”
In 2008, The 7th Voyage of Sinbad was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”.
Cast:
Kerwin Mathews … Sinbad
Kathryn Grant … Princess Parisa
Richard Eyer … Barani – the Genie
Torin Thatcher … Sokurah the Magician
Alec Mango … Caliph
Danny Green … Karim
Harold Kasket … Sultan
Alfred Brown … Harufa
Nana de Herrera … Sadi
Nino Falanga … Gaunt Sailor
Luis Guedes … Crewman
Virgilio Teixeira … Ali
Trivia:
A soundtrack album of Bernard Herrmann’s score was released on Colpix, Columbia’s record label. In later years it would become one of the most sought-after albums by soundtrack collectors. It was finally released on CD, along with the full score, in 2009.
Alfred Brown is dubbed.
This was the first feature using stop-motion animation effects to be completely shot in color.
Initially, Ray Harryhausen wanted Miklós Rózsa or Max Steiner to score The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958), but Charles H. Schneer persuaded Harryhausen to agree to hire Bernard Herrmann instead. Herrmann’s score was so well received, and he worked so well with Schneer and Harryhausen, he ended up scoring three more of their films: The 3 Worlds of Gulliver (1960), Mysterious Island (1961), and Jason and the Argonauts (1963). Harryhausen eventually got his wish, however, when Miklós Rózsa scored The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1974).
