Nathan Juran re-stages some of the same live action scenes he directed for Harryhausen and puts together several very dynamic action set pieces. The picture adds up to a lot of action and noise, tacky in some production details but held together with committed peformances and energetic direction. Poor Kerwin Mathews must sprint down a beach with Meredith and a dog, while holding the hand of a chimpanzee. If anything there are too many ideas poured into the picture, rather artlessly. That’s not to mention a Cheetah substitute from the Tarzan movies.
A multitude of plot details in the original story by Orville Hampton (a prolific writer of TV and B-pix) are taken from Ken Kolb’s 7th script, and many more are appropriated from other classics: Jean Cocteau’s Beauty and the Beast (living candle holders), Alexander Korda’s The Thief of Bagdad (a magical being imprisoned in a bottle a helper turned into a dog) and Disney’s animated Sleeping Beauty (a magician transforming into a dragon). In producing this virtual knock-off, Edward Small rehired two of Harryhausen’s stars as well as his director, Nathan Juran. Giant monsters found their way into a few Italian sword ‘n’ sandal films, too.
The enormous success of The 7th Voyage of Sinbad motivated more than a few pictures, like Byron Haskin’s Captain Sindbad (1964) and Bert I. All of the principal roles are well played, with Judi Meredith a charming substitute for Kathryn Grant. It’s a safe bet that kids weren’t bored - something noisy, colorful, or violent busts out every ninety seconds or so. With a boy (Roger Mobley), a Viking (Barry Kelley) and a leprechaun-elf (Don Beddoe) at his side, Jack challenges both the sorcerer’s black magic and his terrifying monster minions. After being rescued once by handy lad Jack (Kerwin Mathews, back again), Elaine is plucked from his boat by more of Pendragon’s demons. He uses magical monsters to kidnap Princess Elaine (Judi Meredith). The evil magician Pendragon (Torin Thatcher, back again) seeks to conquer Cornwall. There’s no debate over the fact that this basic hero-saves-damsel fantasy is a repeat of ideas from the famed 1958 The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, which is perhaps Ray Harryhausen’s greatest fantasy adventure. It wasn’t until years later that I saw part of a musical version on TV. Savant missed out on Jack the Giant Killer theatrically and since it wasn’t revived or shown on television anywhere near me, for years the only images from it that I saw were in Famous Monsters magazine and in sets of bubble gum cards that circulated on grade school playgrounds. As a bonus I’ve expended some time and effort trying to get to the bottom of a strange formatting issue with the film’s special effects scenes. Most won’t notice and won’t care even if we have to hold our ears against some of the songs in the musical version. The juvenile mass of noise, violent action and dense plotting that is Jack the Giant Killer remains a lively item of nostalgia. Kino’s two-version Special Edition is a little rough in some respects due to the condition of the source elements.
Here’s a kiddie matinee favorite with a lot of baggage to unpack - plus a legendary alternate version most of us have only heard about. Original Music Alternate musical version: musical process by Edwin Picker and Moose Charlap, original score Charlap and Sandy Stewart. Original Music: Paul Sawtell, Bert Shefter
Anderson (optical composites), Tim Baar, Wah Chang, Lloyd Vaughan, Gene Warren, Bill Brace, Jim Danforth, Tom Holland, Phil Kellison, David Pal (stop-motion animation). Special Effects: Augie Lohman (practical), Howard A. Starring: Kerwin Matthews, Torin Thatcher, Judi Meredith, Walter Burke, Don Beddoe, Barry Kelley, Dayton Lummis, Anna Lee, Roger Mobley, Tudor Owen. Street Date J/ Special Edition / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95 Plus more stop-motion monsters than one can throw a ten-league boot at! Boy, we’re coining phrases left and right here.ġ962 / Color / 1:66 widescreen / 94 + 91 min. Kerwin Mathews battles Torin Thatcher once again, with Judi Meredith in a stunning double role as both a delicate heroine and her evil counterpart in a magician’s mirror. “From the land beyond beyond…” - oops, wrong movie.