Jack the Giant Killer (film)

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Jack the Giant Killer

Directed by	Nathan H. Juran
Produced by	Edward Small Robert E. Kent
Written by	Orville H. Hampton Nathan H. Juran
Starring	Kerwin Mathews Judi Meredith Torin Thatcher Walter Burke
Music by	Paul Sawtell Bert Shefter
Cinematography	David S. Horsley
Editing by	Grant Whytock
Release date(s)	June 13, 1962 (USA)
Running time	94 min 91 min (musical re-edit)
Country	USA
Language	English
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IMDb profile

Jack the Giant Killer is a 1962 fantasy and action/thriller movie starring Kerwin Mathews and Judi Meredith. The film features extensive use of stop motion animation. Though the film's theme and general concept resemble the classic tale of Jack the Giant Killer, the plot and storyline differ from the traditional story. A different edit of the film was later re-released as a musical by producer Edward Small.

Three prior films also used this title in 1916, 1925, and 1933, respectively.^[1] The name was also applied to films released as Jack and the Beanstalk in 1912 and 1955, respectively.^[1]

1 Plot
2 Cast and crew
3 See also
4 External links
5 References

[edit] Plot

Pendragon, sorcerer and master of all witches, giants and goblins that haunted England, has a plan to dominate the throne of Cornwall by taking Princess Elaine (King Mark's daughter) as hostage. His first attempt begins when he attends Princess Elaine's birthday under the fake disguise of Prince Selidororous. Accompanied by his servant, Garna, he brings the princess a dancing doll placed inside a music box gifted to the princess for her birthday. What the Kingdom of Cornwall is unaware of is that the little dancing man is actually Cormoran, Pendragon's pet giant, in a shrunk form. What they are also unaware of is that Lady Constance, the princess's private maid had been secretly converted to witchcraft by Pendragon and is acting as an undercover agent or spy for him.

Late that night, when the entire Kingdom is asleep, Lady Constance leads Elaine to bed and leaves the door open for Pendragon to re-enchant Comoran back into his giant form using his magic beams. Once this is done, Pendragon teleports himself back to his island while Garna takes off to the docking bay in the country side where he awaits Comoran to deliver the princess to him from where he can then sail her to Pendragon's island. Comoran seizes the princess, wades through the king's army and proceeds to meet Garna at the docking bay.

The next morning Jack, a young farmer, is on his way to deliver his products to the market, just when the horses flee in the presence of the giant approaching. Seeing Comoran, Jack quickly runs for cover and observes the giant from a short distance. When Comoran delivers Elaine to Garna, Jack realizes the situation and rescues Elaine from Garna. Garna calls out to Comoran for help. Comoran chases the two to Jack's windmill, which Jack uses as a base to launch repeated attacks at Comoran. Jack eventually throws a knot to Comoran's neck and ties the other end of the rope to the running windmill, slowly choking the giant to death and finally killing him. Seeing that he would be no match for Jack with Comoran dead and seeing the royal Cornwall military approaching, Garna flees on his sailboat, back to his master.

Jack returns with Eliane and her father back to their castle where he is awarded with a knighthood. A plan then proceeds to secretly deliver the princess to a church convent where the princess will be protected the forces of evil.

At dawn the next day, Jack and Elaine, disguised as peasants, depart for a voyage to reach the convent. As soon as they leave, Lady Constance sends a secret message to Pendragon about the journey and where they are headed.

Later on the ship, Jack befriends the captain and his son Peter. Some brief moments of romance also occur between the princess and him during the voyage. They are soon then ambushed by a group of Pendragon's witches, who steal the princess and kill the captain.

Once the raid is over and the witches have left, Jack attempts to convince the rest of the crew that he was secretly delivering the princess of Cornwall to safety and that he must complete his mission by saving her. After repeatedly being laughed upon by a crew full of disbelief, Jack loses his temper and starts fighting with the crew. He eventually is overpowered and thrown overboard by the rest of the angry crew. Seeing that Jack was the last friend of his dead father, Peter jumps into the sea to follow Jack.

Meanwhile, on his island, Pendragon converts the princess Elaine to witchcraft and proceeds back to Cornwall to inform her father that he now has her hostage. King Mark in return tries to have Pendragon seized and arrested. Using his magic cloak, Pendragon disappears in a flash, but he continues to taunt King Mark in an echoing voice. King Mark then suspects a traitor within his kingdom. Besides Jack and the princess, only he, his personal advisor, the chancellor and Lady Constance were aware of his secret plan. King Mark and the chancellor then question Lady Constance. After they are convinced that she was the traitor, they drag her to a mirror, where her true (bewitched) image can be seen. The glass on the mirror is immediately smashed to break the spell, and Lady Constance is back to her normal state.

Jack and Peter meanwhile are picked up by a Viking sailor, Sigurd. After they recover from their long swim and receive food and drink, Jack explains their story to Sigurd, who then introduces them to Diablotin, an imp trapped inside a bottle. Diablotin challenges Jack to pick up the bottle. Jack is warned that if he has told a lie, the bottle will go red with heat, burning his hand. After seeing that Jack is the most honest man he has come across in a thousand years, Diablotin agrees to help Jack, using his magic coins on one condition: Jack must smash open the bottle and free Diablotin from his prison state. After Jack promises to keep his word to free Diablotin, the four of them head to Pendragon's island.

At the island the four of them split up. While Jack takes Diablotin in his pocket to rescue the princess, Peter and Sigurd hunt for fresh water. Using the weapons (sword and shield) Sigurd gave him and the assistance of Diablotin, Jack attempts to infiltrate Pendragon's castle. Pendragon, unaware that Jack is using magic provided with the help of an imp he is secretly hiding in his pocket, attempts to stop Jack from entering his castle but fails. Jack finally reaches Pendragon, cornering him and holding his sword on Pendragon's neck. Pendragon is then given the choice of revealing the princess's location or dying. Jack is then told that she is chained against a temple on the other side of the island. After Jack departs, Pendragon and his witches are baffled at how he was able to resist all those magical attacks. The bewitched princess then suggests that since Jack yet doesn't know that she is on their side, she could trick him into telling her the source of his power. Upon this, she is taken to the temple and chained there until Jack arrives.

The princess is taken back to the ship by Jack where they wait for Peter and Sigurd. While they wait, the princess slowly drags him into conversation of how he could overpower Pendragon. After learning his secret, she tricks him into having a drink with her. As they prepare their drinks, she secretly adds an ingredient that makes him temporarily unconscious. Elaine then attempts to take the imp's bottle but accidentally drops it into the sea after it goes red with heat, detecting the evil inside her.

Soon Jack and his friends are all taken prisoner. Jack's arms are then tied to the wall to hold him captive. In an attempt to push Jack to revealing where his imp friend is, Pendragon threatens to harm Peter and Sigurd. Jack, not knowing what happened to Diablotin, does not give an answer. Pendragon then transforms Sigurd into a dog and Peter into a chimpanzee. The two are then placed back inside a cage they were brought in earlier. Before departing to the dungeons of the castle with his subjects, Pendragon advises the princess to encourage Jack to reveal Diablotin's location. Jack, not knowing that the princess dropped his bottle into the sea, can give no answer. The princess then walks to a mirror which reflects her in her bewitched form to a horrified Jack. Within minitues, the chimpanzee (Peter) breaks open the cage and unties Jack. Jack then drags the princess to the mirror and smashes the glass, breaking the spell over her. They all then immediately leave for the ship.

When Pendragon and his subjects return, they see the prisoners are gone and the mirror is broken. Pendragon then makes several failed attempts to stop them. The princess also directs Jack through a secret passage leading back to the beach.

Diablotin's bottle, meanwhile, washes up on the beach. When Diablotin sees Jack and his friends running, he calls out to them in vain. After Pendragon creates a two-headed giant, Jack and his friends are cornered into a cave. They are soon saved when the chimpanzee/Peter sees Diblotin's bottle on the beach and brings it to Jack. The imp uses his last magic coin and creates a giant Kraken to counter the two-headed giant. Jack then uses the opportunity to get away from the giant and rush to the ship. Soon they begin to sail away from Pendragon's island.

Pendragon decides to kill Jack himself and transforms into a dragon and takes off into the air, using his dragon wings. He then attempts to attack the vessel several times from the air. Jack asks Diablotin if he can help one last time. The imp, out of magic coins, sadly tells Jack there is nothing more he can do.

Left with no other option, Jack pulls out the sword he had borrowed from Sigurd and prepares for a final confrontation with Pendragon. As he comes down to the ship in his dragon form, Pendragon snatches Jack and takes off into the air again. Jack manages to slash Pendragon several times until he climbs on Pendragon's back and chops his neck, finally killing him.

Pendragon, now dead, falls into the sea with Jack on his back. His death breaks his spell, restoring Peter and Sigurd to their human forms. His death also means the destruction of his castle and his subjects.

Jack, unharmed, swims back to the ship to be greeted by his friends. Jack then keeps his promise and breaks Diablotin's bottle open, freeing the imp, who then departs to the world of imps using his magical golden boots. The rest of them sail back towards England, where Jack and Elaine live happily ever after.

[edit] Cast and crew

Director: Nathan H. Juran

Writing credits:'

Orville H. Hampton (story and screenplay)
Nathan Juhan (story and screenplay)
Produced by Edward Small

Cast

Kerwin Mathews as Jack the Giant Killer
Judi Meredith as Princess Elaine
Torin Thatcher as Pendragon
Walter Bruke as Garna
Don Beddoe as Diablotin the Imp
Barry Kelley as Sigurd
Dayton Lummis as King Mark
Anna Lee as Lady Constance
Roger Mobley as Peter
Robert Gist as Captain McFaddin
Tudor Owen as the Chancellor
Ken Mayer as Boatswain
Helen Wallace as Jack's mother (uncredited, seen only briefly in the movie after Jack kills Comoron)