Jack the Giant Killer

"A pretty princess. An evil sorcerer. A hero for the ages."

1962 1h 34m EN

👍

6.6

SOLID

★6.6TMDB · 57

AdventureFantasyFamily

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Desiring control of the kingdom, evil wizard Pendragon devises a cunning machination to usurp the throne. By abducting and forcing Princess Elaine to marry him, Pendragon will coerce the king into abdicating his power. When Pendragon sends a giant to kidnap Elaine, a simple farmer named Jack witnesses the abduction, and bravely slays the beast. Undeterred, Pendragon has more power and creatures at his disposal.

“A pretty princess. An evil sorcerer. A hero for the ages.”

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Cast

Kerwin Mathews
Jack
Judi Meredith
Princess Elaine
Torin Thatcher
Pendragon
Walter Burke
Gama
Don Beddoe
Imp
Barry Kelley
Sigurd
Dayton Lummis
King Mark
Anna Lee
Lady Constance

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Nathan Juran
Writers: Orville H. Hampton, Nathan Juran, Orville H. Hampton
Languages: Italian, English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $3.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

64 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: Italian, English.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Nathan Juran, shot by David S. Horsley. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Bert Shefter. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Grant Whytock shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Kerwin Mathews and Judi Meredith and Torin Thatcher carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "A pretty princess. An evil sorcerer. A hero for the ages.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Nathan Juran directs. David S. Horsley behind the camera. Bert Shefter scores. Grant Whytock cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in Italian, English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $3.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
264 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
3Dialogue crosses 2 languages: Italian, English.
4Directed by Nathan Juran, shot by David S. Horsley. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Bert Shefter. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Grant Whytock shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Kerwin Mathews and Judi Meredith and Torin Thatcher carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "A pretty princess. An evil sorcerer. A hero for the ages.".
9IMDB entry: tt0056112 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Only 57 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.
11Classified under 8 themes, including "princess", "castle", "cornwall, england", "stop motion".

The technical file

Cinematography: David S. Horsley
Original score: Bert Shefter
Editing: Grant Whytock
Costume design: Dave Berman
Makeup / hair: Frank McCoy
Runtime: 94 min · 1h 34m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $3,000,000
Original language: EN
Certification (US): G
IMDB: Jack the Giant Killer (1962)

Also by

Nathan Juran

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Wuchak2018-11-26
★ 8/10
Medieval fairy tale with a noble hero, a beautiful princess, an evil wizard & spooky cronies A wholesome farm-youth-turned-knight in medieval England (Kerwin Mathews) is enlisted to guard a princess (Judi Meredith) from the schemes of a wicked sorcerer (Torin Thatcher). “Jack the Giant Killer” (1962) is similar to “The Magic Sword,” which was released a couple of months earlier. Some people like to compare it to “The 7th Voyage of Sinbad” (1958) because the hero and villain were also in that earlier movie, not to mention both films use stop-motion animation. But Jim Danforth’s work here is no serious rival to Ray Harryhausen, although it’s serviceable. Kerwin makes for a great noble protagonist while Judi is winsome as the royal maiden and hot as the bewitched version of herself. Of course Thatcher just oozes ee-vil. One of the most impressive “effects” is the wizard’s gaggle of witch-ghouls. They’re very well done and effectively scary in a cartoonish way. I would’ve eaten this up as a kid. Yet there’s certainly enough here for adults to enjoy (or for the kid-in-adults to enjoy). If you like this movie and would like to see a more realistic, adult-oriented version of similar fairy tale events, check out the classy “First Knight” (1995). See my review for details. The film runs 1 hour, 34 minutes and was shot at Santa Catalina Island, California, as well as Samuel Goldwyn Studios in West Hollywood. While these locations are adequate for the purposes of the movie, they don’t look anything like Britain, although they could pass for the Mediterranean. GRADE: A-
John Chard2019-08-18
★ 8/10
It was nothing. I kill a giant every morning before breakfast. Starts my day right. It's the fairy tale land of Cornwall, England, and the Black Prince Pendragon (Torin Thatcher) plans to abduct Princess Elaine (Judith Meredith) so as to gain control of the land. However, his plans are at first thwarted when farmers boy Jack (Kerwin Matthews) slays the giant sent by Pendragon to claim the Princess. But Pendragon is not to be denied and a battle between good and evil commences. There's quite a back story to this United Artists feature film. It's loosely based on the traditional tale "Jack the Giant Killer" and features the use of stop motion animation. The mere mention of stop motion automatically brings to mind the great name of Ray Harryhausen. In 1958 director Nathan Juran had helmed The 7th Voyage of Sinbad with both Matthews and Thatcher starring as the good and evil characters respectively. A big success for Columbia, Harryhausen had offered it to UA producer Edward Small who turned it down, much to his regret. So here, four years later, he gathered the same crew for what essentially is a retread of the plot of Sinbad's seventh in the hope of replicating said success. Harryhausen, however, said no, perhaps understandably, so his creatures were created for "Jack" by Project Unlimited under the watchful eye of one time Harryhausen understudy Jim Danforth. While the other effects, filmed in "Fantascope" come courtesy of Howard A. Anderson and Augie Lohman. Columbia sued Small on the grounds of plot similarity, thus holding up the release of the film in the UK for several years (it wasn't banned as some people seem to think). Once released the film was panned by the critics and many parents were outraged that the film was too violent and scary for youngsters. Small would take this personally and intending to make something of the movie, had it re-dubbed and made into a musical. The result of which is just garbage. Thankfully the film was finally restored to its original glory on DVD and found a whole new generation of fantasy adventure fans with a bent for the lost art of stop motion animation. Kerwin Matthews passed away in 2007, a handsome swashbuckling actor, Jack The Giant Killer was his last foray into the fantasy adventure genre. It's at least comforting to know that he got to see this little treasure of a film finally get accepted by an audience. The film itself delivers everything one expects of the genre. The creatures are effective, even if the jerkiness shows that it's not Harryhausen at the helm; tho this is off set by a wonderful sequence as electricity cloaked witch demons attack Jack's ship. There's a dashing hero, a pretty princess, a vile and chilling evil doer, hell there's even the little imp of the lamp (Don Beddoe) for some limerick shenanigans. From its delightful story book opening to its final battle between hero and villain, Jack The Giant Killer is a rich and playful fantasy. 7/10
CinemaSerf2024-11-19
★ 6/10
Very much in the vein of "the 7th Voyage of Sinbad"; this is a cracking magical adventure with Torin Thatcher stealing the show as the seriously hammy "Pendragon" - the evil wizard determined to have his wicked way with the Princess Elaine and to take over the Kingdom. Wait, though - could newly knighted Kerwin Matthews, erstwhile farm boy who killed a troll, be her saviour? Augie Lohman's special effects are not quite Harryhausen, but the film is sumptuously colourful and engaging with plenty of action (even a Leprechaun who speaks in rhyme) and as a child in the seventies, I really enjoyed this on television.