The Magic Sword (1901 film)

The Magic Sword
Directed byWalter R. Booth
Produced byRobert W. Paul
Production
company
Paul's Animatograph Works
Release date
  • 1901 (1901)
Running time
2 mins 50 secs
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageSilent

The Magic Sword; or, A Medieval Mystery (AKA: Magical Sword) is a 1901 British silent fantasy trick film, directed by Walter R. Booth, featuring a mediaeval knight battling to save a damsel from an ogre and a witch. The film, "is impressively elaborate, with single shots containing multiple trick effects achieved through complex double exposures and superimpositions," and according to Michael Brooke of BFI Screenonline, "was so startling that it moved the legendary stage illusionist J.N. Maskelyne (of Maskelyne and Devant fame) to describe The Magic Sword as the finest trick film made up to then."