When I was a kid, WKBN-TV 27 in Youngstown aired a daily movie. I remember that quite often, the aspect ratio — I had no idea what that meant when I was young — made the cowboys seem way too tall at the beginning of their movies. And I vividly remember this movie all about St. George and the dragon, even if I couldn’t recall the title for decades.

Well, it’s The Magic Sword. Or perhaps I saw it under one its many other titles, such as St. George and the Dragon, St. George and the Seven Curses or The Seven Curses of Lodac.

Gary Lockwood — first husband of Stephanie Powers and Frank Poole in 2001: A Space Odyssey (and star of the Mad Max rip, Survival Zone) — plays George, raised by an adoptive sorceress mother (Estelle Winwood, who lived nearly a century and had a career that went from the British stage to American television) and destined to battle not only the two-headed dragon, but the seven curses of the evil Lodac (Basil Rathbone).

He’s also in love with Princess Helene (Anne Helm, Nightmare In Wax) and has six magical knights with which to prove his heroism, which is tested in battles against an ogre, an old hag and a sorceress. The latter two are played by Maila Nurmi, who is much better known Vampira. There’s also the shady side of heroism, exemplified by Sir Branton, who keeps killing off his brother knights left and right.

You can download this movie from The Internet Archive. It’s also available on Amazon Prime. There’s also a Mystery Science Theater 3000 version on Amazon Prime and Tubi, as well as a Rifftrax commentary option on Tubi.

This is a rare movie, in that Tom Servo and Joel had to admit that it was pretty good — for a Bert I. Gordon film.