|
''At the End of the Rainbow'' (also known as ''The Princess and the Magic Frog'') is a 1965 American children's fantasy adventure film, originally released by Fantasy Films. Written by Harold Vaughn Taylor, and produced and directed by Austin Green, the film stars David Bailey as a boy who finds himself lost in an enchanted forest, encountering an assortment of fanciful characters and navigating a series of fantastical (mis)adventures as he attempts to find his way home. Originally released as a weekend "kiddie matinee" feature, the film was rediscovered and re-released on DVD in 2004 by Something Weird Video, and has subsequently gained something of a cult following for its low budget production values, as well as for the unintentionally camp performances by the adult character actors. ==Plot== The film opens by a lake on Saint Patrick's Day as the story's young hero, an Irish boy named Matthew O'Brien (David Alan Bailey), is playing hooky from school and fishing with his best friend, Timothy Ryan (Ernest Vaio). As the time approaches to return home, the two boys go their separate ways and Matt soon finds a magic frog which he places in his pocket. Deciding to take a short-cut home through the woods, Matt quickly finds himself lost and soon encounters a leprechaun (Frank Delfino) whose beard is caught in a log. Matt, remembering the old Irish legends he's heard from his grandfather, agrees to help the little man on the condition that he give Matt his bag of gold, to which, according to legend, Matt knows the leprechaun cannot refuse. After freeing the little man, Matt soon learns that the seven gold coins in the bag are not ordinary coins, but magic "wishing coins", which only have power when used to do good for others. After warning Matt of the magic of the coins, the leprechaun promptly scampers off and vanishes into the woods, leaving the boy to find his own way out of the forest. As Matt becomes desperate to find his way home, he unintentionally spends his first coin wishing for some guidance, which, to his surprise, brings a long suffering wooden sign post to life. Now able to talk, the sign post advises Matt to seek the help of a Wizard and points Matt in the direction of the Wizard's cave. As he approaches his destination, Matt finds himself in the Wizard's enchanted forest, where the trees come alive and inform him that the frog in his pocket is really a knight who was put under a spell by the Wicked Wizard. Matt decides to spend his second coin to help the frog, which instantly transforms it into a medieval knight named Sir Humphrey (Clive Halliday). Grateful to Matt for freeing him, Sir Humphrey warns the boy to avoid the Wicked Wizard who had placed him under a spell while he was attempting to rescue a princess named Cecilia. Sir Humphrey decides to accompany the boy as he searches for a way out of the enchanted forest, but their plans are interrupted when the Wicked Wizard (G. Edward Brett) suddenly appears in a cloud of smoke and banishes them to a barren desert. In the desert, Matt and Sir Humphrey encounter the Genie of Aladdin's Lamp (Dick Reeves) and learn that he has been stripped of his magical powers and has been banished to the desert by the ruler of all Genies. Feeling compassion for the lonely Genie, Matt spends his third coin to restore the Genie's powers, which prompts the Genie to respond in kind, using his regained powers to transport Matt and Sir Humphrey back to the enchanted forest. Once back in the forest, Matt and Sir Humphrey encounter a Gypsy girl named Esmerelda (Nancy DeCarl) who attempts to help Matt find a way home by inviting him to look into her crystal ball, however, the crystal only shows Matt a vision of his worried mother before fading to darkness. Matt and Sir Humphrey continue on their journey and encounter a lonely old puppeteer named Professor Antonio (Lindsay Workman). Learning the Professor has been abandoned in the woods by a traveling carnival after growing too old to operate his puppets properly, Matt spends his fourth coin to bring the puppets to life so that they can perform on their own. As Matt and Sir Humphrey continue their search, they once again encounter the Wicked Wizard who uses his evil powers to turn Sir Humphrey back into a frog. At the same moment, Matt spends his fifth coin to wish for the Wicked Wizard to lose his magic powers and to become harmless, which instantly transforms the Wizard into a gentle and confused old man. Suddenly realizing the Wizard's final spell has turned Sir Humphrey back into a frog, Matt immediately spends his sixth coin to restore Sir Humphrey to his human form. Now harmless, the Wizard wanders off and Matt and Sir Humphrey once again encounter Esmerelda, who invites the two to once again gaze into her crystal ball which reveals that Esmerelda is in fact the Princess Cecilia who was also under the spell of the Wicked Wizard. Matt uses his last coin to wish for the girl to be freed from the Wizards spell and she is instantly transformed back into the Princess (also played by DeCarl). Having used all seven of his magic coins unselfishly, a beautiful rainbow appears, which guides Matthew to find his way him home. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「At the End of the Rainbow」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|