The Princess and the Magic Frog
| At the End of the Rainbow also known as The Princess and the Magic Frog |
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| Directed by | |
| Produced by | Austin Green |
| Written by | |
| Starring |
David Bailey Dick Reeves Frank Delfino |
| Music by | |
| Cinematography | |
| Edited by | |
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Production
company |
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| Distributed by | (Original) (1970s) Something Weird Video (Current) |
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Release date
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Running time
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80 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
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 . Written by , and produced and directed by , 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.
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 (). 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 (). 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 () suddenly appears in a cloud of smoke and banishes them to a barren desert.
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