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GaryT
Since: Oct, 2019
BlackFaithStar
(Less Newbie)
GaryT
Since: Oct, 2019

(I accidentally put this into the wrong category, maybe I'll have better luck here. It's a memory that's been bugging me for years.)
I remember stumbling across this fantasy movie in TV Guide. My memory has the description listing it as a classic coming from the 1940s, but I distrust that memory because when I watched the film it looked nothing like theatrical animation, not even European style (which I believe wasn't happening in feature-length that era anyway—even Disney didn't resume that until Cinderella—it looked more flat like TV animation, though it seemed to me to be a bit more fluid, but it's hard to be sure after all these years). This was some afternoon back in the 1970s, and as the movie was already playing when I tuned in. A besieged medieval castle was in the middle of a fierce battle, and one of the young soldiers was inquiring the whereabouts of his boy companion. His persistence made a couple of villianous-looking leaders give each other a meaningful sinister glance.
Later that evening, the battle has apparently died down for the night, as the castle is dark and silent. Suddenly, we see a young kid stealthily creeping through the dark, with guarded expression while suddenly stretching out a hand to snatch an item. However, the theft raises the alarm, and the kid flees. Our hero is roused from sleep to find out his lost companion has burst into his room to hide. Hearing distant shouting by pursuers, the young soldier is confused by what happening and starts interrogating his companion on what in the world is going on here? His suspicions only grow as the shouts grow louder, and he's not getting satisfactory answers from the boy, who turns his back to the hero. But we see that in turning "his" back, the kid's cloak is starting to bulge and hang at the back of the hood, and when our hero impatiently grabs and jerks the kid around in order to face "him", the hood falls off and reveals long hair as she gives a definite feminine outcry of dismay. Eventually, the hero decides to escape, but only barely makes it out of the castle while losing the girl on the way. Fortunately, the enemy forces, commanded by a Robin Hood-type archer, find him and treat his injuries. The young man now realizes he has been betrayed and he is really the rightful heir of the castle, and he is determined to defeat his betrayers and recover the girl as he dictates a furious letter to his enemies, forever renouncing his allegiance to them, until he nearly faints from the effort. The archer who rescued him advises him to settle down, because he would be helpless to do anything until he rested and recovered.
My memory is hazy on what happens over the rest of the movie, but I know that the castle is finally stormed and the hero rescues the girl, and she stands next to him, apparently barely believing she is finally free while the usurpers are dealt with for once and for all. In the end, we see the new lord and lady of the manor taking possession of their new home, when an arrow suddenly buries itself above their door, bearing a letter of good wishes and farewell from the archer, as he and his band fade off (at least metaphorically) into the sunset.
I've never seen this movie again, and never seen anything described like it in the years since. Has anyone out there seen it, and would know what it was?