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Internet Sword Collectors Association (ISCA)
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Studio Swords: Some Comments on Real and Reproduction Swords Used by the Hollywood Studios and How to Identify Them
By Michael C. MacDonald
COLLECTORS ALERT!!! The collection of studio and prop swords described below is coming on the market on Ebay. Buyers should be very cautious when bidding on these swords as they are almost all modified in some way or another and the changes are difficult to see on a digital photo.
The original seller of these swords has been listing in his ads that the origination of the swords is from a Hollywood prop rental store (western Costume Compnay). However, as expected, these swords are now coming back on the market being sold a second time by speculators or unhappy buyers, and they are not represented very appropraitely. In the words of one local collector, "These swords will be the worst thing to happen to sword collecting since House of Swords and Militaria". If you don't know about House of Swords, then ask an older collector. They produced a large number of reprduction or altered swords that are still showing up at auction misidentified.
Examples of problems and conditions with these swords often not described by the seller or obvious in the photos:
Overall: Many of these swords have costume company marks on the blades or hilts. A great number of the hilts do not match the blades.
1) Swords described as Model 1860 Naval Cutlasses (bell shaped handguard) are really cut down 1860 Light cavalry swords with bell guards attached.
2) Swords described as Civil War cavalry swords, that look like 1840 artillary sabers, are really 1860 light cav blades mounted on studio produced hilts.
3) None of the 1872 Cavalry Officers swords have etched blades.
4) Many of the small swords described have replacement studio (crap metal) blades
5) Many of the scimitars and tulwar style swords have studio crap metal blades
6) Many of the 1860 light cavalry swords have had their blades mechanically straightened for a movie and are provided with German Dragoon saber scabbards. These are NOT arsenal variants. They have US and Mexican blades on them.
7) The famous Stockton Blues saber is seen in this collection mounting naval blades.
8) Many hilts are custom made by the studio for specific movies and are not copies of any real swords.
Examples of Advantages to the collector seen in this groupings of swords:
1) Good 1860 Lt cav scabbards on the fake 1840 Arty hilts.
Caveat Emptor!!!!!
Main article
Since the 1920's the studios have been making epic movies about warfare. The making of these movies sometimes required large numbers of actors (or extras) to be clothed in period costume and weaponry. Since large numbers of 1812 period Russian Hussar Heavy Dragoon Pallashe's or Mexican Artillary Sabers are not available at the corner drugstore, the studios had to either find original swords and buy them, make their own versions from scratch, or find a sword that looked similar to the sword they desired and modify it.
I recently had the opportunity to review over 1000 swords offered in an auction sponsored by a major Hollywood costume supplier (see picture below). During this inspection (over 6 hours) I was guided through the material by one of the costume and prop experts from the company. His knowledge of the origin of the material was extremely helpful in defining the condition and origination of the swords being offered. I learned a few things which I would like to offer here.
This was just a few of the 56+ boxes.
The swords used by the studios and the costume and prop suppliers can be classified into several categories:
Solid Molded Cast Metal Costume Swords
These are not really swords. They are props made of solid metal that look like a sword in a scabbard from 15 feet away. They are usually cast as a "sword in scabbard" and painted appropriately. I saw a variety of "swords" of this type, mostly fitting into categories that would be described as "pirate sword", "arab scimitar", "roman legionary sword", "Conan the Barbarian's assistant's sword", etc. These were used to outfit all of the hundreds of extras that would be in the background in the movies. The dead guys in the movies usually got these as props. I have seen pretty convincing Russian Shaska versions as well. These types of swords are probably of little interest to the sword collector, but can look good as a decoration piece. There is one in a shop locally here, I will try and get a picture in the next few months.
Costume Cast Hilts with Costume Blades
These swords are manufactured costume pieces with the distinction that only the hilts are molded metal. The blades are made up from poor quality steel sheet steel. The scabbards for these are usually made from fake leather. I saw a large number of "fantasy" swords and "barbarian scimitars" of this type. Most of these do not mimic any specific known pattern and are easily identified as a costume item. Several types, however, were produced with significant attention to detail and looked convincing from even a few feet away. Upon close inspection, the molding of the metal is seen to be very coarse versus the clear molding seen on most production military swords.
Costume Cast Hilts with Real Sword Blades Taken From Real Swords
Now this category will pose some interest and perhaps a dilemma or two to the sword collector. I encountered dozens of swords that had obvious cast costume hilts mimicking the hilt of the US 1840 Light Artillary Saber, but almost all were mounted with real US 1860 cavalry saber blades. I saw blades by Millard, Emerson and Silver, Roby, etc. The scabbards were a mixture of US 1840 Dragoon sword scabbards, US 1860 Lt. Cavalry sword scabbards, and US 1960 Lt. Cavalry sword scabbards. The key identifying feature is the crude molding of the hilt. The hilt and grip were molded as one piece single piece. The grip was painted black to simulate leather. There there were also costume shop markings on the blade. These consisted of the letters "W.C.C." stamped into the metal of the ricasso, often accompanied by a serial number crudely engraved with a metal punch. The scabbards also showed the stampings and serial number engraving.
Real Swords with Major Alterations
This group is comprised of real military swords that have been significantly modified from their original state. Usually to simulate some other type of sword. I list a number of specific examples seen.
Pirate Cutlasses from US 1860 Lt. Cavalry Swords - Since real swords were readily available, the studio often started with real swords and modified them to suit their purposes. Apparently there was a need for a large number of authentic looking "pirate cutlasses". They wanted a sword that looked like the US 1860 Naval Cutlass but didn't have many of those. So the studios utilized US 1860 Lt. Cavalary swords as the basis for making pirate weapons. This was done in the late 1930's or early 1940's when the real cavalry swords were almost considered junk. They removed the branches of the hilt by grinding them off, and attached a studio made brass handguard like those on the US 1860 Naval Cutlasses. The blades were shortened to the required length and matched with reproduction 1860 cutlass scabbards made from leather. Some of the "cutlasses" were left without the brass handguard, for variety I guess. The key to spotting these costume cutlasses is to look for evidence of removal of branches from the original hilt. This was done nicely, but not perfectly. Also, look for evidence of crude in appropriate attachement of the cutlass handguard, and the shortened blade. A 25 inch blade with a fuller that goes to the tip, made by Millard is a dead giveaway.
Prussian Heavy Dragoon Swords from US 1860 Lt Cavalry and Mexican Dragoon / Cavalry swords - In this case, the movie requirement was for Prussian Heavy Dragoon swords. Prussian Dragoon swords have long straight blades. US and Mexican Dragoon swords were available in abundance at the time, but they have curved blades. The answer was to send them to the studio machine shop and have them mechanically straightened. In this process both the swords and the scabbards are straightened individually. I inspected a number of these swords and the machinists of the Hollywood prop shop did a good job. The swords are not significantly damaged other than the removal of the curve in the blades and the scabbards. You could see the areas where the "vises" or hydraulic rams had applied the pressure but it was not very obvious. These swords had blades with both US and Mexican makers or arsenal marks on them. Not all had altered scabbards, some were matched with original German scabbards of unidentified type. Examples of swords like this have been encountered by collectors in the past and have been a puzzle. Sometimes stories were made up by collectors to rationalize the existence of the swords, speculating that they were some sort of special order from the Mexican Government. We now know where these weird swords were produced... Hollywood. The key to spotting these swords is to realize that the specific hilts styles are not appropraite for straight bladed swords. Nor are the makers marks appropraite to straight bladed swords. Also there will be some evidence of abrasion on the scabbards and the back edge of the blades from the straightening process.
Various European and Middle Eastern swords that have been altered - These swords fit into the category of highly altered swords. They come in a wide variety and are the ones that are trimmed, clipped, shortened, covered with beads, painted gold, etc. so that they are practically unrecognizable. Often only the hilts are real, the rest (blade and scabbard) being studio replacements. I saw a few swords that were musicians swords in their previous life. They are easily spotted because they declare themselves as costume pieces right away by their appearance. The collector should not immediately ignore these swords, because they can be a treasure trove for replacement parts.
Real Swords, Unmodified
These swords are real pattern swords that have been purchased and have been retained in their original condition. These will be of the most interest to the collecting community. Use by the studios and the costume shops can be identified by the presence of inventory marks of the costume shops or studios. The two marks seen in this lot of swords are the letters "W.C.C." for Western Costume Company and "Fishers" for another unknown costume company. Perhaps these swords have changed hands several times. Note that since these swords have been swapped around, they often were not matched with the correct scabbards.
If any collectors have questions about studio swords, please Email them to the association site and the webhost will forward them to me.
Copyright 1999 Internet Sword Collectors Association
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