Sword of Freedom is a 1958 drama adventure series for a family audience. Like several of its predecessors (most notably The Adventures of Robin Hood), it was produced by Sapphire Films for ITC Entertainment and fitted into the same swashbuckler genre as previous productions. It ran for thirty-nine half-hour monochrome episodes.
Plot Marco del Monte is a young Republican artist living in sixteenth century Renaissance Florence. The city is ruled by the tyrant Duke de Medici. Marco's girlfriend is Angelica, a beautiful former pickpocket. Sandro is Marco's friend and confidant. Machiavelli is the Duke's advisor, and Captain Rodrigo is the head of the Medici forces. The series depicts the struggles of the Republicans to combat the attempts of the Duke to strengthen his position and make himself a dictator.
Cast and characters Edmund Purdom as Marco del Monte Adrienne Corri as Angelica Roland Bartrop as Sandro Martin Benson as the Duke de Medici Kenneth Hyde as Machiavelli
Recurring characters Derek Sydney as Captain Rodrigo Monica Stevenson as Francesca de Medici (De Medici's sister) Andrew Keir Edward Atienza as Leonardo da Vinci Kevin Stoney as Niccolo the innkeeper Guest stars included Joan Plowright, Peter Wyngarde, Charles Gray, Paul Eddington, Brian Nissen, Patrick Troughton, Kenneth Williams and Roger Delgado.
Episodes Airdate is for ATV Midlands Before 1968 ATV transmitted weekdays in the Midlands and weekends in London. See History of ITV ITV regions varied date and order. Production order as the Network DVD.
Filmed during 1957–1958. Production Nos 101, 117–139 at Walton Studios, Walton on Thames, England and 102–108 at Alliance Film Studios, Twickenham, EnglandTaken from each episode end titles
Series 1 (1958)
Series 2 (1960–1961)
Music The theme music to Sword of Freedom was composed by Eric Spear, who would later compose the theme for Coronation Street a couple of years later.
DVD Network released the series on a 5-disc region 2 DVD set in June 2010.
References
External links
British Film Institute