Herkules, Samson und Odysseus

Long before DC pit Batman against Superman or Marvel instigated a superhero civil war, writer/director Pietro Francisci imagined a battle between legendary strongmen Hercules (Italian bodybuilder Adriano Bellini, billed as Kirk Morris) and Samson (Iranian actor Iloosh Khoshabe). This being an Italian production, it is somewhat biased in its portrayal of Greek civilization being more -- well, civilized -- than the equally advanced but more tyrannical lands of Judea and Gaza, where Hercules, Ulysses and assorted Greek fishermen find themselves shipwrecked after taking on a sea monster. (The sea monster, by the way, isn't very impressive, but has good sound effects.) The film doesn't really have a developed political or religious agenda, however, despite the benign opening scene in which a bored King Laertes listens to a dispute over a goat between two silly peasants contrasting with the brutal reign of the Philistines, who wantonly murder and burn anyone they consider traitorous. Nor is the fascinating idea of two rival heroes who get their awesome power from entirely different belief systems ever really explored. Though Samson insists his strength comes from his god, the rival concepts of monotheism and polytheism are never mentioned or even implicitly contrasted; in this telling, Hercules had never heard of Samson before getting stranded in the Holy Land, and he never actually mentions Zeus. Everyone is refreshingly blase about religious differences -- when it comes to the Greek interlopers, the main concern of the Philistines and Danites is their odd style of dress.

Women, on the other hand, don't come off as well. Even though Hercules is apparently happily married, his and other wives depicted here are hectoring and disagreeable. The principle villain of the story is Samson's nemesis Delilah, played with lusty gusto by Liana Orfei, consort of the Philistine king who manipulates everyone and tries to seduce Hercules on her way to trying to seduce Samson. She also gets the film's one and only dance number, and makes the most of it. Orfei embraces and relishes playing the baddest girl and is responsible for at least half the fun quotient of the film -- plus, her warrior outfit at the end is not to be missed.

Aside from Orfei's Delilah, the main attraction is the epic battle between Hercules and Samson. Since they are both depicted as righteous heroes, the story has to contrive a situation that pits them against each other without making one of them the bad guy -- the plot involves mistaken identities and erroneous but reasonable assumptions and isn't very important. The fight, against a backdrop of stone ruins that allows for falling styrofoam and various chunks of super-heavy objects the musclemen can hurl at each other, is well-staged and well- executed by Morris and Khoshabe, especially with regard to making them seem evenly matched. Since Samson doesn't really get much action until the climactic battle and Hercules has only some perfunctory fights with a bull and a lion, their fight is basically the centerpiece of the film. What it lacks in spectacle, the actors make up for in enthusiasm.

The English-language version adds Ulysses to the title even though he is, here as in many other Peplum films, a boyishly mischievous sidekick for Hercules. The point here, as the original Italian title ("Ercole sfida Sansone") suggests, is to pit Hercules against Samson, and the film delivers on that promise. It's a nicely shot, very bright and scenic film that makes judicious use of its limited budget and makes for an enjoyable watch.

In the 1960's in the U.S.A. the director of this last sword and sandal film called " Hercules, Samson and Ulysses " was the first to adapt the early Greek myths to the silver screen. The movie went on to be copied again and again. By this final installment Steve Reeves was replaced by a look-a-like Kirk Morris for the Strong Man, Hercules. As for his Judean rival the director choose Richard Lloyd to play the biblical hero. Enzo Cerusico plays the young Ulysses as they set out to confront a gigantic monster in Greece. However, a storm lands them in the Lavant and the land of legendary strong man who battle the Philistines. The movie is expected to follow the earlier films like Hercules and Hercules' Unchained. Instead the director who also wrote the story consigns himself to pairing the two strongmen and their young protégé against the The Philistines and his ally Dalila (Liana Orfei). Delighful as the movie is, audiences keep expecting ,much, much more than is offered, only to be disappointed. Still, the movie is interesting fare for a lazy summer's day. Despite all, it's still enjoyable but relegated to the shelves as a 1960's Classic. ****

TCM often shows films not available on video, and this, such a film, is most interesting.

As the sword and sandal craze dwindled this was unloaded onto the matinée market by MGM in 1965. Strongman Kirk Morris plays the lead Hercules, assisted by crafty Ulysses and equally powerful Samson against the evil ruler of Gaza.

This is actually a weirdly absorbing movie, as I found myself wanting to see it to the conclusion. The plot is rather complex, with double-crosses, duels to the death and some attractive scenery. As is to be expected, dubbing makes all of the action somewhat hard to follow. The larger-than-life characters are acted with gusto. I hope we see a DVD of this someday...

There is some real nostalgic support for this movie, but I think it's misplaced. On the positive side, from time to time you come across some very nice looking sets. The palace exterior and interiors are truly impressive. It's too bad they weren't used in a movie that makes any sense. It's pretty clear that even in the original language, the actors chewed the scenery without mercy.

But I didn't see it in the original language. The dubs are hideously bad. It doesn't help that the dialogue is as wretched as it gets. Real Junior High School level writing, if that good.

Okay, so we have bad acting, bad dubbing, bad dialogue, what else? The story itself is just stupid, despite Samson's mad spear-throwing skills, where the same two soldiers on horses fall down with every double spear throw. LOL.

In Ithaca, Hercules (Kirk Morris) lives leisurely at the court of King Laertes, father of Ulysses. Fishermen come to court begging for help to fight a sea monster. Hercules sets off on a ship and Ulysses eagerly joins the expedition. Their ship sinks and the survivors land in Judea. They get mixed up in a fight between ruthless ruler Saran of Gaza and Jewish rebels championed by Samson. Delilah is the manipulative Philistine Queen.

It's an Italian sword and sandal epic. It's also a mash-up of Greek and Jewish stories. It reminds me of Batman v Superman. It is very much a movie of its B-genre. It's actually enjoyable as an action B-movie. I am certain about one thing. Samson needs longer hair. A stumpy ponytail is not enough.