Don Ramiro hat verspielt

Now maybe something got lost in translation here, but I struggled to see what this had to do with "Hercules" - "Zorro" might have been a better character? Anyway, the gist is your typical Spanish sword-fencing romp with the baddie "Don Ramiro" (Arturo Dominici) usurping the kindly "Don Francisco" (Renato Navarini) so he can steal his lands and the hand of his daughter "Doña Blanca" (José Greci). Before he can cement his cunning plan, though, the old gent's nephew, the dashing young "Don Juan" (Mimmo Palmara) returns, battle weary from the war in the Netherlands, and decides to put a stop to these shenanigans. He is hopelessly outnumbered, but as luck would have it there is band of travelling gypsies who are tired of being moved from pillar to post and so, under the leadership of their feisty boss "Estella" (Pilar Cansino), decide to join forces to bring down this tyrant before the eyes of the visiting envoy of the King. It's a decent enough drama but it's far too long and the story wears too thin at times as the scheming and counter-scheming proves just a little repetitive at times. The formula is well oiled and there's little jeopardy throughout, but Cansino delivers quite well as the woman not to mess with and there is plenty of swordplay to counter the slack periods - of which there are many, when the melodrama takes too much centre stage. It's still quite good fun if you like you nasty characters straight out of pantomime, and I've seen much worse.

Though top-billed, Alan Steel -- he of the muscular chest -- has little to do in this modest swashbuckler which has the novelty of being set in post-medieval Spain. (The "Hercules" in the title was obviously added for American and other audiences who might still be interested in the sword-and-sandal cycle.) Basically this is a Zorro or Robin Hood adventure pitting the band of common folk, led by a charismatic hero, against the entrenched forces of the villain. It's efficiently done but offers little in the way of style or flair and is likely to fade from the memory quickly and without regret. Mimmo Palmara plays the hero and one of the movie's few "highlights" is his bare-chested knife-fight with Alan Steel. Steel's big "beefcake" scene comes when he engages in a tug-of-war with six men, three men pulling on a rope attached to each of his outstretched arms. Rather than being snapped like a wishbone, Steel manages to pull the men together, just as Steve Reeves mastered those charging horses in a somewhat similar scene in "Goliath and the Barbarians." Worth noting is the presence here of Ettore Manni who died young and in troubled circumstances but who left behind a number of notable performances.

No one should be misled by this title. The story is about a Zorro like character who goes around righting some wrongs done in 16th century Spain. Hercules as played by Alan Steel is one of gang of gypsies who help out the Zorro guy who wears a red mask instead of basic black. He must have had one of the George Hamiltons as a wardrobe consultant.

The plot such as it is has the evil Don Ramiro with designs on both Don Francisco's land and Don Francisco's daughter Blanca. Her kissing cousin off in Flanders fighting one of King Philip II's wars doesn't approve because he likes her and she likes him. But dad wants peace in the valley even if it means giving up her daughter to the villain.

So the cousin dons the red mask and joins up with both gypsies and soldiers of his former regiment and if you know how Douglas Fairbanks and Tyrone Power did it in their Zorro films you know how it comes out. Some bits from Robin Hood are tossed into the mix as well.

But if you like those sword and sandal epics, plenty of swords, no sandals here though. Not a chariot in sight.

Why is Hercules in 16th century Spain? Well, someone decided he should be there with Don Juan. LOL The truth is, this is another Maciste film. The name Maciste was not popular (still is not) in the United States so the the US would change the name of Maciste into other names that were (still are) popular like Hercules, Colossus, Goliath or Samson for American audiences.

It's a lame and boring love story with little action. It's mainly a romantic adventure fantasy - but not my type of fantasy. It's not a good film but it is a goofy film. The film is very much out of place and not a true Hercules movie.

2/10

The real hero of this story is a Zorro type fellow, played, I think, by Ettore Manni. A soldier, Ettore, attacked by rebels, becomes their friend when he stands up to Hercules, Alan Steel, in a knife fight. How Hercules, (ancient Greece), took up with a band on Conquistador bandits, (they have those helmets), was never explained to my satisfaction. He should have been long dead. O.K., O.K. Then, this soldier, in order to save his ladylove from an unwanted marriage, dons a red mask and some frilly black ruffles. Not a toga in site. Also, numerous subplot romances.

Alan Steel, in the minor role of Hercules, lesser, secondary, sidekick to Zorro, does get five minutes of screen time or so. He throws a few people up into a tree, and also tears down a hangman's scaffold, so all was not lost. Anyway, if anyone can explain this movie to me, I'd love to hear... Possibly, I simply didn't pay enough attention to the dialogue. Also, Ettore Manni, Zorro imitator, accidently shot himself to death later in life. Divine justice, one hesitates to suggest?

P.S. I can't find 'Golia' in my Italian/English dictionary, although "and the Masked Rider", translates pretty easily. What's Golia? Goliath? What's the relation between Goliath and Hercules. I'm just so... confused.