Hercule, Samson et Ulysse

This acceptable Peplum or ¨Sword and Sandals¨ movie turns out to be a giant Spectacle of the World's Mightiest Men such as Kirk Morris as Ercole , Iloosh Khoshabe or Richard LLoyd as Sansone and Enzo Cerusico as Ulysses . A decent spaghetti , myth-opera with action , impressive fighting , battles and lush landscapes . Including breathtaking scenes when Hércules and Sansone fight themselves and overwhelming final battle with surprising and moving scenes . Two mythical figures Sansone (Kirk Morris) and Ulysses (Enzo Cerusico) along with their crew set out to hunt down a gigantic sea monster . When they face off the murderous beast their ship is wrecked and they end up in the Holy Land and Gaza where Hercules (Kirk Morris , born Adriano Moldoni , who often dyed his pompadour-styled hair blond and he had a slight, sulky resemblance to Elvis Presley) is assumed to be Samson who is a wanted man by the Saran of Gaza (Aldo Giuffrè) . Meanwhile ,Sansone helps the Dannita people and fights against a bull and a lion , as usual . The two strongmen team up to survive against the nasty Philistines (who wear an inappropriate Nazi hulk) . The picture is plenty of legendary , literary and mythological characters such as Ercole , Sansone , Ulysses , Delilah as Philistine Queen (Liana Orfei) , Laertes as Ithaca King (Andrea Fantasia) , Telémaco Ulysses' son and Penélope , Ulyssess' wife

This is a nice Peplum with violent fights , noisy action , drama , court intrigues , and spectacular battles , but not brain food . Don't look for too much of a screenplay , because the emphasis is on lavish spectacle . This film is a crossover of heroes and mythological roles , but with no historical penchant . The picture contains some unexpected scenes with gory and eerie events , as when several children are shot by arrows , crucifixion and hanging . Lousy performances in Peplum style with lots of wooden acting . As usual in Peplum films appears the choreographic girl dancers and great deal of action with several adventures including spectacular fights , overwhelming sets and some good effects . U.S. buffs regard this as the last of the big Italian sword and sandal/muscle-man epics , it was directed by Pietro Francisci , who had started the craze with his ¨Hercules¨ (1958) and sequel ¨Hercules unchained , both of them performed by the great Steve Reeves .

"Hercules, Samson & Ulysses" is starred by two He-men : Kirk Morris and Richard Lloyd , both of whom subjected to the traditional "Test of Strength" , as they endeavored to pull a temple apart against Philistines . Kirk Morris who played the mythic Maciste in a few movies was randomly assigned the identity of Hercules , Goliath , Ursus , Samson or Aron for U.S. viewing . Bouncing and strong Kirk was a bodybuilder and gondolier who plucked from the canals of Venice for his go at moviedom but early to be recruited by Italian producers to star in Peplum films . He was a gondolier , before turning to body-building , when resulted to be discovered by an Italian movie producer, he was deemed a perfect speciman to showcase their spectacles and a fitting hero to help offset the silly special effects and spectacular as well as embarrassing action . Himself Kirk Morris became something of a cult personality in the Italian epic genre . Starring notorious titles as : Il Trionfo Maciste (1961) , Hércules against the moon men , Colossus and the headhunters (1963) , Maciste Alla Corte Dello Zar (1964) and Devil of the Desert Against the Son of Hércules (1964) . Once the genre had lost its audience in the mid-60s, Kirk maintained for a few more years in war stories as The Seven Red Berets, Overrun! and Sci-Fi as : 2+5 Missione Hydra and westerns as : Rita in the West , but eventually migrated to the United States where he went into the advertising field . While Richard Lloyd -who was born in Iran and died in 2012 in Tehran- starred a few Peplums such as : Titán vs Vulcano (1962), Gli Invincibili Fratelli Maciste (1964) and Ercole Sfida Sansone (1963).

"Hercules, Samson & Ulysses" packs a colorful and evocative cinematography by Silvano Ippalotini . Atmospheric and exciting score by Angelo Francesco Lavagnino . The sets and production design impress too . This elaborate recounting was professionally directed by Pietro Francisci though with little relation with the Biblical and literary events . Francisci was an expert on Peplum as he proved in 1963 Ercole sfida Sansone , 1960 Saffo, Venere Di Lesbo ,1960 The battle of Siracusa ,1959 Hércules unchained and particularly 1958 Hércules with the great Steve Reeves . Fun for the whole family though it tends toward the ponderous at times but for the most part, it's a passable movie .

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. ****

This must have been towards the end of the Italian musclemen "epics". As the title shows, the list of characters includes just about everyone. The Hercules and Samson are the blockheads you would expect, but Ulysses, true to his origin in Homer, is a wily and engaging character, who makes fun of the others while solving their problems. I remember this example of the "sword & sandal" school with affection because the script and the acting do show a really entertaining sense of humour.

And just caught it again on television this morning, 1 May 2018. Fifty-five years later, it's still classic high camp. Ah, memories.... One detail that escaped me the first time is that the Philistines are all wearing World War II German helmets. I guess there were a few of them available in Italy in 1963.

Not unexpectedly, given the genre and the decade, this film is a nonsensical affair of half-naked muscle-men, including devilishly handsome Kirk Morris as Hercules, posing and fighting against a backdrop of silly sets and dubious locations. Special effects are rather bad (get a load of that sea monster!) while the acting, dialogue, and action are predictably funny, though not necessarily intentionally so. Look for the scene with a close-up of Morris pretending to be riding a horse while conversing with Delilah; I spontaneously laughed out loud. In all fairness, low-budget sword-and-sandal flicks of this sort have a nostalgic value and do not really deserve or warrant critical review; they can sometimes still be entertaining if not taken at all seriously. The best scenes of this movie are those featuring lots of fake boulders and fake stone ruins, and in the end, one can only feel sorry for the horses and lions. I gave this film an extra star for going out on a limb and suggesting that, while Hercules and Samson were relatively evenly matched in the physical sense, Hercules probably had the intellectual edge.