First leading role for Brad Harris - A sandal film about Goliath
Yes, you read that right! This sandal film, which was released in West German cinemas on December 8, 1961 as DIE IRRFAHRTEN DES HERKULES and is also known as "Goliath contro i giganti" and "Goliath Against the Giants", is not a Hercules film, but was called that for marketing reasons. In his first leading role, the American bodybuilder Brad Harris, who was discovered as a film star as a visitor to the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome, plays the figure of Goliath, who experiences various adventures in a kind of mythological magical world. The film was directed by Guido Malatesta, and alongside Sergio Sollima, Gianfranco Parolini also wrote the script. As a director, he would make many more films with his super star Brad Harris.
The king was murdered in Beirath. His insidious advisor Bokan (Fernando Rey, best known from "Brennpunkt Brooklyn / The French Connection" (1971)) wants to persuade the king's daughter Elea (Maria Fie / Gloria Milland, born in Sardinia in 1940) to be the victorious war hero Hercules/Goliath (Brad Harris ) is her father's murderer. Elea senses that this cannot be true, flees to the muscle-bound hero on the ship and has to go through many adventures with him before the real regicide can be unmasked.
Other roles include: Nello Pazzafini (1934-1996), who developed from a football player to a stuntman to a sought-after supporting actor and later played well by Bud Spencer in "Sie nannten ihn Mücke / They Called Him Bulldozer" (1978) and "Banana Joe" (1982). Should be beaten. The former rugby player Mimmo Palmara (1928-2016) who appeared in the two Hercules films by PeplumSuperStar Steve Reeves (1926-2000) as his opponent and as his stunt double. The child actor was Gianfranco Gasparri (1948-1999), who as Franco Gasparri was supposed to become the star of the trilogy about "Mark il poliziotto" (1975), but was unfortunately paralyzed after his serious motorcycle accident in 1980.
The film was shot in Spain and in the Cinecitta studios. The equipment often doesn't seem that convincing. You couldn't really keep up with Steve Reeves' films, even when it came to the script.
In the film, Goliath has to fight against a sea monster, the Amazons, a gorilla, lions and giants. Brad Harris (1933-2017) has a lot to do in his first leading role, which was to be followed by many more. The special thing about this actor was that he could do his own stunts and was later the stunt coordinator in many of his films (including the many German adventure films in which he appeared). This gave him a successful film career until the 1980s.
Definitely recommended for all fans of the peplum genre as the "birthday" of genre star Brad Harris!
