People complain about how after a hit movie, there’s a handful of knock offs released by rival studios. One Zombie movie blockbuster means a dozen zombie titles coming to a theater to you in the next few years. But this is small potatoes compared to the spud avalanche unleashed by the Italian cinema. One international hit would led to over a 100 films in the same genre. Once A Fistful of Dollars cashed in at the international box office, theaters were overflowed with hundreds of Spaghetti Westerns. The same thing happened in 1958 when American bodybuilder Steve Reeves flexed to Rome to become Hercules Unchained. The film’s success led to a massive wave of muscle-bound mythological flicks that became the “Sword and Sandal” genre. Every Italian with a pair of dumbbells was oiled up, strapped in a loincloth and branded with an American name. Not a single pumped up figure in mythology was of overlooked. The films kept topping themselves to get noticed on the marquees. Hercules, Samson and Ulysses is a title that could headline WrestleMania.
Hercules (Kirk Morris) and Ulysses (Enzo Cerusico) hit the water looking for a sea monster that’s been terrorizing Ithaca’s fisherman. A storm comes up and shipwrecks them. Ulysses gets busted by the local authorities. Delilah (Liana Orfei) swings a deal that if Hercules can capture Samson (Richard Lloyd), he can get Ulysses released. The two legendary strongmen meet and beat each other senseless. Finally they get it through their muscle-bound brains that they can probably team up and bust out Ulysses. This leads to an epic beatdown finale as they tear up the town.
Don’t get too hung up on the fact that the three figures are from completely different sources. Hercules is a demi-god son of Zeus in Roman mythology. Samson’s an Old Testament Bible hero. Ulysses comes from Homer’s The Odyssey (not to be confused with James Joyce’s Ulysses). How can Roman, Greek and Hebrew characters intersect? It doesn’t matter. What matters is they’re three very muscular men who can bust up stuff without much effort. Contrary to what the credits read, the top two stars aren’t American. Hercules’ Kirk Morris is really Adriano Bellini. Cut off Samson’s hair to expose Richard Lloyd as Iloosh Khoshabe. Only Enzo Cerusico kept his real name when he shined as brave Ulysses. They’re all musclebound actors who can barely express themselves and have their lines are dubbed by professional actors. Director Pietro Francisci started off the craze with Hercules Unchained and brought it to an end with Hercules, Samson and Ulysses. Where else could the genre go? Maybe they could have made Hercules, Samson, Ulysses and Stallone.
The video is 1.78:1 anamorphic. The print has specks on the frame. This is how it would look when shown at a Saturday matinee back in 1965. The audio is Dolby Digital Mono. The words coming out of the heroes mouths never touched their lips. Don’t think that the sync is off.
Theatrical Trailer (2:17) promotes the concept of three big heroes battling it out. They were playing to the pro wrestling fans.
Hercules, Samson and Ulysses is a fun finale for the Sword and Sandal genre that dominated Italian cinema from the late ’50s to the early ’60s. The three top character names are brought together to battle each other and join forces to destroy the ancient world. This is a Manufacture on Demand title which might have an issue playing on a computer DVD drive, but it played well on a laptop.
Warner Archive Collection presents Hercules, Samson and Ulysses. Directed by: Pietro Francisci. Screenplay by: Pietro Francisci. Starring: Kirk Morris, Iloosh Khoshabe and Liana Orfei. Running Time: 85 minutes. Rating: Unrated. Released: August 30, 2012. Available at Amazon.com.
