Hercules in the Valley of Woe

Last updated

Hercules in the Valley of Woe
Hercules in the Valley of Woe.jpg
Film poster
Directed by Mario Mattoli
Screenplay by
Produced byItalo Matinenghi [1]
Starring
CinematographyEnzo Oddone [1]
Edited by Roberto Cinquini [1]
Music by Gianni Ferrio [1]
Release date
  • 19 December 1961 (1961-12-19)(Italy)
Running time
90 minutes [1]
CountryItaly [2]

Hercules in the Vale of Woe (Italian : Maciste contro Ercole nella valle dei guai/ Maciste vs Hercules in the Valley of Woe), a.k.a. Hercules in the Valley of Woe, [3] [4] is a 1961 Italian Franco and Ciccio comedy film directed by Mario Mattoli and starring Kirk Morris as Maciste and Frank Gordon as Hercules. The film is a comical take on the popular sword-and-sandal epics of the 1950s and 1960s.

Contents

Plot

In Milan, a major theater entrepreneur's going to put on a show period piece set in the era of mythological Greece. However, by a lucky accident, the company of actors and the entrepreneur himself are catapulted back in time just at the time of invincible warriors and heroes of Homer and Hesiod. Now we learn that the king Eurystheus needed to drive to Hercules, the invincible hero, able to defeat his arch enemy Maciste, who wants to kidnap his girlfriend Deianira.

Cast

Release

Hercules in the Valley of Woe was released in Italy on 19 December 1961. [1]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maciste</span>

Maciste is one of the oldest recurring characters of cinema, created by Gabriele d'Annunzio and Giovanni Pastrone. He is featured throughout the history of the cinema of Italy from the 1910s to the mid-1960s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Sons of Hercules</span> American television show

The Sons of Hercules is a syndicated Embassy Pictures television show that aired in the United States in the 1960s. The series repackaged 13 Italian sword-and-sandal films by giving them a standardized theme song for the opening and closing titles, as well as a standard introductory narration attempting to relate the lead character in each film to the Greek demigod Hercules. These films however were not all originally made as "Hercules" films in Italy. Although two of them did originally feature Hercules, four of the films were originally Maciste movies in Italy, and the others were just isolated gladiator or mythological hero movies not released theatrically in the US.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sword-and-sandal</span> Genre of largely Italian-made historical or biblical epics

Sword-and-sandal, also known as peplum, is a subgenre of largely Italian-made historical, mythological, or biblical epics mostly set in the Greco-Roman antiquity or the Middle Ages. These films attempted to emulate the big-budget Hollywood historical epics of the time, such as Samson and Delilah (1949), Quo Vadis (1951), The Robe (1953), The Ten Commandments (1956), Ben-Hur (1959), Spartacus (1960), and Cleopatra (1963). These films dominated the Italian film industry from 1958 to 1965, eventually being replaced in 1965 by spaghetti Western and Eurospy films.

<i>Hercules Against the Moon Men</i> 1964 film

Hercules Against the Moon Men is a 1964 Franco-Italian international co-production sword and sandal film. It was directed by Giacomo Gentilomo in his final film and stars Alan Steel and Jany Clair. The English version of the film runs for 90 minutes and is dubbed.

<i>Colossus and the Headhunters</i> 1963 film

Colossus and the Headhunters, is a 1963 Italian peplum film written and directed by Guido Malatesta, and starring Kirk Morris.

<i>Hercules in the Haunted World</i> 1961 film by Mario Bava

Hercules in the Haunted World is a 1961 Italian sword-and-sandal film directed by Mario Bava. British bodybuilder Reg Park plays Hercules while British actor Christopher Lee appears as Hercules' nemesis Lico. Shooting at Cinecittà, director Mario Bava used some of the same sets from the earlier Hercules and the Conquest of Atlantis which also stars Park.

<i>Maciste, the Avenger of the Mayans</i> 1965 film

Maciste, the Avenger of the Mayans is a 1965 Italian film directed by Guido Malatesta.

<i>Devil of the Desert Against the Son of Hercules</i> 1964 film

Devil of the Desert Against the Son of Hercules is a 1964 international co-production filmed in Algeria and directed by Anthony Dawson.

<i>Mole Men Against the Son of Hercules</i> 1961 film

Mole Men Against the Son of Hercules is a 1961 Italian peplum film directed by Antonio Leonviola and starring Mark Forest.

<i>Goliath and the Vampires</i> 1961 film

Goliath and the Vampires is a 1961 Italian peplum film directed by Sergio Corbucci and Giacomo Gentilomo.

<i>Atlas in the Land of the Cyclops</i> 1961 film

Atlas in the Land of the Cyclops is a 1961 Italian Gothic horror film starring Gordon Mitchell and Chelo Alonso.

<i>Hercules Against the Barbarians</i> 1964 film

Hercules Against the Barbarians is a 1964 Italian peplum film directed by Domenico Paolella.

<i>Hercules Against the Mongols</i> 1963 film

Hercules Against the Mongols is a 1963 Italian peplum film directed by Domenico Paolella.

<i>Ulysses Against the Son of Hercules</i> 1962 film

Ulysses Against the Son of Hercules is a 1962 peplum film directed by Mario Caiano.

<i>The Terror of Rome Against the Son of Hercules</i> 1964 film

The Terror of Rome Against the Son of Hercules is a 1964 peplum film directed by Mario Caiano and starring Mark Forest and Marilù Tolo.

<i>The Invincible Brothers Maciste</i> 1964 film

The Invincible Brothers Maciste is a 1964 Italian peplum film written and directed by Roberto Mauri.

<i>Hercules vs. Moloch</i> 1963 film

Hercules vs. Moloch is a 1963 Italian/French international co-production peplum film written and directed by Giorgio Ferroni and starring Gordon Scott. The film reuses battle scenes from Ferroni's 1961 film The Trojan Horse.

Maciste and Prisoner 51 is a 1923 German silent action film directed by Luigi Romano Borgnetto and starring Bartolomeo Pagano, Karl Beckersachs and Karl Falkenberg. It was one of several German films featuring the Italian peplum hero Maciste.

The Revenge of Maciste is a 1921 Italian silent adventure film directed by Luigi Romano Borgnetto and starring Bartolomeo Pagano, Henriette Bonard and Erminia Zago. It is part of the series of Maciste films.

Maciste on Vacation is a 1921 Italian silent adventure film directed by Luigi Romano Borgnetto and starring Bartolomeo Pagano, Henriette Bonard and Gemma De Sanctis. It is part of the series of Maciste films.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Kinnard & Crnkovich 2017, p. 90.
  2. ↑ Kinnard & Crnkovich 2017, p. 91.
  3. ↑ Pomeroy, Arthur J. (7 August 2017). A Companion to Ancient Greece and Rome on Screen. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN   9781118741351 . Retrieved 16 June 2019– via Google Books.
  4. ↑ "Hercules in the Vale of Woe (1961) - UNCUT". www.uncut.at. Retrieved 16 June 2019.

Sources


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.