‘By Jupiter, this will be an original way to get rid of my indigestion!’
A Spartan gladiator has won Caesar’s favour for his feats in the arena. However, when he falls in love with a Christian girl, he finds himself at odds with the power of Rome…
Late-era Peplum adventure with Mark Forest returning to the role of Maciste for the seventh and final time. Mario Caiano directs a cast that includes Marilù Tolo and Robert Hundar.
Life is just one long party for Roman Emperor Vitellius (Franco Cobianchi): an endless round of feasting, banquets and trips to the arena to watch the gladiators. The main attraction there is the Spartan warrior, Maciste (Forest), whose prowess in combat has won him the heart of courtesan Olympia (Tolo), but the jealousy of the Head of the Praetorian Guard, Zefatius (Hundar). One night when travelling to Tolo’s villa on the city’s outskirts, he runs across the Praetorian guard chasing down pretty blonde Livia (Elisabetta Fanti). Forest jumps in to defend her, wounding both soldiers and driving them off. It’s love at first sight between rescued and rescuer, and Forest is undeterred when Fanti explains that she is a Christian evading arrest.
After delivering Fanti to where her family are hiding, he returns to the city, only to discover that one of the guards has died and the other has identified him as the killer. Cobianchi is merciful, however, merely ordering Forest to undertake another trial in the arena for public amusement. This challenge involves a wrestling match with a giant gorilla, and when Forest emerges victorious, all is forgiven, and he is allowed to resume his favoured place at court. Meanwhile, however, Forest has decided to aid the persecuted Christians who are hiding in the catacombs under the Appian Way. He plans to arrange their escape from the city to sanctuary in a neighbouring kingdom across the sea.
More muscleman adventures for Italian strongman Maciste repackaged for American theatre audiences as part of the ‘Sons of Hercules’ series. That stateside release is the only readily available version for appraisal. However, the only significant difference would seem to be the English language dub track and the addition of the sterling ‘Sons of Hercules’ theme song. The dubbing is serviceable enough, too, but it renames Maciste as Poseidon. Unfortunately, he was the Greek god of the sea, and there’s not a trident in sight. He also had nothing to do with Hercules (or Heracles, if you prefer his Greek name). Our hero’s identification as a gladiator from Sparta is also a bit of a puzzle as well, given his previous cinematic exploits. Surprisingly enough, Italian film producers were about as focused on character continuity as they were on mythological accuracy.
By 1964, the Peplum movie cycle was coming to an end, due to increasingly dwindling box-office returns. It was hardly surprising given the staggering number of these assembly-line sword and sandal pictures hitting domestic screens in Italy and travelling abroad to be refashioned for the English Language market. There were 18 ‘Maciste’ pictures alone in less than four years since Forest had revived the character from the silent days with ‘Maciste in the Valley of the Kings/Son of Samson/Maciste nella valle dei re’ (1960). Additionally, dozens of other pictures were produced starring Hercules, Goliath, Samson, and Ursus, as well as others that did not feature a legendary strongman. But, with the emergence of the Italian-made Western from the shadows and the global spy phenomenon kickstarted by the James Bond adventure ‘Goldfinger’ (1964), the clock had almost run out for the Peplum picture.
However, despite its status as a late entry, there is some measure of production value in Caiano’s film. Most notably, it does not recycle any footage from previous movies, which was becoming an increasingly common practice with Peplum by that time. Instead, the proceedings have some scale, even if they do not boast large battle scenes or significant set pieces. The backdrops may not possess the magnificence of Cinecitta studios in their heyday, but the arena where much of the action plays out is large enough to pass muster and is populated by a decent-sized crowd. It probably took a hefty chunk of the budget, though, as the screenplay finds every excuse to return there, whether for another tournament or as a midnight escape route for Forest and the Christians. The film returns to it so often that I felt like I had a season ticket!
The most interesting story element is the focus on the emergence of Christianity, something that the Italians touched only occasionally in their Roman epics. It was almost a legal requirement in Hollywood films about the Empire, of course, but it doesn’t receive much prominence here. Caiano seems far happier concentrating on the intrigues at court and Forest’s displays of strength and combat. Curiously, however, there is more than one instance of our hero with his face hidden during these physical exchanges, either by a blindfold or a gladiator’s helmet. Fighting and stunt doubles were regularly employed in these pictures, of course, but it’s a little too obvious here. The fighting is competently staged, if nothing special, although the sequence with the gorilla has even more obvious ‘man in a suit’ moments than an old Hollywood flick from the 1930s.
The main problem here is that, despite decent execution, the film is exceptionally dull, mainly due to the sheer predictability of the developing plot. The action scenes are a little too thin on the ground and resolutely unspectacular when they do arrive, staged without much imagination or creativity. The only slight wrinkle to the story is that Tolo’s lovelorn courtesan remains loyal to Forest, even after he has admitted his love for another woman. The fires of jealousy would normally necessitate a sudden transformation into the ‘Evil Queen’ archetype so common to these films. Instead, she provides him alibis when he goes on midnight missions to help the Christians escape. The performances are professional and competent, if little else, although Cobianchi brings some life to events with his wilful Caesar, permanently bored and starving for both food and entertainment.
Caiano was a writer-director who usually served in both roles but gets no script credit here. He began his career as a writer with the costume adventure ‘The Pirate of Black Hawk’ (1958) but quickly began working as an assistant director. This new role included second-unit duties for Edgar G Ulmer on ‘Journey Beneath The Desert/L’Atlantide/Antinea, l’amonte Della Citta Sepolta’ (1961). He debuted as a writer-director with the undistinguished Peplum exercise ‘Ulysses Against Hercules/Ulisse contro Ercole/Ulysses vs Hercules’ (1962). More muscleman shenanigans followed with scripting ‘Perseus Against The Monsters/Perseo L’lnvincibile/The Medusa Against The Sons of Hercules’ (1963) and directing ‘Goliath and the Rebel Slave/Goliath e la schiava ribelle/The Tyrant of Lydia Against the Son of Hercules/Arrow of the Avenger’ (1963).
However, by 1964, he was already diversifying into other genres, tackling the Spaghetti Western with the somewhat pedestrian ‘Bullets Don’t Argue/Le pistole non discutono’ (1964), horror with Barbara Steele at the ‘Nightmare Castle/Amanti d’oltretomba/The Faceless Monster’ (1965) and the Eurospy with ‘Spies Strike Silently/Le Spie Uccidono In Silenzio’ (1966). When the industry went completely wild for Giallo thrillers in the early 1970s, he contributed the solid entries ‘Eye in the Labyrinth/L’occhio nel labirinto’ (1972) and ‘Calling All Police Cars/…a tutte le auto della polizia…’ (1975). The financial collapse of the Italian film industry around this time seems to have marked the end of his big screen career, with his final work being a trio of films released in 1977 that included ‘Nazi Love Camp 27’ (1977). He subsequently moved into television, directing movies for the next 25 years until his retirement in 2002. He passed away in 2015.
Predictable Peplum adventure with very few points of interest.