Ercole e la regina di Lidia (1959)

User Rating:

3.8/10   

Director:

Pietro Francisci

Writers:

Aeschylus (play)
Ennio De Concini (screenplay)
(more)

Release Date:

13 July 1960 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Fantasy | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

SEE the War of the Chariots! SEE Lydia, the Temptress! SEE the Contest of Giants! SEE the Combat of Kings! SEE the Arena of Tigers! SEE the Court of Lovers!

Plot:

While negotiating peace between two brothers contesting the throne of Thebes, an amnesiac Hercules is seduced by the evil Queen Omphale.

Plot Keywords:

Thebes | Gods | Bow And Arrow | Sword Fighting | B Movie

Cast

Steve Reeves	...	Ercole (Hercules)
Sylva Koscina	...	Iole, bride of Ercole
Sylvia Lopez	...	Queen Onfale, of Lidia
Gabriele Antonini	...	Ulisse, son of Laertes
Primo Carnera	...	Anteo, the giant
Patrizia Della Rovere	...	Penelope
Sergio Fantoni	...	Eteocle
Fulvia Franco	...	Anticlea
Carlo D'Angelo	...	Creonte, High Priest of Thebes
Marisa Valenti	...	Blond Slave Girl
Mimmo Palmara	...	Polinice
Elda Tattoli
Daniele Varga	...	Anfiarao
Andrea Fantasia	...	King Laerte
Gino Mattera	...	Orfeo
Aldo Fiorelli	...	Argo the Shipbuilder
Gianni Loti	...	Sandone, Capt. of the Lidian Guard
Cesare Fantoni	...	Re Edipo of Thebes
Ugo Sasso
Angelo Zanolli	...	Admeo
Sergio Ciani
Nando Cicero
Aldo Pini	...	Tifi, the pilot
Fulvio Carrara	...	Castor, aide to Laertes
Willi Colombini	...	Polluce (as Willy Colombini)
Walter Grant	...	Aesculapio
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Colleen Bennet	...	Solo Ballerina
Fabrizio Mioni
Nino Marchetti	...	Fossore (uncredited)

Directed by
Pietro Francisci

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Aeschylus		play "The Seven Against Thebes"
Ennio De Concini		screenplay
Pietro Francisci		screenplay
Sophocles		play "Aedipus at Colonus"

Produced by
Ferruccio De Martino	....	executive producer
Bruno Vailati	....	producer

Original Music by
Enzo Masetti

Cinematography by
Mario Bava

Film Editing by
Mario Serandrei

Set Decoration by
Massimo Tavazzi

Costume Design by
Maria Baroni

Makeup Department
Otello Fava	....	makeup artist
Maria Miccinilli	....	hair stylist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Pietro Nuccorini	....	assistant director
Mario Bava	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Gianni D'Aloisio	....	assistant architect
Giorgio Giovannini	....	assistant architect
Flavio Mogherini	....	architect

Sound Department
Giulio Tagliacozzo	....	sound technician
Bruno Zanoli	....	microphone technician

Special Effects by
Mario Bava	....	special effects director

Camera and Electrical Department
Mario Bava	....	special lighting director
Danilo Desideri	....	assistant camera
Aldo Galfano	....	still photographer
Mario Mancini	....	assistant camera
Ubaldo Terzano	....	camera operator

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Assunto Lazzazzera	....	dress maker (as Assunta Lazzazera)
Mimma Olivieri	....	dress maker

Editorial Department
Misa Gabrini	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Carlo Savina	....	musical director

Other crew
Johnny Blysdeal	....	choreographer
Dante Brini	....	production secretary
Spartaco Conversi	....	production secretary
Massimo De Rita	....	production assistant
Barbara Fusch	....	continuity
Enzo Musumeci Greco	....	fencing master (as Enzo Musumeci)
Salvatore Siciliano	....	location sets (as Ture Siciliano)

Production Companies

• Galatea Film
• Lux Compagnie Cinématographique de France
• Lux Film
• Urania Film

Distributors

• Warner Bros. Pictures (1960) (USA) (theatrical) (dubbed)
• National Broadcasting Company (NBC) (1976) (USA) (TV) (network premiere)
• AVCO Embassy Pictures (1973) (USA) (theatrical) (dubbed) (re-release)
• Parade Video (1997) (USA) (VHS)
• VCI Home Video (1997) (USA) (VHS)
• Timeless Video (1998) (USA) (VHS)
• United American Video (1998) (USA) (VHS)
• GoodTimes Home Video (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• United American Video (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• Alpha Video Distributors (2002) (USA) (VHS)
• Alpha Video Distributors (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• RsR Multimedia (2004) (Spain) (DVD)
• Umbrella Entertainment (2004) (Australia) (DVD)
• VCI Home Video (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Westlake Entertainment Group (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Reel Media International (2005) (USA) (VHS)
• Reel Media International (2007) (worldwide) (all media)
• ClassicLine (????) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Image Entertainment (????) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Mill Creek Entertainment (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• Nelson Entertainment (????) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Something Weird Video (SWV) (199?) (USA) (VHS)
• Sultan Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• VidAmerica (????) (USA) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Casa d'Arte di Firenze  costumes furnishing
• Digitmovies Alternative Entertainment  soundtrack
• Ditta Rancati  weapons and equipments
• Florence and Frederick  ballet
• Pompei Vidéo  foorwear
• Tani  foorwear

Also Known As:

Hércules encadenado (Spain)
Hércules y la reina de Lidia (Spain)
Heracles y la reina de Lidea (Spain) (literal title)
Hercule et la reine de Lydie (France)
Hercules Unchained (USA)
Hercules and the Queen of Lydia (International: English title) (literal title)
Hercules and the Queen of Sheba

Runtime:

Germany:94 min | UK:101 min | USA:105 min | 97 min (2005 DVD release)

Country:

Italy | France | Spain

Language:

Italian | Spanish

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Unrated | Finland:K-12 | West Germany:12 | Australia:PG

Company:

Galatea Film

Trivia:

The score for this contains themes from its predecessor, Le fatiche di Ercole (1958). They became the most famous compositions, internationally, for composer Enzo Masetti. Masetti retired after completing the score for this film.

Goofs:

Continuity: Watch closely the second time Hercules takes up Ulysses' challenge to bend the iron torch stand in an attempt to remember who he is. He successfully does so, and then unbends it just as easily, leaving a slight curve in the stem. However when he returns the stand to its original location, the stand is perfectly straight.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: Hercules Against the Moon Men (#5.10)" (1992)

Soundtrack:

Evening Star

This is a movie for men!

Hercules becomes amnesiac after drinking from the waters of Lethe. For years, the beautiful queen Omphale has been abducting warrior men who become amnesiacs off to her exotic paradise island where they give themselves up to sexual pleasures until the day she tires of them. That's the day they die, only to be immortalized as statuary in her garden of conquests. Hercules soon finds himself abducted and like all the others he is her completely willing slave.

But this time her soldiers bring back Hercules' traveling companion Ulysses, who has saved his life by pretending to be the hero's deaf-mute body servant. Ulysses continues in that role during Hercules' captivity and by keeping Hercules from drinking more of the magical water, restores his memory.

'I've been tricked by the gods.' is his summation of the situation. After all, he had been on an important mission of state with his wife the virtual hostage of a madman when all this happened. Of course he gets away, the first of Ompahle's slaves to escape her net. She statue-tizes herself over the lose and the movie moves on to its conclusion.

All Sons of Hercules movies have this same plot: Hercules falls under the sway of a powerful, beautiful and evil woman but comes to his senses and saves the day. At its core it is about sex and the taboo predilection of men to seek this enslavement. This plot is not fashionable any more. Too much sexual freedom in modern society has robbed it of its power. But it had power (over men) in the sixties, and this film exploited it expertly.