Arrivano i titani (1962)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

Duccio Tessari

Writers:

Ennio De Concini (adaptation)
Duccio Tessari (adaptation)

Release Date:

18 September 1963 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Fantasy

Tagline:

A GIANT SPECTACLE...Shot in Spain for Peanuts!

Plot:

An evil king makes a bargain with a devil in order to get away with murdering his wife.

Plot Keywords:

Crete | Peplum | Murder Of Wife | Chained To Wall | Pact With Devil

Cast

Pedro Armendáriz	...	Cadmo
Giuliano Gemma	...	Krios
Antonella Lualdi	...	Ermione
Serge Nubret	...	Rator
Jacqueline Sassard	...	Antiope
Gérard Séty
Tanya Lopert	...	Licina
Ingrid Schoeller	...	Emerate
Franco Lantieri
Monica Berger
Maria Luisa Rispoli		(as Luisa Rispoli)
Isarco Ravaioli
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Aldo Pedinotti	...	A Titan
Fernando Rey

Also Known As:

My Son, the Hero (USA)
Sons of Thunder (UK)
The Titans (USA)
Titans, Les (France)

Runtime:

120 min

Country:

Italy | France

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

West Germany:12 (nf) | Finland:K-16

Company:

Filmsonor

The Titans arrived!

"Arrivano i Titani" is an Italian-made sword & sandal epic filmed by Duccio Tessari that would also be responsible for some westerns and even giallos.

It's a very entertaining film that tells a story extracted from the Greek mythology: King Cadmo (Pedro Armendariz), by his crimes and presumption, has provoked the wrath of the gods. They warned him through a messenger that the first time his daughter fell in love he would die, and it would be no use killing her, because in the minute her heart stopped beating, he would be no more. So Cadmo brings up his daughter Antiope (Jacqueline Sassard) in reclusion - she is destined to be a priestess in a temple. She has never met a man in her life.

Meanwhile one of the Titans (chained to the rocks in a cave of a mountain because of their rebellion against Jupiter) is released. He is Krios (Giuliano Gemma). His mission is to punish King Cadmo. Krios is divested of his divine powers - he's now a simple mortal and can only rely on his wits to succeed. If he's successful, he and his brother Titans will be forgiven......

"Arrivano i Titani" manages to mix action, fantasy, humor and even a naive sensuality and romanticism. Unlike the American epic films in which pretty women represent either sin or innocence, "Arrivano i Titani" (like other Italian epics) celebrates the joy of the senses - beautiful women and landscapes, ribald humor, action scenes that sometimes resemble circus acts and a joyous soundtrack that looks like a parody of "The Bridge on the River Kwai".

"Arrivano i Titani" was made on a low budget (if you compare it with the American epics), but it's certainly more creative and free than its American counterparts.