• L'Inferno is a 1911 Italian silent film, loosely adapted from Inferno, the first canticle of Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy. L'Inferno took over three years to make, and was the first full-length Italian feature film.Original release date: March 10, 1911

    PlotDante is barred from entering the hill of salvation by three beasts that bar his path (Avarice, Pride, and Lust). Beatrice descends from above and asks the poet Virgil to guide Dante through the Nine Circles of Hell. Virgil leads Dante to a cave where they find the river Acheron, over which Charon ferries the souls of the dead into Hell. They also see the three-headed Cerberus, and Geryon, a flying serpent with the face of a man. They see the Devil eating human beings whole, harpies eating the corpses of suicides, an evil man forced to carry his own severed head for eternity, people half buried in flaming lava, etc.There follows a series of encounters in which the two meet up with a number of formerly famous historical figures whose souls were denied by both Heaven and Hell, and they listen to some of their tales told in flashback. These characters include Homer, Horace, Ovid, Lucanus, Cleopatra, Dido, the Queen of Carthage, the traitor Caiphus, Count Ugolino, Peter of Vigna, Francesca Da Rimini and her lover Paulo, Brutus and Cassius, Mohammed and Helen of Troy. The main attraction of the film are the fantastic set designs depicting the horrors of Hell, with excessive violence and gore, designed to frighten the audience into becoming pious or God-fearing.Cast:Salvatore Papa as Dante AlighieriArturo Pirovano as VirgilioGiuseppe de Liguoro as Il conte UgolinoAugusto Milla as LuciferAttilio MottaEmilise BerettaDirected by: Francesco BertoliniAdolfo PadovanGiuseppe De LiguoroBased on:The Divine Comedy by Dante AlighieriScore by:Mike Kiker

  • Hercules (Italian: Le fatiche di Ercole 'The Labours of Hercules') is a 1958 Italian peplum film based upon the Hercules and the Quest for the Golden Fleece myths. The film stars Steve Reeves as the titular hero and Sylva Koscina as his love interest Princess Iole. Hercules was directed by Pietro Francisci and produced by Federico Teti. The film spawned a 1959 sequel, Hercules Unchained (Italian: Ercole e la Regina di Lidia), that also starred Reeves and Koscina.Original release date:20 February 1958 (Italy)

    In this melange of characters and events from separate mythological stories, Hercules, demigod and superman, arrives in the ancient Greek kingdom of Iolcus to tutor Iphitus, son of king Pelias; immediately on arrival, he falls in love with the king's delectable, briefly clad daughter Iole. Before he can win her, he must succeed in a series of quests, in the course of which he teams up with Jason, true heir of Iolcus, whom he accompanies on the famous voyage of the Argonauts. Written by Rod CrawfordDirected by: Pietro FrancisciProduced by: Federico TetiBased on: The Argonauts by Apollonius of RhodesCast:Steve Reeves as HerculesSylva Koscina as IoleFabrizio Mioni as JasonIvo Garrani as Pelias, King of IolcusGianna Maria Canale as Antea, Queen of the AmazonsArturo Dominici as EurysteusMimmo Palmara as Iphitus, son of PeliasLidia Alfonsi as The SibylGabriele Antonini as UlyssesAldo Fiorelli as ArgosAndrea Fantasia as LaertesLuciana Paluzzi as Iole's maid as Luciana PaoluzziAfro Poli as ChironGian Paolo Rosmino as AesculapiusWilli Colombini as PolluxFulvio Carrara as CastorGino Mattera as OrpheusGina Rovere as AmazonLily Granado as AmazonAldo Pini as TifiGuido Martufi as Iphitus, as a childPaola Quattrini as Iole, as a child

Hercules Unchained (1959) - Ercole e la regina di Lidia

Hercules Unchained (Italian: Ercole e la regina di Lidia , “Hercules and the Queen of Lydia”) is a 1959 Italian-French epic fantasy feature film starring Steve Reeves and Sylva Koscina in a story about two warring brothers and Hercules’ tribulations in the court of Queen Omphale. The film is the sequel to the Reeves vehicle Hercules (1958) and marks Reeves’ second – and last – appearance as Hercules. The film’s screenplay, loosely based upon various Greek mythology and plays by Aeschylus and Sophocles, was written by Ennio De Concini and Pietro Francisci with Francisci directing and Bruno Vailati and Ferruccio De Martino producing the film.

PLOT

While travelling, Hercules is asked to intervene in a quarrel between two brothers, Eteocles and Polynices, over who should rule Thebes. Before he can complete this task, Hercules drinks from a magic spring and is hypnotized by a harem girl who dances the “Dance of Shiva”, loses his memory and becomes the captive of Queen Omphale of Lydia. The Queen keeps men until she tires of them, then has them made into statues. While young Ulysses tries to help him regain his memory, Hercules’ wife, Iole, finds herself in danger from Eteocles, current ruler of Thebes, who plans on throwing her to the wild beasts in his entertainment arena. Hercules slays three tigers in succession and rescues his wife, then assists the Theban army in repelling mercenary attackers hired by Polynices. The two brothers ultimately fight one another for the throne and end up killing each other; the good high priest Creon is elected by acclaim.

CREATORS

Directed by Pietro Francisci
Screenplay by Ennio De Concini and Pietro Francisci
Story by Pietro Francisci

Based on
Oedipus at Colonus by Sophocles
Seven Against Thebes by Aeschylus

Produced by Bruno Vailati
Restored by moonflix, LLC

CAST

Steve Reeves as Hercules
Sylvia Lopez as Queen Omphale of Lydia
Sylva Koscina as Iole
Sergio Fantoni as Eteocles
Mimmo Palmara as Polynices
Gabriele Antonini as Ulysses
Fulvio Carrara as Castor
Willi Colombini as Pollux
Gian Paolo Rosmino as Aesculapius
Gino Mattera as Orpheus
Primo Carnera as Antaeus
Cesare Fantoni as King Oedipus
Daniele Vargas as Amphiaraus
Carlo D’Angelo as High Priest Creon
Gianni Loti as Sandone
Fulvia Franco as Anticlea
Colleen Bennett as the prima ballerina
Nando Cicero as Lastene

Original release date:
February 14, 1959

(Visited 51 times, 1 visits today)























Genres: Adventure Films, New Arrivals, 1950's, Movies, Color Classics, Famous Stories, Adventure, Fantasy, Famous Stories, Fantasy Films, Italian Classics, Color Movies, ALL Movies

Leave a Reply