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The strongman meets Amazons and dragons in his search for the Golden Fleece. Steve Reeves, Sylva Koscina, Gianna Maria Canale, Fabrizio Mioni. Good fun if you don't take it too seriously. First of the Italian muscle epics. Photography: Mario Bava.
1957
English
Stereo
Fantasy
Action/adventure
Cast & Crew
Steve Reeves
(Actor)
.. Hercules
Sylva Koscina
(Actor)
.. Iole
Gianna Maria Canale
(Actor)
.. Antea
Fabrizio Mioni
(Actor)
.. Jason
Ivo Garrani
(Actor)
.. Pelias
Arturo Dominici
(Actor)
.. Eurysteus
Mimmo Palmara
(Actor)
.. Iphitus
Lidia Alfonsi
(Actor)
.. The Sybil
Gina Rovere
(Actor)
.. Amazon
Gabriele Antonini
(Actor)
.. Ulysses
Andrea Fantasia
(Actor)
.. Laertes
Afro Poli
(Actor)
.. Chiron
Aldo Fiorelli
(Actor)
.. Argos
Gino Nattera
(Actor)
.. Orpheus
Giampaolo Rosmino
(Actor)
.. Esculapius
Luciana Paluzzi
(Actor)
.. Iole's Maid
Willi Colombini
(Actor)
.. Pollux
Fulvio Carrara
(Actor)
.. Castor
Gino Mattera
(Actor)
.. Orpheus
Aldo Pini
(Actor)
.. Tifi
Paola Quattrini
(Actor)
.. Iole as a child
Romano Barbieri
(Actor)
Spartaco Nale
(Actor)
Lydia Alfonsi
(Actor)
.. The Sybil
More Information
Did You Know..
Steve Reeves
(Actor)
.. Hercules
Born:
January 21, 1926
Died: May 01, 2000
Died: May 01, 2000
Trivia:
Bearded, biceped bodybuilder Steve Reeves was the recipient of several "Mr." titles in the early '50s, most notably Mr. Universe and Mr. America. He was in small TV roles on the basis of his "build"; one of his early jobs on the weekly sitcom Topper garnered more fan mail than any other episode of that series. Reeves' first movie speaking role was in Jail Bait, a 1954 cheapie directed by the one and only Edward Wood Jr.. He then headed to Europe, attaining worldwide fame via entrepreneur Joseph E. Levine's Hercules films. Steve Reeves starred in (and occasionally produced and scripted) Italian sword-and-sandal epics until retiring to count his money in 1968.
Sylva Koscina
(Actor)
.. Iole
Born:
August 22, 1933
Died: December 26, 1994
Died: December 26, 1994
Trivia:
Yugoslav-born actress Sylva Koscina was an Italian resident from the age of 12. In films from 1955, Koscina gained international attention for her leading-lady stints in Steve Reeves' first two Hercules films. She went on to appear in so many films in so many roles that it's difficult to "type"her: she was an adventurous acrobat in Judex (1960), a socially conscious nun in The Little Nuns (1962), "herself" in Fellini's Juliet and the Spirits (1965), a lesbian assassin in Deadlier Than the Male (1967) and so on. Retiring from films in 1987, Sylva Koscina returned before the cameras in the year just prior to her death: her last appearance was in the tantalizingly titled Kim Novak is on the Phone (1994).
Gianna Maria Canale
(Actor)
.. Antea
Born:
September 12, 1927
Died: February 13, 2009
Died: February 13, 2009
Trivia:
A practioner of the "enigmatic femme fatale" school of screen performing, Italian actress Gianna Maria Canale was signed for a film contract immediately after competing in the 1946 Miss Italy contest. Most of Canale's film appearances were exotic to the point of self-mockery, as witness Theodora Slave Empress (1954) and Queen of the Pirates (1960). She has also appeared in the American-produced war picture Go For Broke (1951), and in the British/American murder mystery The Whole Truth, archly cast as a temperamental Italian film star who is bumped off in reel two. Many of Gianna Maria Canale's earlier films were produced by Riccardo Freda, who later became her husband.
Fabrizio Mioni
(Actor)
.. Jason
Ivo Garrani
(Actor)
.. Pelias
Born:
February 06, 1924
Trivia:
Italian lead actor Ivo Garrani was often seen in epic adventures of the '50s.
Arturo Dominici
(Actor)
.. Eurysteus
Born:
January 02, 1918
Mimmo Palmara
(Actor)
.. Iphitus
Born:
July 25, 1928
Lidia Alfonsi
(Actor)
.. The Sybil
Born:
April 28, 1928
Gina Rovere
(Actor)
.. Amazon
Born:
May 05, 1935
Gabriele Antonini
(Actor)
.. Ulysses
Born:
April 16, 1938
Andrea Fantasia
(Actor)
.. Laertes
Afro Poli
(Actor)
.. Chiron
Aldo Fiorelli
(Actor)
.. Argos
Gino Nattera
(Actor)
.. Orpheus
Giampaolo Rosmino
(Actor)
.. Esculapius
Luciana Paluzzi
(Actor)
.. Iole's Maid
Born:
June 10, 1937
Trivia:
Actress Luciana Paluzzi was one of many voluptuous Italian brunettes groomed for international stardom in the wake of Gina Lollobrigida. Working both sides of the Atlantic in the '50s in such films as Three Coins in the Fountain (1954) and Sea Fury (1958), Ms. Paluzzi was given a chance at American TV stardom in the role of Simone Genet on the 1959 espionage weekly Five Fingers. Little was required of Paluzzi other than looking gorgeous in low-cut evening gowns; while this kept Five Fingers alive in the fan magazines, it wasn't enough to sustain the series beyond 17 episodes. Her career in a slump in 1965, she accepted a villainess role in the James Bond epic Thunderball. She portrayed Fiona, one of the few women on this planet able to resist the charms of Mr. Bond; perhaps as punishment for this, Fiona is killed on the dance floor by her own companions, whereupon James deposits her body at a nearby table and says "Do you mind if my partner sits this one out? She's just dead." This fleeting association with a box-office blockbuster enabled Luciana Paluzzi to extend her European starring career well into the '70s.
Willi Colombini
(Actor)
.. Pollux
Fulvio Carrara
(Actor)
.. Castor
Gino Mattera
(Actor)
.. Orpheus
Aldo Pini
(Actor)
.. Tifi
Born:
April 06, 1909
Paola Quattrini
(Actor)
.. Iole as a child
Romano Barbieri
(Actor)
Spartaco Nale
(Actor)
Lydia Alfonsi
(Actor)
.. The Sybil
Born:
April 28, 1928
