''Il tiranno di Siracusa'' (English Release Title: ''Damon and Pythias'') is a 1962 Italian/American film directed by

Curtis Bernhardt Curtis Bernhardt (15 April 1899 – 22 February 1981) was a Jewish film director born in Worms, Germany, under the name Kurt Bernhardt. He trained as an actor in Germany, and performed on the stage, before starting as a film director in 1924, wi ...

. The film is based on the Greek legend of Damon and Pythias, and set during the reign of

Dionysius I of Syracuse Dionysius I or Dionysius the Elder ( 432 – 367 BC) was a Greek tyrant of Syracuse, in Sicily. He conquered several cities in Sicily and southern Italy, opposed Carthage's influence in Sicily and made Syracuse the most powerful of the Western Gre ...

(432-367 BC).

Plot summary

Ancient Greece Ancient Greece ( el, Ἑλλάς, Hellás) was a northeastern Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of Classical Antiquity, classical antiquity ( AD 600), th ...

, Protheus, the leader of the Pythagorian society in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

, dies. Fellow Pythagorian Pythias is ordered to go to Syracuse and convince the philosopher Arcanos to return with him and take Protheus' place. Arcanos, however, has fled into hiding because of the tyrannical king

Dionysius the Elder Dionysius I or Dionysius the Elder ( 432 – 367 BC) was a Greek tyrant of Syracuse, in Sicily. He conquered several cities in Sicily and southern Italy, opposed Carthage's influence in Sicily and made Syracuse the most powerful of the Western Gre ...

, and his captain of the guard Cariso. These two ruthlessly hunt down and destroy anyone involved in this "dangerous" philosophy, as the Pythagorians call all men brothers/equal and embrace

pacifism Pacifism is the opposition or resistance to war, militarism (including conscription and mandatory military service) or violence. Pacifists generally reject theories of Just War. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaign ...

over war and conquest. Fearing that his pregnant wife Nerissa will be too upset if he tells her himself, Pythias leaves his brother-in-law Demetrius to tell her of his dangerous mission. Nerissa interprets this as Pythias loving his philosophy more than her, and falls severely ill. Meanwhile, Pythias arrives in Syracuse, and meets streetwise local

con man A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust. Confidence tricks exploit victims using their credulity, naïveté, compassion, vanity, confidence, irresponsibility, and greed. Researchers have def ...

and

bandit Banditry is a type of organized crime committed by outlaws typically involving the threat or use of violence. A person who engages in banditry is known as a bandit and primarily commits crimes such as extortion, robbery, and murder, either as an ...

Damon. Damon initially tries to rob Pythias, until the pair are chased by Cariso and his guards. Pythias offers Damon a great amount of silver if he can help him find Arcanos, and Damon agrees to hide Pythias in his lair. Initially, Damon mocks Pythias for his beliefs, his pacifism, and his attempts to befriend everyone. However, Damon still organizes his fellow bandits and street people to help him find Arcanos for the money. Cariso then offers Damon much gold, and a prize stallion, if Damon will betray Pythias and help HIM find and kill Arcanos. Damon agrees; Pythias is furious when he finds out Damon double-crossed him, but still refuses, even when he has Damon helpless, to harm or kill him. Damon, realizing he lost what could have been his first true friend, follows Pythias, makes amends, and tries to help him and Arcanos escape. Arcanos and Damon succeed; however, Pythias crashes his chariot, and is arrested by Cariso. Demetrius arrives in Syracuse and informs Damon that Nerissa is expected to die before the baby is born. Damon goes to King Dionysisus and offers himself as a substitute prisoner; the king initially refuses, until he realizes he can use this situation to discredit the Pythagorians. He offers Pythias three choices: be executed as planned, leave and allow Damon to die in his place, or leave but return at the end of two months to die in Damon's place. Pythias and Damon accept the third option, and Pythias returns home. The whole of Syracuse learns of the wager, and Dionysius believes that Pythias will not return and therefore will prove his own philosophy ineffective. However, to be safe, he orders Cariso to kill Pythias if he somehow does try to return. Pythias returns to Nerissa, who regains her will to live and gives birth to a healthy baby boy, whom they name Damon. Pythias then breaks the news to her and returns to Syracuse. Cariso and his men do everything they can to find and stop him, but Damon's gang decides to aid and shelter him. Pythias is forced to fight Cariso himself, but Damon's gang and several other street people step in to help, killing the captain. Damon is led to the square and Dionysius mocks his loyalty, but Damon openly accuses him of hindering Pythias. Pythias then arrives to take Damon's place before the

archers Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In mo ...

. Dionysius accuses him of killing Cariso, in an effort to discredit his pacifism, but Damon's gang takes all the blame. The tyrant then orders Pythias' execution, but by now the people have seen the power of loyal friendship. Dionysius' own son leads the people in begging the king to let both prisoners live; Dionysius, after hesitating, graciously admits defeat and pardons them, as the crowd celebrates.

Cast

* Guy Williams as Damon * Don Burnett as Pythias * Ilaria Occhini as Nerissa * Liana Orfei as Adriana *

Marina Berti Elena Maureen Bertolino (29 September 1924 – 29 October 2002), known professionally as Marina Berti, was an Italian film actress. She was born in London from an Italian father and an English mother. Biography Her first screen appearance was ...

as Mereka, Damon's sister *

Arnoldo Foà Arnoldo Foà (24 January 1916 – 11 January 2014) was an Italian actor, voice actor, theatre director, singer and writer. He appeared in more than 130 films between 1938 and 2014. Biography Foà was born in Ferrara, Italy, to a Jewish fam ...

as Dionysius the Tyrant *

Carlo Giustini Carlo Giustini (born 4 May 1923), sometimes credited as Carlo Justini, is an Italian retired actor. Life and career Born in Viterbo, the son of a railway employee, Giustini debuted at twenty years old in ''The Materassi Sisters'', after having ...

as Cariso *

Aldo Silvani Aldo Silvani (21 January 1891 – 12 November 1964) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in more than 110 films between 1934 and 1964. He was born in Turin, Italy and died in Milan, Italy. Selected filmography * '' Cardinal Lambertini'' ...

as Patriarch * Andrea Bosic as Arcanos *

Franco Fantasia Franco Fantasia (5 March 1924 – 10 November 2002) was an Italian film actor, stuntman and fencing master. He appeared in more than one hundred films from 1951 to 2002. He was the brother of actor Andrea Fantasia. Illness and Death Septemb ...

as Rumius the Fencing Master * Lawrence Montaigne as Flute Player *

Enrico Glori Enrico is both an Italian masculine given name and a surname, Enrico means homeowner, or king, derived from ''Heinrich'' of Germanic origin. It is also a given name in Ladino. Equivalents in other languages are Henry (English), Henri ( French), ...

as Nikos *

Gianni Bonagura Gianfelice "Gianni" Bonagura (27 October 1925 – 8 October 2017) was an Italian actor and voice actor. Life and career Born in Milan, Bonagura was active on film, stage, television and radio. He appeared in 40 films between 1950 and 2001. ...

as Philemon *

Carolyn De Fonseca Carolyn De Fonseca (25 May 1929 – May 2009) was an American actress based in Rome. She worked extensively as a voice actress for the English-language dubbing of several hundred foreign (mostly Italian) films from the early 1960s and onwards. She ...

as Chloe *

Carlo Rizzo Carlo Rizzo (April 30, 1907 – July 26, 1979) was an Italian stage and film actor.Chiti & Poppi p.333 He was the brother of the actor Alfredo Rizzo. A regular in post-war Italian cinema he also featured in several American films produced in I ...

as Libia

Production

Jaffe and Marx wanted the leads played by

John Gavin John A. Gavin (born Juan Vincent Apablasa; April 8, 1931 – February 9, 2018) was an American actor who was the president of the Screen Actors Guild (1971–73), and the United States Ambassador to Mexico (1981–86). Among the films he appeared ...

and

James Garner James Garner (born James Scott Bumgarner; April 7, 1928 – July 19, 2014) was an American actor. He played leading roles in more than 50 theatrical films, including ''The Great Escape (film), The Great Escape'' (1963) with Steve McQueen; Paddy ...

Reception

The film made a profit of $6,000..

Release

The international distribution was taken over by

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...

.Hughes, p.53

Biography

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Damon And Pythias 1962 films 1962 adventure films English-language Italian films Films directed by Curtis Bernhardt Films set in classical antiquity Films based on classical mythology Films based on works by Friedrich Schiller Films based on poems Peplum films Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films Films set in the 5th century BC Films set in the 4th century BC Films scored by Angelo Francesco Lavagnino Sword and sandal films 1960s English-language films 1960s Italian films