''Devil of the Desert Against the Son of Hercules'' is a 1964

international co-production A co-production is a joint venture between two or more different production companies for the purpose of film production, television production, video game development, and so on. In the case of an international co-production, production companies ...

filmed in Algeria and directed by

Anthony Dawson Anthony Douglas Gillon Dawson (18 October 1916 – 8 January 1992) was a Scottish actor, best known for his supporting roles as villains in films such as Alfred Hitchcock's ''Dial M for Murder'' (1954) and '' Midnight Lace'' (1960), and playi ...

Plot summary

An evil and ambitious usurper named Ganor seizes a kingdom by assassinating the

Sultan Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it ...

and imprisoning his son Prince Daikor and daughter Princess Soraya to prevent revolt. Princess Soraya is defiant and escapes by leaping out the palace window into a river. She is discovered by a pair of peasants Anthar and the mute Aimu who become her protectors, and later rescuers and avengers against Ganor. The film concludes in a showdown in a hall of mirrors.

Cast

Kirk Morris Kirk Morris (born 26 August 1942) is an Italian bodybuilder and actor. He was the winner of "Mr.Italia Bodybuilding contest 1961” Born in Venice as Adriano Bellini, while at university Morris devoted himself to bodybuilding and thanks to his ph ...

as Anthar *

Michèle Girardon Michèle Girardon (9 August 1938 – 25 March 1975), sometimes credited as Michele Girardon, was a French actress. Career Born in Lyon, France, Girardon began acting as early as 1956, and had a small but noticeable role as a deaf-mute bea ...

as Princess Soraya *

Renato Baldini Renato Baldini (18 December 1921 – 5 July 1995) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in 87 films between 1950 and 1983. He was born in Rome, Italy. Selected filmography * ''It's Forever Springtime'' (1950) - Un carabiniere al processo ...

as Kamal *

Mario Feliciani Mario Feliciani (12 March 1918 – 11 August 2008) was an Italian actor and voice actor. Life and career Born in Milan, after completing his classical education Feliciani attended the Accademia dei filodrammatici obtaining the diploma. He ...

as Ganor *

José Jaspe José Jaspe ( gl, Xosé Jaspe Rivas) (10 August 1906 – 5 June 1974) was a Spanish film actor. He played Konev the conductor in ''Horror Express'' (1972), Ahmed in '' House of 1,000 Dolls'' (1967), Henneker in ''The Man Called Noon'' (1973), the ...

as Akrim *

Manuel Gallardo Manolo A. Gallardo (born 13 June 1900, date of death unknown) was an Argentine boxer who competed in the 1924 Summer Olympics. In 1924 he was eliminated in the second round of the middleweight class after losing his fight to Roger Brousse Roger ...

as Prince Daikor * Nadine Verdier as Slave Girl

Release

''Devil of the Desert Against the Son of Hercules'' was released on June 27, 1964 in Italy. The film grossed 140,300,000

Italian lire The lira (; plural lire) was the currency of Italy between 1861 and 2002. It was first introduced by the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy in 1807 at par with the French franc, and was subsequently adopted by the different states that would eventually f ...

at domestically in Italy. The film was originally titled ''Anthar the invincible'' but was retitled ''The Devil of the Desert Against the Son of Hercules'' for inclusion on

Avco Embassy Embassy Pictures Corporation (also and later known as Avco Embassy Pictures as well as Embassy Films Associates) was an American independent film production and distribution studio responsible for such films as ''The Graduate'', '' The Produc ...

's ''

The Sons of Hercules ''The Sons of Hercules'' is a syndicated Embassy Pictures television show that aired in the United States in the 1960s. The series repackaged 13 Italian sword-and-sandal films by giving them a standardized theme song for the opening and clos ...

'' syndicated television series. The series was 14 '' peplum'' that were retitled and re-edited to be distributed under the title of ''The Sons of Hercules''.

References

Footnotes

Sources

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External links

* * 1964 films 1960s fantasy adventure films 1960s Italian-language films Films directed by Antonio Margheriti Peplum films Films shot in Algeria Films set in the Middle Ages Films set in the Middle East Sword and sandal films 1960s Italian films {{fantasy-film-stub