''The Beast of Babylon Against the Son of Hercules'' ( it, L'eroe di Babilonia, french: Héros de Babylone, also known as ''Heroes of Babylon'', ''Hero of Babylon'' and ''Goliath, King of Slaves'') is a 1963 Italian-French

peplum film Sword-and-sandal, also known as peplum (pepla plural), is a subgenre of largely Italian-made historical, mythological, or Biblical epics mostly set in the Greco-Roman antiquity or the Middle Ages. These films attempted to emulate the big-budget H ...

written and directed by

Siro Marcellini Siro Marcellini (born 16 September 1921) is an Italian director and screenwriter. Born in Genzano di Roma, Marcellini started his career as a theater director before moving to films, where he first worked as an assistant director. He directed e ...

and starring

Gordon Scott Gordon Scott (born Gordon Merrill Werschkul; August 3, 1926 – April 30, 2007) was an American film and television actor known for his portrayal of the fictional character Tarzan in five films (and one compilation of three made-as-a ...

.Michele Giordano. ''Giganti buoni''. Gremese Editore, 1998. . The film is a fictionalized depiction of the

Fall of Babylon The Fall of Babylon denotes the end of the Neo-Babylonian Empire after it was conquered by the Achaemenid Empire in 539 BCE. Nabonidus (Nabû-na'id, 556–539 BCE), son of the Assyrian priestess Adda-Guppi, came to the throne in 556 BCE, afte ...

(539 BCE), and depicts the historical rulers

Belshazzar Belshazzar (Babylonian cuneiform: ''Bēl-šar-uṣur'', meaning " Bel, protect the king"; ''Bēlšaʾṣṣar'') was the son and crown prince of Nabonidus (556–539 BC), the last king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire. Through his mother he might ...

(as Balthazar) and

Cyrus the Great Cyrus II of Persia (; peo, 𐎤𐎢𐎽𐎢𐏁 ), commonly known as Cyrus the Great, was the founder of the Achaemenid Empire, the first Persian empire. Schmitt Achaemenid dynasty (i. The clan and dynasty) Under his rule, the empire embraced ...

(as Zairus).

Plot

When the high-born Nippur returns to

Babylon ''Bābili(m)'' * sux, 𒆍𒀭𒊏𒆠 * arc, 𐡁𐡁𐡋 ''Bāḇel'' * syc, ܒܒܠ ''Bāḇel'' * grc-gre, Βαβυλών ''Babylṓn'' * he, בָּבֶל ''Bāvel'' * peo, 𐎲𐎠𐎲𐎡𐎽𐎢 ''Bābiru'' * elx, 𒀸𒁀𒉿𒇷 ''Babi ...

following a long stay in

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

, he rescues slave-girl Tamira from the soldiers of the evil usurper, Balthazar. Nippur then pays a courtesy visit to Balthazar's court where he meets the high-priestess Ura who has ambitions to become queen and who casts a

lust Lust is a psychological force producing intense desire for something, or circumstance while already having a significant amount of the desired object. Lust can take any form such as the lust for sexuality (see libido), money, or power. It can ...

ful eye on this new visitor. Later, shocked by the cruelty of Balthazar's reign and influenced by a group of rebels, Nippur interrupts a fiery

sacrifice Sacrifice is the offering of material possessions or the lives of animals or humans to a deity as an act of propitiation or worship. Evidence of ritual animal sacrifice has been seen at least since ancient Hebrews and Greeks, and possibly exi ...

of virgins. Forced to flee Babylon, Nippur -- wounded by an arrow in the back -- is restored to health by the forces of the Persian king,

Cyrus Cyrus ( Persian: کوروش) is a male given name. It is the given name of a number of Persian kings. Most notably it refers to Cyrus the Great ( BC). Cyrus is also the name of Cyrus I of Anshan ( BC), King of Persia and the grandfather of Cyrus ...

, who are marching toward Babylon. Nippur slips back into Babylon where he is captured and chained to a wall inside a dungeon. Using his great strength, Nippur breaks free, rescues Tamira before she can be sacrificed, and engages Balthazar in a sword fight to-the-death. The

Persian army The military history of Iran has been relatively well-documented, with thousands of years' worth of recorded history. Largely credited to its historically unchanged geographical and geopolitical condition, the modern-day Islamic Republic of I ...

now arrives and Cyrus, before returning home, sees to it that Nippur sits on the throne of Babylon with the faithful Tamira by his side.

Cast

as Nippur *

Geneviève Grad Geneviève Gabrielle Grad (; born 5 July 1944 in Paris) is a French actress. She played Nicole Cruchot, the daughter of police officer Ludovic Cruchot (Louis de Funès) in the first three films of the Gendarme of Saint-Tropez series from 1964 ...

as Tamira *

Andrea Scotti Andrea Scotti (born 27 August 1931) is an Italian film and television actor. Background Born in Naples, Scotti attended at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia in Rome, graduating in 1956. During his career he was mainly active in genre f ...

as Namar * Célina Cély as Agar *

Moira Orfei Moira Orfei (; born Miranda Orfei; 21 December 1931 – 15 November 2015) was an Italian circus performer, actress and television personality of remote Romani origins. Moira was also considered the queen of the Italian circus, one stage name bei ...

as Ura *

Mario Petri Mario Petri (21 January 1922 – 26 January 1985) was an Italian operatic bass-baritone particularly associated with Mozart and Rossini roles. Life and career Petri was born in Perugia and began his career after World War II, making his stage d ...

as Zairus *

Piero Lulli Piero Lulli (1 February 1923 – 23 June 1991) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in 111 films between 1942 and 1977. He was the brother of actor Folco Lulli. Selected filmography * ''A Pilot Returns'' (1942) - De Santis * '' Love Stor ...

as Balthazar *

Andrea Aureli Andrea Aureli (5 March 1923 – 5 November 2007) was an Italian actor. Life and career Born in Terni, Aureli graduated from the Liceo classico in his hometown, then he enrolled the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia in Rome, graduating in ...

as Anarsi *

Giuseppe Addobbati Giuseppe Addobbati (31 December 1909 – 4 January 1986) was an Italian film actor known for his roles in Spaghetti Western and action films in the 1960s and 1970s. He was often billed as John MacDouglas for films released to an American audien ...

as Licardius *

Harold Bradley Harold Ray Bradley (January 2, 1926 – January 31, 2019) was an American guitarist and entrepreneur, who played on many country, rock and pop recordings and produced numerous TV variety shows and movie soundtracks. Having started as a session ...

as Mursuk *

Oreste Lionello Oreste Lionello (18 April 1927 – 19 February 2009) was an Italian actor and voice actor. Biography Lionello was born in Rhodes (which was then a possession of Italy), to Calabrian parents, and grew up in Reggio Calabria. He began his career a ...

* Consalvo Dell'Arti *

Renato Malavasi Renato Malavasi (8 August 1904 – 7 October 1998) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in 135 films between 1921 and 1985. Selected filmography * ''The Golden Vein'' (1928) * ''The Song of Love'' (1930) * ''Lowered Sails'' (1931) * ''Th ...

References

External links

* French historical adventure films Peplum films 1963 adventure films Films directed by Siro Marcellini Films set in the 6th century BC Films set in Babylon Sword and sandal films Cultural depictions of Belshazzar Cultural depictions of Cyrus the Great 1960s Italian films {{1960s-Italy-film-stub