''Gideon and Samson'': ''Great Leaders of the Bible'' (or ''I grandi condottieri'') is a 1965
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
historical film
A historical drama (also period drama, costume drama, and period piece) is a work set in a past time period, usually used in the context of film and television. Historical drama includes historical fiction and romances, adventure films, and swa ...
directed by
Marcello Baldi Marcello Baldi (1 August 1923 – 22 July 2008) was an Italian director and a screenwriter.
Life and career
Born in Telve, Telve Valsugana, from 1940 to 1954 Baldi worked as assistant director for, among others, Alessandro Blasetti, Lionello De F ...
and
Francisco Pérez-Dolz. Consisting of two segments, the first half tells the story of
Gideon
Gideon (; ) also named Jerubbaal and Jerubbesheth, was a military leader, judge and prophet whose calling and victory over the Midianites are recounted in of the Book of Judges in the Hebrew Bible.
Gideon was the son of Joash, from the Abiez ...
, while the second the story of
Samson
Samson (; , '' he, Šīmšōn, label= none'', "man of the sun") was the last of the judges of the ancient Israelites mentioned in the Book of Judges (chapters 13 to 16) and one of the last leaders who "judged" Israel before the institution o ...
.
Plot
Israelites are faulted for worshipping
Baal
Baal (), or Baal,; phn, , baʿl; hbo, , baʿal, ). ( ''baʿal'') was a title and honorific meaning "owner", "lord" in the Northwest Semitic languages spoken in the Levant during Ancient Near East, antiquity. From its use among people, it cam ...
instead of
Jehovah
Jehovah () is a Latinization of the Hebrew , one vocalization of the Tetragrammaton (YHWH), the proper name of the God of Israel in the Hebrew Bible/ Old Testament. The Tetragrammaton is considered one of the seven names of God in Judais ...
. Jehovah is said to have abandoned the Israelites for worshiping
false god
The phrase ''false god'' is a derogatory term used in Abrahamic religions (namely Judaism, Samaritanism, Christianity, the Baháʼí Faith, and Islam) to indicate cult images or deities of non-Abrahamic Pagan religions, as well as other competin ...
s instead of Jehovah himself. Gideon chooses an army of 300 (Judges 7:8) to wage war against the Midianites. Gideon delivers Israelites from the hands of
Midian
Midian (; he, מִדְיָן ''Mīḏyān'' ; ar, مَدْيَن, Madyan; grc-gre, Μαδιάμ, ''Madiam'') is a geographical place mentioned in the Hebrew Bible and Quran. William G. Dever states that biblical Midian was in the "northwest Ar ...
ite raiders. Gideon captures the kings of Midian
Zebah and Zalmunna
Zebah ( ''Zeḇaḥ'', "sacrifice", Zebee in the Brenton Septuagint Translation and the Douai-Rheims Bible) and Zalmunna (צַלְמֻנָּע ''Ṣalmunnā‘'', "shade denied", Salmana in the Brenton Septuagint Translation and the Douai-Rheims B ...
(Judges 8:10). After Gideon's son
Jeter shies away from
decapitating
Decapitation or beheading is the total separation of the head from the body. Such an injury is invariably fatal to humans and most other animals, since it deprives the brain of oxygenated blood, while all other organs are deprived of the i ...
the two Midianite kings, Gideon slays the kings personally (Judges 8:21).
Cast
*
Anton Geesink
Antonius Johannes Geesink (6 April 1934 – 27 August 2010) was a Dutch people, Dutch List of judoka#Highest grades, 10th dan judoka. He was the first non-Japanese judoka to win gold at the World Judo Championship, a feat he accomplished in 1961 ...
as Samson
*
Rosalba Neri
Rosalba Neri (born 19 June 1939) is a retired Italian actress.
Early life
Born in Forlì, Emilia-Romagna, Italy, Neri was regarded for her beauty even in youth, winning a beauty pageant when she was still young. Eventually pursuing an acting ca ...
as Delilah
*
Ivo Garrani
Ivo Garrani (6 February 1924 – 25 March 2015) was an Italian actor and voice actor. In films since 1952, Garrani is possibly best known for his role as Prince Vajda in Mario Bava's '' Black Sunday'' (1960).
Biography
Born in Introdacqua, G ...
as Gideon
*
Maruchi Fresno
Maruchi Fresno (14 February 1916 – 19 July 2003) was a Spanish film actress. Fresno appeared in around sixty films and television series during her long career. In 1947 she played the role of Elizabeth of Aragon, Isabel of Aragon in the historic ...
as Gideon's wife
*
Fernando Rey
Fernando Casado Arambillet (La Coruña (Spain), 20 September 1917 – Madrid (Spain), 9 March 1994), best known as Fernando Rey, was a Spanish film, theatre, and television actor, who worked in both Europe and the United States. A suave, i ...
as The stranger
*
Giorgio Cerioni Giorgio may refer to:
* Castel Giorgio, ''comune'' in Umbria, Italy
* Giorgio (name), an Italian given name and surname
* Giorgio Moroder, or Giorgio, Italian record producer
** ''Giorgio'' (album), an album by Giorgio Moroder
* "Giorgio" (song), ...
as Gideon's son
*
Luz Márquez
Luz Márquez (born María de la O García Márquez Soler; 12 December 1935 in Madrid, Spain), is a Spanish actress whose brief but intense acting career lasted ten years from 1956 to 1966. She appeared in more than 35 films, including '' Manolo Gua ...
as Gaza
*
Ana María Noé
Ana María Noé (1914 – 9 July 1970) was a Spanish actress.
Biography
Ana María Noé began her artistic career in Barcelona and began to gain prominence after the Spanish Civil War. By 1940 she had her own company with which she performed ''Lo ...
as Samson's mother
*
Mirko Ellis
Mirko Ellis (4 September 1923 – 11 September 2014) was a Swiss-Italian film, stage and television actor.
Born Mirko Korcinsky in Locarno to a family of Lithuanian origin, Ellis moved, after his studies, to Italy, where he made his film debut i ...
*
Piero Gerlini
This is a list of male actors from Italy, which generally includes those who have resided in Italy or have largely appeared in Italian film productions. This list includes all actors from :Italian male actors.
Persons are listed alphabetical ...
*
Paolo Gozlino
Paolo is both a given name and a surname, the Italian language, Italian form of the name Paul (name), Paul. Notable people with the name include:
People with the given name Paolo
Art
*Paolo Alboni (1671–1734), Italian painter
*Paolo Abbate (1 ...
as the Prince of Gaza
*
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 ...
References
External links
*
1965 films
1960s Italian-language films
Sword and sandal films
Films about Samson
Book of Judges
Films directed by Marcello Baldi
Films shot in Almería
Peplum films
1960s Italian films
{{1960s-Italy-film-stub