''Son of Samson'' ( it, Maciste nella Valle dei Re/ ''Maciste in the Valley of the Kings'', also known as ''Maciste the Mighty'') is a 1960 Italian

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 ...

directed by

Carlo Campogalliani Carlo Campogalliani (10 October 1885 – 10 August 1974) was an Italian screenwriter, actor and film director. Campogalliani directed around eighty films during his career and acted in another fifty. He directed the 1934 sports film '' Stadio''.R ...

and starring

Mark Forest Lou Degni (January 6, 1933 – January 7, 2022), known professionally as Mark Forest, was an American actor, opera singer and bodybuilder — widely known as the protagonist in a series of 1960s sword and sandal or ''peplum'' movies — ...

. The film was distributed to English-speaking countries as ''Son of Samson'', although in the original film, Maciste had no relation to Samson whatsoever.Michele Giordano. ''Giganti buoni''. Gremese Editore, 1998. .

Plot

During the Persian rule over Egypt (circa 525-480 B.C.), the young prince Kenamon is used to wandering about and mixing with the poor people. Once, he finds himself in a life-threatening situation and is saved by a strong man, Maciste. On another occasion, he sees a beautiful girl, Nofret, and falls in love with her. He talks with his father the Pharaoh Amirteo I, about being much impressed with the hunger and miserable living conditions of the people. His father decides to raise an army against the Persians, but his beautiful but cunning wife Smedes, godmother of Kenamon and allied of the Persian Gran Visir, kills him before he acts. Once on the throne of Pharaoh, Kenamon is drugged with a substance prepared by Smedes, and loses his will-power. Meanwhile, Nofret is about to be sold as a slave. Maciste becomes the leader of the people's revolt, and is acclaimed at the local games. Maciste gets Nofret free, manages not to fall under Smedes' love filters, and gathers and leads a rebellious army against the Persian troops and the palatial guard. The Grand Visir and Smedes are killed and thus Kenamon is free from his stupor. Kenamon thanks Maciste for his decisive help, and married Nofret at last.

Cast

as Maciste *

Chelo Alonso Chelo Alonso (born Isabel Apolonia García Hernández, 10 April 1933 – 20 February 2019) was a Cuban actress who became a star in Italian cinema, and ultimately a 1960s cult film heroine and sex symbol in the U.S. She was well known for pla ...

as Queen Smedes *

Vira Silenti Vira Silenti (16 April 1931 – 1 November 2014) was an Italian actress. Career Born in Naples as Elvira Giovene, Silenti debuted as child actress at ten years old in ''Una notte dopo l’opera'' (1942). She studied law at the university and ...

as Tekaet * Angelo Zanolli as Pharaoh Kenamun *

Federica Ranchi Federica Ranchi (born 5 May 1939) is an Italian former film actress. Life and career Born in Trieste, while a student at liceo linguistico was noted by a Cines employee through a picture of her ballet company, and subsequently won an audition ...

as Nofret *

Carlo Tamberlani Carlo Tamberlani (11 March 1899 – 5 August 1980) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in 127 films between 1931 and 1976. He was born in Salice Salentino, Italy and died in Subiaco, Italy. His brother Nando Tamberlani was also an actor. ...

as Pharaoh Armiteo I * Nino Musco as Senneka the Camel Driver *

Zvonimir Rogoz Zvonimir Rogoz (10 October 1887 – 6 February 1988) was a Croatian actor who played in German, Croatian, Slovenian, Czech and Slovakian, on stage and in cinema, during a career long 81 years. A native of Zagreb, Rogoz started his actor ...

as Grand Visir *

Ignazio Dolce Ignazio Dolce (born 26 March 1933) is an Italian director and actor. Life and career Born in Palermo, Sicily, Dolce graduated at Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia, and starting from the late 1950s he began a career as a character actor. ...

as Tradesman

References

External links

* 1960 adventure films Peplum films Films directed by Carlo Campogalliani Maciste films Films set in ancient Egypt Sword and sandal films 1960s Italian-language films 1960s Italian films {{adventure-film-stub