''The Giants of Thessaly'' ( it, I giganti della Tessaglia (Gli Argonauti), french: Le Géant de Thessalie, released in the UK as ''Jason and the Golden Fleece'') is a 1960 Italian-French adventure-fantasy film directed by

Riccardo Freda Riccardo Freda (24 February 1909 – 20 December 1999) was an Italian film director. He worked in a variety of genres, including sword-and-sandal, horror film, horror, ''giallo'' and spy films. Freda began directing ''I Vampiri'' in 1956. The f ...

. It is loosely based on the epic poem ''

Argonautica The ''Argonautica'' ( el, Ἀργοναυτικά , translit=Argonautika) is a Greek epic poem written by Apollonius Rhodius in the 3rd century BC. The only surviving Hellenistic epic, the ''Argonautica'' tells the myth of the voyage of Jason a ...

'' by

Apollonius Rhodius Apollonius of Rhodes ( grc, Ἀπολλώνιος Ῥόδιος ''Apollṓnios Rhódios''; la, Apollonius Rhodius; fl. first half of 3rd century BC) was an ancient Greek author, best known for the ''Argonautica'', an epic poem about Jason and t ...

Plot

Thessaly, overrun with barbarian invaders and beset with natural disasters, sends King Jason and his Argonauts on a search for the fabled Golden Fleece. Meanwhile, back home, his scheming cohort is plotting to get his hands on the kingdom and the queen. The film's subplots bear some resemblance to

Odysseus Odysseus ( ; grc-gre, Ὀδυσσεύς, Ὀδυσεύς, OdysseúsOdyseús, ), also known by the Latin variant Ulysses ( , ; lat, UlyssesUlixes), is a legendary Greek king of Ithaca and the hero of Homer's epic poem the ''Odyssey''. Odysse ...

' odyssey including a plot by a trusted lord to seize a throne from an absent king and a desire to marry the king's faithful wife. Jason and his men encounter a queen on her island of siren witches who turns seduced men into animals much like Odysseus' encounter with the sorceress

Circe Circe (; grc, , ) is an Magician (paranormal), enchantress and a minor goddess in ancient Greek mythology and Ancient Greek religion, religion. She is either a daughter of the Titans, Titan Helios and the Oceanid nymph Perse (mythology), Perse ...

. There is also a struggle against a

Cyclops In Greek mythology and later Roman mythology, the Cyclopes ( ; el, Κύκλωπες, ''Kýklōpes'', "Circle-eyes" or "Round-eyes"; singular Cyclops ; , ''Kýklōps'') are giant one-eyed creatures. Three groups of Cyclopes can be distinguish ...

also reminiscent of the encounter between Odysseus and

Polyphemus Polyphemus (; grc-gre, Πολύφημος, Polyphēmos, ; la, Polyphēmus ) is the one-eyed giant son of Poseidon and Thoosa in Greek mythology, one of the Cyclopes described in Homer's ''Odyssey''. His name means "abounding in songs and lege ...

the Cyclops son of

Poseidon Poseidon (; grc-gre, Ποσειδῶν) was one of the Twelve Olympians in ancient Greek religion and myth, god of the sea, storms, earthquakes and horses.Burkert 1985pp. 136–139 In pre-Olympian Bronze Age Greece, he was venerated as a ch ...

Cast

* as

Jason Jason ( ; ) was an ancient Greek mythological hero and leader of the Argonauts, whose quest for the Golden Fleece featured in Greek literature. He was the son of Aeson, the rightful king of Iolcos. He was married to the sorceress Medea. He w ...

Ziva Rodann Ziva Rodann ( he, זיוה רודן, born Ziva Blechman ; 2 March 1933), known first as Ziva Shapir (), is an Israeli-American actress. She was a Hollywood film star and a frequent guest star on television series from the late 1950s to the late 1 ...

as Creusa *

Massimo Girotti Massimo Girotti (18 May 1918 – 5 January 2003) was an Italian film actor whose career spanned seven decades. Born in Mogliano, in the province of Macerata, Girotti developed his athletic physique by swimming and playing polo. While studying eng ...

Orfeo Orfeo Classic Schallplatten und Musikfilm GmbH of Munich was a German independent classical record label founded in 1979 by Axel Mehrle and launched in 1980. It has been owned by Naxos since 2015. History The Orfeo music label was registered ...

Alberto Farnese Alberto Farnese (3 June 1926 – 2 June 1996) was an Italian actor. He appeared in more than 80 films and television shows between 1951 and 1989. He starred in the film ''Whom God Forgives'', which won the Silver Bear Extraordinary Prize of ...

as Adrasto * as Queen Gaia *

Luciano Marin Luciano Marin (9 December 1931 – 12 November 2019) was an Italian actor. He appeared in more than twenty films since 1957. Filmography References External links * 1931 births 2019 deaths Italian male film actors {{Italy-f ...

as Euristeo * as Aglaia *

Alfredo Varelli Alfredo Varelli (born Alfredo Ciavarella, 31 August 1914, date of death unknown) was an Italian film actor whose career spanned more than six decades. Varelli was born ''Alfredo Ciavarella'' and debuted in Alessandro Blasetti's 1934 film ''Vecch ...

as Argo * as Gaia's Sister *

Nando Tamberlani Nando Tamberlani (1896–1967) was an Italian film actor. A character actor in Italian cinema of the postwar era, he was the brother of actor Carlo Tamberlani. Another brother Ermete Tamberlani was also an actor. He appeared in a number of peplum ...

as Aglaia's Father *

Alberto Sorrentino Alberto Sorrentino (16 February 1916 – 31 January 1994), was an Italian film actor. He appeared in 89 films between 1943 and 1988. He was born in La Spezia, Italy. Selected filmography * '' The Last Wagon'' (1943) - Un passante * '' I c ...

as Licaone * Paolo Gozlino as Laerte *

Raf Baldassarre Raf Baldassarre (17 January 1932 - 11 January 1995) was an Italian film actor. Life and career Born Raffaele Baldassarre in Giurdignano, Lecce, Apulia, he started his career in the late 1950s, being cast in many peplum and adventure films, a ...

as Antinoo

Release

''The Giants of Thessaly'' was released in Italy on 6 December 1960 where it was distributed by Filmar. It grossed a total of 408 million

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 ...

domestically.

Reception

In a contemporary review, the ''

Monthly Film Bulletin ''The Monthly Film Bulletin'' was a periodical of the British Film Institute published monthly from February 1934 to April 1991, when it merged with ''Sight & Sound''. It reviewed all films on release in the United Kingdom, including those with a ...

'' noted that the script "owes very little to the legend, instead stringing together a series of action highlights, settings and characters which, if anything, have even less consistency than the strip-cartoon formula to which they owe their inspiration." The review noted that the "scaling of the colossal statue is moderately spectacular, too. The rest, including the filtered colour, is sub-Bava, let down by indifferent acting, irrelevance (what on earth is Orpheus doing in the film?) unimpressive trick-work (the island monster) and abysmal dubbing."

References

Footnotes

Sources

External links

* 1960s fantasy adventure films French historical fantasy films French fantasy adventure films Italian historical films Italian fantasy adventure films 1960s historical fantasy films Films directed by Riccardo Freda Peplum films Films based on the Jason-Medea myth Films scored by Carlo Rustichelli Films set in ancient Greece Films set in the Mediterranean Sea Sword and sandal films Works based on the Argonautica 1960s French films 1960s Italian films {{1960s-France-film-stub