''Goliath and the Dragon'' ( it, La vendetta di Ercole, lit=Revenge of Hercules) is a 1960 international co-production sword-and-sandal filmKinnard, Roy; Crnkovich, Tony (2017). Italian Sword and Sandal Films, 1908-1990. McFarland. ISBN 978-1476662916. 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 — ...

and

Broderick Crawford William Broderick Crawford (December 9, 1911 – April 26, 1986) was an American stage, film, radio, and television actor, often cast in tough-guy roles and best known for his Oscar- and Golden Globe-winning portrayal of Willie Stark in ''All t ...

. The name of the main character was changed from

Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the Gr ...

to Emilius (known in the film as Goliath) for release in North America by

American International Pictures American International Pictures (AIP) is an American motion picture production label of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. In its original operating period, AIP was an independent film production and distribution company known for producing and releasing fi ...

to sell it as a sequel to their earlier '' Goliath and the Barbarians'' (1959).

had announced plans to create a "sequel" to '' Goliath and the Barbarians'' called ''Goliath and the Dragon'' based on a script by

Lou Rusoff Lou Rusoff (August 3, 1911 – June 29, 1963) was a Canadian-born screenwriter and producer best known for his work with American International Pictures. He was brother-in-law to Sam Arkoff and was the screenwriter for many of Roger Corman's f ...

for star

Debra Paget Debra Paget (born Debralee Griffin; August 19, 1933) is an American actress and entertainer. She is perhaps best known for her performances in Cecil B. DeMille's epic ''The Ten Commandments'' (1956) and in Elvis Presley's film debut, '' Love Me ...

, but the project fell through, so they bought the rights to an already-made Italian film called '' Revenge of Hercules'' and retitled it ''Goliath and the Dragon''.

changed the hero's name from "Hercules" to "Emilius" ("Goliath") and added a

Wah Ming Chang Wah Ming Chang (August 2, 1917 – December 22, 2003) was an American designer, sculptor, and artist. With the encouragement of his adoptive father, James Blanding Sloan, he began exhibiting his prints and watercolors at the age of seven ...

stop-motion animation Stop motion is an animated filmmaking technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exhibit independent motion or change when the series of frames i ...

sequence inserting a

dragon A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...

sub-plot into the story. The dragon sequence is only in the Americanized English-dubbed print, not in the original Italian version.

Plot

The film begins with

/Goliath entering the underworld and defeating several

monster A monster is a type of fictional creature found in horror, fantasy, science fiction, folklore, mythology and religion. Monsters are very often depicted as dangerous and aggressive with a strange, grotesque appearance that causes terror and fe ...

s including

Cerberus In Greek mythology, Cerberus (; grc-gre, Κέρβερος ''Kérberos'' ), often referred to as the hound of Hades, is a multi-headed dog that guards the gates of the Underworld to prevent the dead from leaving. He was the offspring of the mo ...

to retrieve the blood diamond of the goddess of vengeance. It is later revealed that king

Eurystheus In Greek mythology, Eurystheus (; grc-gre, Εὐρυσθεύς, , broad strength, ) was king of Tiryns, one of three Mycenaean strongholds in the Argolid, although other authors including Homer and Euripides cast him as ruler of Argos. Famil ...

has sent Hercules on this task to ensure his death to gain allies who after Hercules' death will join the king in an attack on Thebes. The episode is loosely based on the twelfth of the

Labours of Hercules The Labours of Hercules or Labours of Heracles ( grc-gre, οἱ Ἡρακλέους ἆθλοι, ) are a series of episodes concerning a penance carried out by Heracles, the greatest of the Greek heroes, whose name was later romanised as ...

. Hercules returns to his wife

Deianira Deianira, Deïanira, or Deianeira (; Ancient Greek: Δηϊάνειρα, ''Dēiáneira'', or , ''Dēáneira'', ), also known as Dejanira, is a Calydonian princess in Greek mythology whose name translates as "man-destroyer" or "destroyer of her hu ...

to find that his teenaged son (his brother in the American version)

Hyllus In Greek mythology, Hyllus (; Ancient Greek: Ὕλλος) or Hyllas (Ὕλᾱς) was son of Heracles and Deianira, husband of Iole, nursed by Abia. Mythology Heracles, whom Zeus had originally intended to be ruler of Argos, Lacedaemon and Mes ...

is in love with Thea the daughter of a king that Hercules believes murdered his family. The enraged Hercules refuses to let Hyllus have anything to do with Thea. The scheming Eurystheus has convinced Hyllus that Thea is really in love with Hercules rather than him and concocts a plan where a jealous Hyllus will murder his own brother. A slave girl Alcinoe gives Hyllus a poison to give to Hercules that she says is merely a potion to have Hercules fall out of love with Thea. Eurystheus himself wishes to marry Thea and install her as his queen. The plan is aborted through a sympathetic goddess of the Wind who relays Thea's warning. Hyllus attempts to rescue Thea but is captured. When Hercules rides to rescue Hyllus he saves the life of Alcinoe who is menaced by a bear. Ilus is to be executed with others in a public display by being crushed by an elephant in a crowded arena. Hercules rescues him. On their return home the two are given a prophecy that Hyllus will become a king but at the cost of the life of the woman who loves Hercules. Hercules destroys his home and leaves with his family to try and avert the prophecy. Dejanira offers her life to the gods in order to fulfil the prophecy for Hyllus. She is carried off by a

centaur A centaur ( ; grc, κένταυρος, kéntauros; ), or occasionally hippocentaur, is a creature from Greek mythology with the upper body of a human and the lower body and legs of a horse. Centaurs are thought of in many Greek myths as being ...

corresponding with Nessus who Hercules mortally wounds. The centaur is able to bring his captive Deianira to his friend Eurystheus who intends firstly to let her be killed by his

, then to act as a hostage against the vengeance of Hercules.

Cast

– Hercules/Goliath *

– King Eurystheus * Sandro Moretti – Hyllus *

Gaby André Gaby André (1920–1972) was a French film actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radi ...

– Ismene *

Philippe Hersent Philippe Hersent (26 July 1912 – 30 December 1982) was a French actor. He appeared in more than eighty films from 1930 to 1978. Filmography References External links * 1912 births 1982 deaths French male film actors {{Franc ...

– Androclo *

Leonora Ruffo Leonora Ruffo (13 January 1935 – 25 May 2007) was an Italian film actress. Career Born in Rome as Bruna Bovi, the daughter of Angelo Bovi, basketball coach of Ginnastica Roma, Italian Championship pluri-winner, Ruffo failed to obtain the main ...

– Deianira *

Giancarlo Sbragia Giancarlo Sbragia (14 March 1926 – 28 June 1994) was an Italian actor, voice actor, stage director and playwright. Life and career Born in Rome, Sbragia graduated at the Silvio d’Amico Academy of Dramatic Arts in 1947, and debuted on sta ...

– Tindaro *

Wandisa Guida Wandisa Guida (born 21 April 1935) is an Italian former film, stage and television actress. She was sometimes credited as Wandisa Leigh. Born in Trani, Guida took part in the Miss Italia beauty contest in 1954, winning the title of Miss Cinema ...

– Alcinoe *

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 ...

– Thea * Carla Calò –

Sibyl The sibyls (, singular ) were prophetesses or oracles in Ancient Greece. The sibyls prophesied at holy sites. A sibyl at Delphi has been dated to as early as the eleventh century BC by PausaniasPausanias 10.12.1 when he described local traditi ...

Ugo Sasso Ugo Sasso, born Domenico Pasquale Giuseppe Sasso (23 March 1910 - 21 July 1981), was an Italian film and television actor. Life and career Born in Turin, in the early 1930s Sasso moved to Rome to attend the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia ...

– Timocleo *

Claudio Undari Claudio Undari (12 January 1935 – 12 May 2008), known professionally as Robert Hundar, was an Italian film actor and stage actor, best known for his roles of "Bad Guy" in Spaghetti Western and "Poliziottesco" movies. He starred in about 40 movi ...

–

Centaur A centaur ( ; grc, κένταυρος, kéntauros; ), or occasionally hippocentaur, is a creature from Greek mythology with the upper body of a human and the lower body and legs of a horse. Centaurs are thought of in many Greek myths as being ...

* Salvatore Furnari – Midget

Release

''Goliath and the Dragon'' was released in Italy on 12 August 1960 where it was released as ''La vendetta di Ercole''. It was released in the United States as ''Goliath and the Dragon'' in November 1960. The American version of the film was edited by Salvatore Billitteri and

Maurizio Lucidi Maurizio Lucidi (1932–2005) was an Italian director, screenwriter and editor, sometimes credited as Mark Lender. Born in Florence, Lucidi started his career as film editor in the early 1960s. In 1964 he was assistant director for Pier Paolo P ...

and had new music by

Les Baxter Leslie Thompson "Les" Baxter (March 14, 1922 – January 15, 1996) was a best-selling American musician and composer. After working as an arranger and composer for swing bands, he developed his own style of easy listening music, known as exotica ...

Reception

The film is listed in Golden Raspberry Award founder John Wilson's book

The Official Razzie Movie Guide ''The Official Razzie Movie Guide: Enjoying the Best of Hollywood's Worst'' is a book about the booby prize award show the Golden Raspberry Awards (Razzies), written by John Wilson, founder of the awards ceremony. The book was published in 2005 ...

as one of the 100 Most Enjoyably Bad Movies Ever Made.

References

Bibliography

* * * * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Goliath And The Dragon 1960 animated films 1960 films 1960s fantasy films Italian fantasy films Peplum films Films about Heracles Films based on classical mythology Films set in ancient Greece 1960s stop-motion animated films Films about dragons Sword and sandal films 1960s Italian films