''Samson and the Slave Queen'' ( it, Zorro contro Maciste) is a 1963 Italian '' peplum'' directed by Umberto Lenzi. It was originally made as a Maciste film in Italy, in which the fabled strongman meets Zorro. It was redubbed into a "Samson" movie for distribution in the U.S. and "Samson" meets "El Toro" (instead of "El Zorro".)

Plot

The king of Nogara dies, leaving behind a will naming one of his nieces as his successor. Will it be blonde and virtuous Isabella or evil, dark-haired Malva? Each woman relies on a hero to locate the will. Malva hires the bare-chested strongman Samson while Isabella relies on the masked El Toro (a.k.a. Zorro) even though her heart belongs to the mild-mannered poet, Ramon. Malva's ruthless desire for the throne soon alienates Samson and he and El Toro then team up to bring about a proper resolution to the Nogara succession. Meanwhile, Isabella learns El Toto's true identity, an identity which both surprises and pleases her.

Cast

Alan Steel Sergio Ciani (7 September 1931 – 5 September 2015), best known as Alan Steel, was an Italian bodybuilder and actor. Born in Rome, Ciani started his career as a stuntman; then he became the body double for Steve Reeves in ''Hercules Unchained'' ...

as Maciste ( Samson in the U.S. version) *

Pierre Brice Pierre-Louis Le Bris (6 February 1929 – 6 June 2015), known as Pierre Brice, was a French actor, best known as portraying fictional Apache-chief Winnetou in German films based on Karl May novels. Life and films Brice was born in Brest, Brit ...

as Zorro/Ramon (Ramon/El Toro in the U.S. version) * Moira Orfei as Malva * Maria Grazia Spina as Isabella * Andrea Aureli as Rabek *

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 Pedro * Aldo Bufi Landi as Deikor * Ignazio Balsamo as Joaquim * Attilio Dottesio as General Saveria * Loris Gizzi as Don Alvarez * Nello Pazzafini as Rabek's Henchman * Nazzareno Zamperla as Sadoch

Release

''Zorro contro Maciste'' was released in Italy on 23 August 1963. It was released in the United States as ''Samson and the Slave Queen'' as a

double feature The double feature is a motion picture industry phenomenon in which theatres would exhibit two films for the price of one, supplanting an earlier format in which one feature film and various short subject reels would be shown. Opera use Opera ho ...

with '' Goliath and the Sins of Babylon'' on December 13, 1963. It opened in New York on 4 March 1964. The Italian version's music is composed by Angelo Francesco Lavagnino while the American version of the film has a score by Les Baxter.

Reception

From contemporary reviews, Howard Thompson of '' The New York Times'' reviewed the film under the title of ''Samson and the Slave Queen'', describing the film as an "old-fashioned, prettily colored and costumed and pleasingly mounted dud". Thompson noted that there was no slave queen promised by the American title of the film. "Robe." of '' Variety'' declared the film to have "enough vim and vigor, thanks to a spirited performance by Pierre Brice as Zorro, to please the less-demanding beefcake-and-biceps aficionados." The rest of the review found that Lenzi focused on keeping the cast moving with emphasis on the fighting, and that the rest of the cast outside Brice was "only adequate".

References

Footnotes

Sources

External links

*
''Samson and the Slave Queen''
at TCMDB 1963 films Italian crossover films Peplum films 1960s Italian-language films English-language Italian films 1960s English-language films Films directed by Umberto Lenzi Zorro films 1960s adventure films Maciste films Films scored by Angelo Francesco Lavagnino Sword and sandal films American International Pictures films 1960s multilingual films Italian multilingual films 1960s American films 1960s Italian films {{adventure-film-stub