MARK...THE MAGNIFICENT! by Dave Goode

No other actor other than Steve Reeves himself is probably more identified with the sinew & sandal movie genre than Mark Forest. Born Lou Degni in Brooklyn , New York in 1933 he began bodybuilding as a teenager and competed in and won a number of contests. The story goes that a Hollywood scout saw his photo on the cover of a physical culture magazine and invited him to Hollywood to audition for the role of " Tarzan ". He didn't get the role. But he got a job working in Mae West's night club act. He would also work for a time in the night club act of ecdysiast Lilli " The Cat Girl " Christine. At the peak of the peplum movie cycle Forest would pack up his muscle shirts and head to Europe and become a star. Mostly playing Maciste , the character originally played by strongman Bartolomeo Pagano. Pagano would portray the character in over a dozen movies beginning in 1914 in the silent film epic CABIRIA. He would even legally have his name changed to Maciste. Mark Forest would be the only other actor as identified with the character.The Forest peplum flicks are some of the most entertaining from the genre. But there are four that I recommend above all the others.

 

 

GOLIATH AND THE DRAGON ( 1960 ) was Forest's first muscleman movie. And a pretty cool fantasy film. What's interesting about this one is that it was originally a " Hercules " movie. In most of his movies he portrayed Maciste and they were re-dubbed and re-titled so that he was playing more familiar characters ( to American audiences ) like Hercules and Samson. Those familiar with mythology realize that the character Forest is playing here is Hercules because the plot has the character performing a several of the 12 Labors of Hercules. And the movie's villain , portrayed by Broderick Crawford , is King Eurysteseus from the Hercules legend.

 

In SON OF SAMSON ( 1960 ) Forest plays Maciste for the first time and co-stars with the sexy Chelo Alonso , the Queen of the Sinew & Sandal genre. The character is given an origin as being the " Son of Samson ". And considering what a womanizer the biblical strongman was it's not hard to imagine that Samson had a child or two. Even if the Bible never mentions any offspring. Over the years though some historians have speculated that Phillistine women had their way with Samson after he had been blinded and made a prisoner. Hoping to have his strength passed on to their children. This theory speculates that the Phillistine giant Goliath may have been Samson's grandson.

 

MOLE MEN AGAINST THE SON OF HERCULES ( 1961 ) has Forest co - starring with beautiful Moira Orfei who plays the evil queen of an underground nation. Also in this film is bodybuilding champion Paul Wynter as Bangor , Maciste's sidekick.It's interesting to compare Forest's physique to that of a Mr. Universe winner. Forest also does battle with an ape -suit actor. This is a fun flick. But any flick instantly becomes better with the inclusion of an ape - suit.

 

 

 

And of course there is THE TERROR OF ROME AGAINST THE SON OF HERCULES ( 1964 ). In this one Forest fights against Christian persecution. But only after he falls in love with a Christian woman. Beautiful Marilu Tolo is the patrician woman who loves the muscular hero. And who gives up her life for him even after he chooses the Christian heroine over her. There's plenty of gladiatorial combat in this one. Including Forest fighting another ape - suit actor. This gorilla suit is one of the cheesiest ever seen onscreen. It barely resembles a gorilla. Which has led some fan-boys to imagine it was actually a " mangani " from the Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan books. An interesting theory.

CLICK THE IMAGE BELOW TO GET YOUR COPY OF DR. JUDO!

CLASH OF THE TITANS by Dave Goode

Not to be confused with SAMSON AND HIS MIGHTY CHALLENGE (1964) , which it quite often is , HERCULES ,SAMSON AND ULYSSES is a favorite of fans of the sinew & sandal genre. But don't let that title fool you. This is the Hercules and Samson show. Ulysses is little more than a spear carrier in this flick. It's the two legendary strongmen that carry the movie.

KIRK MORRIS

Not  exactly an official sequel to HERCULES (1957) and HERCULES
UNCHAINED (1959). But all three were directed by Pietro Francisi who also had a hand in the writing of the screenplays. And the actors all seem to be playing characters as presented in those two movies with Kirk Morris replacing Steve Reeves as Hercules. But seriously...who can stand in for Steve Reeves?

ILOOSH KHOSHUE

Aside from Morris you have Iloosh Khoshue under the name Richard Lloyd portraying the Biblical hero Samson.

LIANA ORFEI

And there is beautiful Liana Orfei as the seductive Delilah. A veteran of the genre Orfei is perfect as the woman whose name has become synonymous with betrayal. Interestingly enough her cousin, Moira Orfei, would essay the role a year later in SAMSON AND HIS MIGHTY CHALLENGE.

production still from the film

The story has Hercules and Ulysses battling a sea monster. Caught in a storm after killing the beast they are thrown off course and end up in Judea. There Hercules is mistaken by the Philistines for their enemy Samson after he kills a lion with his bare hands. The two strongmen are tricked into battling each other before teaming to fight the common enemy.

The highlight of this flick is the clash between Hercules and Samson as the two heroes throw each other through walls, throw boulders at each other and bend iron bars around each other. For those of us in a pre-CGI world this was as close as we really got to two super-humans duking it out. I still like it more than the clash of the Kryptonians in SUPERMAN II.

Did you enjoy this weeks blog? Share it on social media with your friends or better yet, show your gratitude buy purchasing our fine products:

Then click >>>>>HERE<<<<<< and buy ours!

Buying cool T-shirts and what not help support this blog!

Click >>>HERE<<< to see our latest designs! 

A Name Synonymous With Strength! by Dave Goode

 
I remember as a boy my family gathering around our big Magnavox television in the living room when a biblical epic was broadcast. One of my favorites was Cecil B. DeMille's SAMSON AND DELILAH (1949) starring Victor Mature and Hedy Lamarr. Of course I already knew the story about the Hebrew strongman and Philistine temptress from Sunday school. But the movie was so much like a sinew & sandal flick I couldn't help but love it. And after all the name Samson has become as synonymous with strength as Hercules.

One of the scenes I remember especially well comes when after Samson is blinded by the Philistines and he is brought to the temple of their god Dagon so that they can mock and make sport of him. I remember it for a comment my mother would make. When one of the Philistines remarks that " he looks like a man of iron " , or something like that.  My mother commented " Who are they kidding? He needs a brassiere." To be fair to Victor Mature she said the same thing about Johnny Weissmuller as he appeared in TARZAN AND THE MERMAIDS. Whenever I think of my mother's remark it reminds me that Cecil B. DeMille had wanted Steve Reeves to play the role of Samson.

Oddly enough director DeMille wanted the Mr.America winner to drop down to 175 lbs. from his competitive weight of 215. His reasoning being that Samson's strength came from GOD and not his muscles. Good enough. My question is why hire a bodybuilder for the role and then tell him to lose the muscles that must have played a part in your hiring him for the role in the first place? In any case Victor Mature was the better actor. And his beefy , if undefined , physique made him a believable Samson.

And then of course there was Hedy Lamarr as the Philistine temptress Delilah whose name has become synonymous with betrayal. Her performance is all seductive stares and swaying hips. She set the standard for all the sirens of sinew & sandal cinema to follow. There is a funny story about Lamarr complaining to DeMille that Mature was trying to upstage her making sure in their scenes together his face was turned to the camera and her back was to the camera. DeMille replied " Do you think there is any man in the world who would rather look at his face instead of your a** ? "

Thanks for visiting! Go grab a copy of JUDO COMICS by Dave Goode and Vance Capley available at lulu.com

Where Was The Sequel? by Dave Goode

One of my favorite flicks from the sinew & sandal genre is SAMSON AND HIS MIGHTY CHALLENGE. Not to be confused with HERCULES , SAMSON AND ULYSSES. This one features the strength heroes Samson , Hercules , Maciste and Ursus. Directed by Giorgio Capitani and written by Sandro Continenza and Roberto Gianviti this movie was a wonderful spoof of the genre and was originally titled ERCOLE , SANSONE , MACISTE E URSUS GLI INVICBLI. Hercules getting top billing makes more sense as he carries the picture.





Alan Steel is great as a narcissistic, ego-driven Hercules. He even bullies Samson, played by Nadir Moretti, after the biblical strongman has his hair cut by Delilah. In an interesting switch from the Bible Delilah is Samson's wife. And she doesn't cut his hair to betray him to the Philistines. But to keep him from chasing after other women. Maciste in this movie is played by Howard Ross. And Ursus is portrayed by Yann Larvor. Any of these four musclemen could have carried a movie on their own.

 Also notable are the women in the film. Moira Orphei portrays Delilah. And she's really quite stunning. Interestingly enough her cousin Liana Orphei played the Philistine temptress in the movie HERCULES , SAMSON AND ULYSSES. Helene Chanel never looked more beautiful than she does here as the oracle Onfale as opposed to the Princess Omphale played by Elisa Montes. Montes has one of the funniest lines in the movie. When told that Samson once killed one thousand Philistine soldiers using the jawbone of an ass she asks " Was that the best weapon he could find? ".

The movie climaxes with a free-for-all with the four heroes. And it ends with them riding off together. A perfect springboard into a sequel or two or three. But unfortunately we never got one.

THE FUN DOESN'T END HERE! WATCH VIDEOS HERE: CLICK! 

GET JUDO COMICS AND MORE HERE:  CLICK!

Sinew & Sandal Comics by Dave Goode

I'm a huge fan of " sinew & sandal " flicks. Or if you prefer "sword and sandal " movies. It's just that in my favorites from the genre the heroes rarely use swords. Just their muscles. Or like Steve Reeves in HERCULES (1957) the very chains the villain thought to bind him with. I'm talking about the movies starring the strength heroes Hercules, Maciste, Ursus, Samson and Goliath.

It was during the muscleman movie cycle (1957-1967) that the urban myth that George Reeves and Steve Reeves were brothers sprung up. After all George played Superman and Steve played Hercules. It seemed believable to anyone incapable of searching for facts. In any case during this period Superman met both Hercules and Samson on several occasions in DC Comics. Over at Marvel Comics Hercules became a supporting character in the Thor and Avengers features.

Charlton Comics published a Hercules comic book beginning in 1967 by Joe Gill and Sam Glanzman. The comic ran for 13 issues and focused on the hero's legendary twelve labors.

Dell Comics had previously published adaptations of the Steve Reeves' movies HERCULES and HERCULES UNCHAINED illustrated respectively by comic book legends John Buscema and Reed Crandall. For the latter they used the poster art from the movie for the comic's cover. One of the coolest things about the sinew & sandal genre was the poster art for the movies. They could have easily been used as covers for comic book adaptations of the movies.

Faux cover idea by Dave Goode art by Vance Capley

One of those things that I don't understand, and there are many, is why no American publisher looked at how popular these flicks were and thought to put out a Maciste comic book. Nope. Nothing. More's the pity.*

*Maciste has appeared in various Italian comic books for many years but sadly never in the U.S. He appeared in a Turkish comic adaptation of of the film Cabiria (1914).

A version of Maciste more accurate to the 1914 film from Albi of Audacia no. 28, 1938

 

The Bartolomeo Pagano silent Maciste films established the character as someone who could appear at any place and at any time. A series of comics in the 1940s presented a version much like these films.

   During the mid 60s, the grandson of Maciste, Kolosso who is "Kolosso nipote di Maciste più forte di Ercole" ( grandson of Maciste stronger than Hercules - most U.S. websites mistranslates it to "nephew to Maciste and nephew to Hercules"), and like the silent era films, Kolosso's stories could take place anytime and pretty much anywhere.

The Cave of Slaves with Maciste from  Albi of Audacia no. 38 1938

Deja Vu All Over Again by Dave Goode

To people who aren't fans of the sinew & sandal film genre the movies all seem to look alike. I've even known people who couldn't tell Steve Reeves from Reg Park. But even as a fan I have to say there are a few of these flicks that make me think didn't I see this all before? And not just because I had seen it before. For instance there's THE FURY OF HERCULES starring Brad Harris as Hercules. It's one of my favorites. Harris is in top form and performs a number of feats of strength. And then there's SAMSON also starring Harris in the title role. I should mention this Samson is not the biblical strong-man from the Book of Judges in the Old Testament. Harris wears the same costumes that he did in THE FURY OF HERCULES. The sets are the same and the cast more or less remains the same.But they're playing different roles. For instance Alan Steel plays a villain in THE FURY OF HERCULES. But in SAMSON he plays a strength hero named Millstone who teams up with Samson to battle oppression.

And then there's THE MAGNIFICENT GLADIATOR starring Mark Forest and Marilu Tolo. I saw it written up in an article about peplum movies that said it was THE TERROR OF ROME VS. THE SON OF HERCULES. So wanting to upgrade my copy I sent away for it. I was disappointed to find they weren't the same movie at all. But I was happy to add another Mark Forest film to my collection of "movies about gladiators".  Again the two movies have the same sets. And again the casts are the same. But the actors are playing different roles. The biggest difference is that THE TERROR OF ROME VS. THE SON OF HERCULES features a battle between the gladiator-hero and a gorilla(one of the cheesiest ape-suits ever). And THE MAGNIFICENT GLADIATOR doesn't.

The most confusing of all sinew & sandal

flicks. And the one to give you the

greatest feeling of deja vu may just be HERCULES THE AVENGER starring Reg Park. I first saw this picture when I was about nine or so.I had just read a book on Greek mythology. And I thought the story about Hercules battle with Antaeus,the Earth giant was pretty cool. And watching it in a movie was even cooler. What I didn't know was that about 75% of HERCULES THE AVENGER was made up of footage from HERCULES IN THE HAUNTED WORLD and HERCULES AND THE CAPTIVE WOMEN. For years whenever I watched either of those movies I'd wait for Hercules to battle Antaeus in the films climax and walk away disappointed.Until I found that the flick I was looking for was made through creative editing. Now I own copies of all three movies and can enjoy them on their own.

vancecapleyart.com