Hercules (1958 film)

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Hercules
Directed by	Pietro Francisci
Produced by	Federico Teti
Written by	Ennio De Concini Pietro Francisci Gaio Frattini
Starring	Steve Reeves Sylva Koscina Fabrizio Mioni
Release date(s)	1958
Running time	107 min.
Language	Italian
Followed by	Hercules Unchained
IMDb profile

Hercules was the title of the English-language-dubbed release of the 1958 Italian film Le Fatiche di Ercole ("The Labors of Hercules"), starring bodybuilder Steve Reeves as Hercules. American producer Joseph E. Levine acquired the U.S. distribution rights to the film and thanks in part to his huge promotional campaign, the film became a major box-office hit which inspired dozens of Italian sword and sandal genre films in the late 1950s and early 1960s. A sequel, Hercules Unchained (Ercole e la Regina di Lidia), also starring Reeves, was made by the creators of the original film.

The screenplay adaptation by Pietro Francisci is loosely based on the Greek epic poem Argonautica by Apollonius of Rhodes which tells the story of Jason and the Argonauts and the quest for the Golden Fleece. As the film's title suggests, the role of the argonaut Hercules is greatly expanded from the poem, and elements of the twelve labors such as Hercules' combat with the Cretan bull (presented as punishment for the killing of King Pelias' son by the Nemean lion) have been woven into the plot. Hercules' future wife Iole, presented here as the daughter of King Pelias, is included as a love interest for whom Hercules is driven to reject his immortality. Hercules' youthful companion Hylas who carries his bow and arrows in the poem is replaced by the young Ulysses of Homer's epic poem the Odyssey.