Ursus is a fictional character featured in a series of Italian sword and sandal films produced in the early 1960s. The character was an archetypical Greco-Roman warrior, similar to the mythical Hercules or Robert E. Howard's Conan the Barbarian. The character was obviously inspired by the mightily-muscled Roman slave Ursus (played by Buddy Baer) who slays a bull with his bare hards in a Roman gladiatorial arena in the 1951 Hollywood classic "QUO VADIS?". When the "Hercules" film craze hit in 1959, Italian filmmakers were looking for other muscleman characters similar to Hercules whom they could exploit. A character named Ursus was featured in a series of nine Italian-made films from 1961 to 1964.
The classical warrior was first prominently featured in 1961's Ursus, where he must rescue his fiancee from a sacrificial cult with the aid of a blind girl, and was portrayed by actor Ed Fury. This film was released in the United States initially as Mighty Ursus and was later adapted for the American television series The Sons of Hercules, where it was retitled "Ursus, Son of Hercules".
In 1961's La Vendetta di Ursus (The Revenge of Ursus), while portrayed by Canadian muscleman Samson Burke, Ursus is a farmer with his younger brother Doraius, who fights to prevent the malicious King Zagro and his henchman Lycurgas from overtaking the neighboring kingdom of Leecha.
The third film, Ursus e la regazza tartara (Ursus and the Tartar Girl, released in English-speaking countries as Ursus and the Tartar Princess), was filmed in France in 1962, and starred British actor Joe Robinson as Ursus, but takes place in Central Asia; Ursus fights a Khan played by famous Armenian actor Akim Tamiroff. This film was also released to American television under the title "The Tartar Invasion".
That same year, Ed Fury returned in Ursus nella valle dei leoni (Ursus in the Valley of the Lions), where the audience sees Ursus' origin for the first time. He is the prince of a fallen kingdom, raised in a valley by a pride of lions (thus a feral child) after the rest of the royal family was killed. The film cuts ahead in time, revealing the adult Ursus imprisoned by the very ruler who overthrew his family's kingdom long ago. When Ursus realises the identity of his captor, he vows to overthrow him.
Ursus nella terra di fuoco (Ursus in the Land of Fire), released in 1963, yet again stars Ed Fury. In it, Ursus must overthrow a vicious general who has overtaken the throne of an unnamed country. Land of Fire was adapted for the American television series The Sons of Hercules, where it was retitled "The Son of Hercules in the Land of Fire".
Ursus's next three films were Ursus il gladiatore ribelle (Ursus The Rebel Gladiator, aka "The Rebel Gladiators"), 1963 (starring Dan Vadis); Ursus il terrore dei kirghisi (Ursus, the Terror of the Kirghiz, aka "Hercules, Prisoner of Evil") 1964 (starring Reg Park); and Gli Invincibili Tre (The Invincible Three, aka "The Three Avengers") 1964 (starring Alan Steel as Ursus).
The 9th and final film to feature Ursus was the relatively high-budget teamup film Ercole, Sansone, Maciste e Ursus gli invincible(Hercules, Samson, Maciste and Ursus: the Invincibles) (1964) which was released in English-speaking countries as "Samson and the Mighty Challenge" . The film features Ursus along with Maciste, Samson and Hercules, with a special cameo appearance by Zeus. Yann Larvor portrays Ursus in this film, while Alan Steel played Hercules, Renato ("Red") Rossini played Maciste and Nadir Baltimore played Samson. This film was also released in Europe as "Le Grand Defi" or "Combate de Gigantes".
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