Giant of Marathon (1959) La battaglia di Maratona (original title)

Director:

Jacques Tourneur
(more)

Writers:

Alberto Barsanti (story)
Ennio De Concini (writer)
(more)

Release Date:

25 May 1960 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | War

Tagline:

Spectacle! Grandeur! Glory!

Plot:

A Greek soldier leads the fight against an invading Persian army.

Plot Keywords:

Persian | Army | Olympics | Peplum | Hand To Hand Combat

Cast

Steve Reeves	...	Phillipides
Mylène Demongeot	...	Andromeda, Creuso's daughter
Sergio Fantoni	...	Teocrito
Daniela Rocca	...	Karis
Philippe Hersent	...	Callimaco
Alberto Lupo	...	Milziade
Daniele Vargas	...	Dario, King of Persia
Miranda Campa	...	Andromeda's handmaid
Gianni Loti	...	Teucro
Anita Todesco	...	Andromeda's friend
Ivo Garrani	...	Creuso
Sergio Ciani	...	Euros
Franco Fantasia
Carlo Lombardi
Ignazio Balsamo
Gian Paolo Rosmino
Walter Grant
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Gérard Herter	...	Hippia (uncredited)
Rinaldo Zamperla	...	Gladiator (uncredited)

Directed by
Jacques Tourneur
Mario Bava		(uncredited) (completed film)

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Alberto Barsanti		story
Ennio De Concini		writer
Augusto Frassinetti		writer
Raffaello Pacini		story
Bruno Vailati		writer

Produced by
Bruno Vailati	....	producer

Original Music by
Roberto Nicolosi

Cinematography by
Mario Bava

Film Editing by
Mario Serandrei

Production Design by
Aleksandar Milovic		(uncredited)

Art Direction by
Marcello de Prato

Set Decoration by
Massimo Tavazzi

Costume Design by
Pier Luigi Pizzi

Makeup Department
Otello Fava	....	makeup artist
Mara Rocchetti	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Renato Angiolini	....	production manager
Ferruccio De Martino	....	production manager
Massimo De Rita	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Odoardo Fiory	....	assistant director
Ottavio Oppo	....	assistant director
Mario Bava	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Gianni D'Aloisio	....	assistant set designer

Sound Department
Louis Kieffer	....	sound engineer
Giulio Tagliacozzo	....	sound engineer

Special Effects by
Mario Bava	....	special photographic effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Ubaldo Terzano	....	camera operator
Masino Manunza	....	cinematographer: underwater scenes (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Marisa Crimi	....	costume supervisor
Armando Govoni	....	wardrobe

Music Department
Luigi Urbini	....	conductor (as Pierluigi Urbini)

Other crew
Barbara Fusch	....	direction secretary
Paolo Mercuri	....	production secretary
Enzo Musumeci Greco	....	fencing master
Ditta Pompei	....	footwear
Rancati	....	weapons
Ditta Rochetti	....	wigs by
Tani	....	weapons

Production Companies

• Galatea Film
• Lux Compagnie Cinématographique de France
• Societé Cinématographique Lyre
• Titanus

Distributors

• Lux Compagnie Cinématographique de France (1960) (France) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1960) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1960) (USA) (theatrical) (dubbed)
• Alpha Video Distributors (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Peter Pan Industries (PPI) (2005) (USA) (DVD) (as "Gods of War")
• Reel Media International (2005) (USA) (VHS)
• Reel Media International (2007) (USA) (all media)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1960) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Retromedia Entertainment (????) (USA) (DVD)
• Something Weird Video (SWV) (????) (USA) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Casa d'Arte di Firenze  costumes
• Digitmovies Alternative Entertainment  soundtrack
• Titanus  soundtrack

Also Known As:

"La battaglia di Maratona" - Italy (original title)
"The Giant Marathon" - Philippines (English title)

Runtime:

90 min | Italy:92 min (director's cut)

Country:

Italy | France

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Australia:M | West Germany:12 (original rating)

Filming Locations:

Centralni Filmski Studio Kosutnjak, Belgrade, Serbia

Company:

Galatea Film

Trivia:

This became yet another film in which director of photography Mario Bava had to step in as director (uncredited). Galatea Film decided to finally reward Bava by giving him a chance to develop his own project which he would direct. This led to the production of Black Sunday (1960), which began Bava's career as a solo director.

Movie Connections:

Edited into Alexander the Great (1968) (TV)

battle must have looked great on the big screen, once....

Most of the other reviews are on target, I will limit myself to a couple of points needing consideration.

This was not intended as a muscleman-'sword & sandal' show, but a straight-ahead epic and a war movie. The reason this is easy to miss is because of the choice of Reeves for the lead. He actually tries hard to act in this film - but he has no capacity for it whatsoever.

In order to give him a chance to demonstrate this, the film gives Reeves an annoying romance that takes up half the film.

As an epic, the film is only half here, the second half, the battle itself. The battle sequences aren't bad at all, they are all technically correct, well mounted and nicely shot.

In fact, the visuals of the film are very striking, especially in the meetings with city elders trying to decide strategy. The print used for the DVD is an old TV copy, washed out and grainy; but remembering its original colors, and that it was made in wide-screen, a lot of this must have looked pretty awesome in theaters on first release.

However, visuals work best when the acting isn't important; besides the Reeves' problem, in fact only the central villain is performed with any gusto or skill. Everyone else walks around like cardboard on string. For the better actors involved, that may be partly because, with the exception of the romance, there's very little character-based drama involved here.

I suggest watching it for the battle sequences, and to forgive the damage done to it by the fortunes of poor preservation.