La regina delle Amazzoni (1960)

User Rating:

3.6/10   

Director:

Vittorio Sala

Writers:

Ennio De Concini (writer)
Fulvio Fo (writer)

Release Date:

1964 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Comedy | Fantasy

Plot:

Two musclemen come up against a tribe of Amazon women.

Plot Keywords:

Amazon | Trojan War | Joust | Gender Roles | Crest

Cast

Rod Taylor	...	Pirro
Ed Fury	...	Glauco
Dorian Gray	...	Antiope
Daniela Rocca	...	Melitta
Gianna Maria Canale	...	La Regina
Alberto Farnese	...	Losco - Il pirata
Giorgia Moll	...	Amazone
Folco Lulli
Ignazio Leone	...	Sopho
Adriana Facchetti	...	High Prestess
Paola Falchi	...	Amazone
Enzo Cerusico	...	Menandro
Marco Tulli	...	Eumeo the Innkeeper
Marilù Tolo	...	Amazone
Nadia Bianchi	...	Amazone

Also Known As:

Colossus and the Amazon Queen (USA)
Colossus and the Amazons (International: English title)

Runtime:

Germany:92 min | USA:84 min | USA:90 min (DVD) | Italy:98 min

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Unrated | Italy:VM14

Company:

Galatea Film

Trivia:

Italian censorship visa # 32696 delivered on 31-8-1960.

Quotes:

Amazon #!: [Deciding on which male captive she wants] And you, Shorty?
Amazon #2: He's a puny runt. how'd he get here?
Short Greek: I'm the god's gift to the women of Southern Greece.
[In an anachronistic American Southern accent]
Short Greek: Let's be off, my babes! Y'all my women!

Colossus And The Amazon Queen (Vittorio Sala, 1960) BOMB

This film is strikingly similar to (and, incredibly, even worse than) Terence Young's THE AMAZONS (1974), which I watched only last month. Rod Taylor, who had just become a star thanks to George Pal's screen version of H.G. Wells' THE TIME MACHINE (1960), unwisely chose to follow it up with this turkey; his performance is embarrassing – especially the lamentable attempts at comedy – and, in fact, comes off like a cut-rate Tony Curtis! Likewise, Ed Fury makes very little impression as the proverbial muscleman (and, presumably, the Colossus of the title – though his character is actually named Glauco, even in the English-dubbed version!).

As for the women, here we have: a rather unattractively made-up Dorian Gray (a regular fixture of Toto' comedies, though she also appeared in one film apiece by Fellini and Antonioni!); Daniela Rocca (best known as the mousy wife Marcello Mastroianni wants to get rid of in Pietro Germi's DIVORCE – Italian STYLE [1961]), whose character is constantly falling flat on her face for no apparent reason!; and Gianna Maria Canale (who appeared in countless sword-and-sandal titles but also starred in the first Italian horror film, I VAMPIRI [1956], co-directed by Riccardo Freda and Mario Bava), who's been saddled with the rather thankless role of the Amazon Queen who must fulfill her destiny by remaining a spinster!

Truly, this has to be one of the worst films ever - which prompted director Bertrand Tavernier, then a film critic, to call it "one of the funniest of Italian comedies"! - which, from the very first shot (in which a trumpeter loses his grip on his instrument!), gives you an idea of the clumsiness you are about to witness – with the inappropriate 'modern' score (including the dance routines that are a cross between Busby Berkeley and WEST SIDE STORY [1961]!) and the hilarious dubbing (particularly during the one scene where Tiberio Murgia, so memorable as Claudia Cardinale's jealous elder brother in BIG DEAL ON MADONNA STREET [1958], appears) featuring prominently among its highlights…er…lowpoints!