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Though made in the wake of the worldwide success of "Hercules," this modest but vigorous Italian production plays less like a "sword-and-sandal" and more like a "Robin Hood." Much of the action takes place in the villain's medieval castle but the action, perhaps because of a limited budget, rarely results in the hoped-for excitement. The cast, however, is a notch above average, led by Cameron Mitchell in the good-guy role and Edmund Purdom as the Sheriff-of-Nottingham-like villain. Mitchell's hair has been unconvincingly bleached blond but he manages to get through the proceedings with dignity largely intact. Purdom, however, is another story. He played the title role in 20th Century Fox's most expensive production of 1954, "The Egyptian" and in 1955 he played the leading man to Lana Turner in MGM's most expensive production of that season, "The Prodigal." This one-two punch should have made him a star but he soon wound up back in Europe slumming in B-movies such as this one. Here he plays a mincing, giggling villain who scampers about like a campy Richard III, his eyes darting nervously here and there and his hands, when they're not being wrung, clasped prissily across his chest. It's a "fun" performance but, oh, how the mighty have fallen. Perhaps the film's most memorable moment comes when Mitchell rescues his brother (George Ardisson) from a cell in Purdom's castle. The brother's palms have been nailed to an X-shaped cross and Mitchell has to pull the spikes out, mostly by hand. Fans of beefcake-bondage, laced with blood and sweat, take note.
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