Hercules and the Captive Women (1961) Ercole alla conquista di Atlantide (original title)

Director:

Vittorio Cottafavi

Writers:

Vittorio Cottafavi and
Sandro Continenza ...
(more)

Release Date:

15 April 1963 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Fantasy | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Heroic Hercules battles the seductive powers of the wicked Queen of Atlantis!

Plot:

Strong yet sleepy Hercules discovers that the Queen of Atlantis is plotting to take over the world with superhuman warriors.

Plot Keywords:

Atlantis | Hercules | Midget | Roman Mythology | Gorilla

Cast

Reg Park	...	Ercole (Hercules)
Fay Spain	...	Queen Antinea of Atlantis
Ettore Manni	...	Androclo, Re di Tebe
Luciano Marin	...	Illo
Laura Efrikian	...	Ismene, Antinea's Daughter (as Laura Altan)
Enrico Maria Salerno	...	Re di Megara
Ivo Garrani	...	Re di Megalia
Gian Maria Volonté	...	Re di Sparta
Mimmo Palmara	...	Astor, il Gran Visir
Mario Petri	...	Zenith, prete di Urano
Mino Doro	...	Oraclo
Salvatore Furnari	...	Timoteo, il nano
Alessandro Sperli	...	King with Mother
Mario Valdemarin	...	Gabor
Luciana Angiolillo	...	Deianira, Hercules' Wife
Maurizio Coffarelli	...	Proteus the Monster
Leon Selznick	...	Narrator, U.S. Version (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Tullio Altamura
Raf Baldassarre	...	Capo delle guardie
Ignazio Dolce
Nando Tamberlani	...	Tiresia
Jimmy il Fenomeno	...	Man in Tavern Fight #2 (uncredited)
Nazzareno Zamperla	...	Man in Tavern Fight (uncredited)

Directed by
Vittorio Cottafavi

Writing credits
Vittorio Cottafavi		and
Sandro Continenza		and
Duccio Tessari
Pierre Benoît		character
Nicolò Ferrari		(as Archibald Zounds Jr.)
Nicolò Ferrari		story (as Archibald Zounds Jr.)

Produced by
Achille Piazzi	....	producer

Original Music by
Gino Marinuzzi Jr.
Armando Trovajoli

Cinematography by
Carlo Carlini

Film Editing by
Maurizio Lucidi

Production Design by
Franco Lolli

Costume Design by
Vittorio Rossi

Production Management
Danilo Marciani	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Giorgio Cristallini	....	second unit director

Art Department
Italo Tomassi	....	manager of art department (uncredited)

Sound Department
Umberto Picistrelli	....	sound

Music Department
Luca di Silverio	....	soundtrack album producer
Gino Marinuzzi Jr.	....	conductor
Gordon Zahler	....	music supervisor: US version
Darrell Calker	....	composer: stock music US version (uncredited)
Walter Greene	....	composer: stock music US version (uncredited)
Hans J. Salter	....	composer: stock music US version (uncredited)
Leith Stevens	....	composer: stock music US version (uncredited)

Other crew
Hugo Grimaldi	....	u.s. version producer/editor
Haroun Tazieff	....	volcano shots
Peter Vander Sloot	....	choreographer

Production Companies

• Comptoir Français du Film Production (CFFP)
• SpA Cinematografica

Distributors

• Woolner Brothers Pictures Inc. (1963) (USA) (theatrical) (dubbed)
• Rhino Home Video (1996) (USA) (VHS)
• Timeless Video (1998) (USA) (VHS)
• Mill Creek Entertainment (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• Retromedia Entertainment (2007) (USA) (DVD) (widescreen)
• Image Entertainment (2009) (USA) (DVD)
• Hafbo (1961) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Neue Film Allianz (1962) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Rolei-Filmverleih (1962) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• ClassicLine (????) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Something Weird Video (SWV) (????) (USA) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Digitmovies Alternative Entertainment  soundtrack
• Filmation Associates  title design

Also Known As:

"Ercole alla conquista di Atlantide" - Italy (original title)
"Hercules and the Conquest of Atlantis" - International (English title)

Runtime:

Italy:101 min | USA:94 min | France:98 min

Country:

Italy | France

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-12 | USA:Unrated | West Germany:12 | Netherlands:14 (orginal rating)

Company:

Comptoir Français du Film Production (CFFP)

Trivia:

The soundtrack of the American release ("Hercules and the Captive Women") contains several short passages from the score of Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954), in particular the easily recognizable three-note "Creature theme".

Goofs:

Continuity: Near the end of the film, Hercules swims away from the island to a boat, but when he climbs aboard he is completely dry.

Quotes:

Androclo, Re di Tebe:Uranus... to rule over all!
Ercole:What you say is blasphemy!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Graham Norton Show: Arnold Schwarzenegger/Ronnie Corbett/Miranda Hart/Usher (#12.1)" (2012)

Now we know....

...why Atlantis disappeared! Although Hercules often calls upon his Father ,Zeus -note that his son never invokes his granddad-,this is as far from Greek mythology as it can be.

"The famous Four" best describes the plot: Hercules ,his son,Androcles (a Roman slave handed over to lions then granted an imperial pardon ,what does he do here?) and a dwarf feel that Grece is in jeopardy.This is the beginning of an "epic" story which includes a rubber monster,a wicked queen (Antinea of course ,see one of the numerous versions of Pierre Benoit's " L'Atlantide" ),the ancestors of the clones (unless it predates Hitler's Aryan supermen),the perils of atomic radiations (?) The first scene is an interminable free-for-all in which Hercules,who is quietly enjoying his meal ,does not interfere ("help us dad!"screams his son) .Some not-so-bad scenes show a strange Androcles wandering in the queen's palace .

It's rather silly,but it's entertaining if you do not ask too much.