IMDb > Hercules and the Captive Women (1961)
Ercole alla conquista di Atlantide
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Hercules and the Captive Women (1961) More at IMDbPro »Ercole alla conquista di Atlantide (original title)

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Overview

User Rating:
3.7/10   674 votes »
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Up 27% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Vittorio Cottafavi
Writers:
Vittorio Cottafavi and
Sandro Continenza ...
(more)
Contact:
View company contact information for Hercules and the Captive Women on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
15 April 1963 (USA) See more »
Genre:
Action | Adventure | Fantasy | Sci-Fi See more »
Tagline:
Heroic Hercules battles the seductive powers of the wicked Queen of Atlantis! See more »
Plot:
Strong yet sleepy Hercules discovers that the Queen of Atlantis is plotting to take over the world with superhuman warriors. Full summary » | Add synopsis »
Plot Keywords:
See more »
User Reviews:
Big, colorful and fun See more (24 total) »

Cast

  (in credits order)
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)
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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 CompaniesDistributorsOther Companies
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Additional Details

Also Known As:
"Ercole alla conquista di Atlantide" - Italy (original title)
"Hercules and the Conquest of Atlantis" - International (English title)
See more »
Parents Guide:
View content advisory for parents
Runtime:
Italy:101 min | USA:94 min | France:98 min
Country:
Italy | France
Language:
Italian
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
2.20 : 1 See more »
Sound Mix:
Mono
Certification:
USA:Unrated | West Germany:12 | Finland:K-12
Company:
Comptoir Français du Film Production (CFFP)See more »

Did You Know?

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".See more »
Goofs:
Revealing mistakes: Soon after Hercules lands on the island of captive women, he fights several animals, including a vulture. Wires controlling the vulture are visible during the fight.See more »
Quotes:
Ismene:Today is dedicated to Uranus!See more »
Movie Connections:
Featured in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: Hercules and the Captive Women (#5.12)" (1992)See more »

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User Reviews

   (Review this title)
15 out of 17 people found the following review useful.
Big, colorful and fun, 18 May 2007
Author: Bryce David

Before James Bond.

Before Indiana Jones.

There was the Hercules series.

Or at least the series starring Reg Park. These Hercules films were big, colorful, full of action and fun. They are also shockingly maligned, just by looking at the IMDb rating for HERCULES AND THE CAPTIVE WOMEN, which is a joke.

HERCULES AND THE CAPTIVE WOMEN wasn't your average low-budget Sword & Sandal flick. It was shot in Technirama (expensive 70mm) and the look of it, in the widescreen version, is remarkable to say the least: big colorful sets, big cast, big action. The details, in some scenes, is stunning.

The whole production reminds me of old serials where our hero encounters one pitfall after another. HATCW is like the missing link that bridges the gap between old serials of the 1930s/1940s and RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK. And like James Bond films (DR NO was made a year after this), this Hercules movie is replete with vast cavernous sets which dwarf the cast and are set on the side of spectacle.

CAPTIVE WOMEN has many highlights. My favorite part is when Hercules saves Iseme, daughter of Queen Antinea, from the clutches of Proteus. Psychedelia circa 1961, or psychedelia before psychedelia was in! The surreal look is great and precedes all other films made in the 1960s, including BARBARELLA or even Fellini films, like SATYRICON. In fact, HERCULES AND THE CAPTIVE WOMEN looks like an action film if it had been directed by Fellini. It doesn't shy away from combining odd imagery along with comic book action.

The cast is perfect. Steve Reeves was (and still is) the definitive Hercules but beefy Reg Park fits the bill here. Park is happy just to be an action hero as opposed to Reeves who wanted to be taken seriously as an actor. Fay Spain makes a memorable evil Queen. Laura Efrikian is beautiful as Iseme. Ettore Manni, a familiar face in Peplums and a pretty good actor, lends excellent support as Hercules' best friend, Androcles.

The film itself is not perfect. The story is a tad thin and the stock footage at the end is obviously just footage of an erupting volcano, and it definitely lacks a distinctive score to give the film that extra special character but even so, these things didn't diminish the fun I had while watching it.

HERCULES AND THE CAPTIVE WOMEN is the kind of movie I'll be watching again and again. It just rocks!

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