Samson in King Solomon's Mines (1964) Maciste nelle miniere del re Salomone (original title)

Director:

Piero Regnoli

Writer:

Piero Regnoli

Release Date:

25 June 1964 (Italy)

Genre:

Action

Plot:

Maciste is captured and forced to work as a slave in an African mine. |

Plot Keywords:

Mine | Slave | African | Heir To Throne | Headdress

Cast

Reg Park	...	Maciste / Samson
Wandisa Guida	...	Fazira
Bruno Piergentili	...	Abucar (as Dan Harrison)
Eleonora Bianchi	...	Samara
Nino Persello	...	Belal
Bruno Scipioni	...	Kadar
Carlo Tamberlani	...	Zelea
Elio Jotta	...	Riad (as Leonard G. Elliot)
Giuseppe Addobbati	...	Namar
Loris Loddi	...	Vazma - Heir to the Throne

Directed by
Piero Regnoli		(as Martin Andrews)

Writing credits
Piero Regnoli

Produced by
Luigi Carpentieri	....	producer
Ermanno Donati	....	producer

Original Music by
Francesco De Masi

Cinematography by
Mario Capriotti
Luciano Trasatti

Film Editing by
Ornella Micheli

Art Direction by
Aurelio Crugnola

Costume Design by
Franco Loquenzi

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Vittorio Sindoni	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Alessandro Sarandrea	....	sound

Music Department
Francesco De Masi	....	conductor
Francesco De Masi	....	music arranger

Production Companies

• Panda Societa per L'Industria Cinematografica

Distributors

• Embassy Pictures Corporation (1964) (USA) (theatrical) (dubbed)
• AVCO Embassy Television (19??) (USA) (TV) (dubbed)
• Alpha Video Distributors (2008) (USA) (DVD)
• Mill Creek Entertainment (2006) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Digitmovies Alternative Entertainment  soundtrack

Also Known As:

"Maciste nelle miniere del re Salomone" - Italy (original title)
"Maciste in King Solomon's Mines" - USA (TV title)

Runtime:

USA:92 min | Italy:92 min

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

Incir De Paolis Studios, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

Panda Societa per L'Industria Cinematografica

Quotes:

Riad:I'll make him tell me where Vazma is, if I have to torture him to death.

Muscleman to the Rescue!

"Maciste in King Solomon's Mines", as this film is known (although just barely) in the states, is another in the long line of sword and sandal "epics" churned out in Italy in the wake of the hugely successful Hercules films starring Steve Reeves.

Toplined by Reg Park (whose claim to fame is that he's brawnier than most of the other so-called "musclemen" who played Hercules, Goliath, Maciste, etc. - it certainly isn't his acting, which is atrocious and seemingly dubbed by himself or some equally erudite ex-high school football hero), it's the story of a mythic hero of the people, summoned to the jungle city of Zimba to free the oppressed masses, who have been enslaved by the evil Queen Fazira to dig gold (and more gold) from the legendary mines of King Solomon.

Once Maciste arrives in the city, he is overpowered by Fazira's personal guard and bewitched with a magical ankle bracelet, which causes him to lose his free will, relegating him to servitude in the mines. Soon (but not soon enough), he is freed from his mind-numbing paralysis and exacts his revenge upon Fazira & her minions & co-conspirators, frees the slaves and installs his friend as the new ruler in an energetic finale.

Having accomplished a job, well done, he walks off into the veldt, awaiting his next adventure.

I admit I like this stuff (I grew up watching hundreds of such "gladiator" pictures, or peblums, as they are also known)), but this opus is not one of the best examples of the genre. Filmed in South Africa, the film makes little use of the scenery other than to pad the running time with a variety of nature shots. It's for "early 60's" nostalgia buffs & die-hard fans of the genre.

These types of films are virtually unshown on TV today (except for an occasional airing on the TNT network). The version I saw, obtained from a PD video company, has severely washed-out color and is not nearly worth the investment.