‘The obelisk will avenge me!’
The Moors are kicked out of Spain, but seeking revenge, forces from Malaga follow them back across the sea to their home. The Spaniards are eventually defeated in battle, but they pull down a sacred obelisk in retreat. The leader of the Moors swears revenge for this desecration…
More muscleman exploits from Italy, with American Ed Fury pitting his might against the forces of greed and injustice. Domenico Paolella directs from a script co-written with Gian Paolo Callegari, Alessandro Ferraù, Alberto Manca and Sergio Sollima.
The invading Moors have been driven out of Spain, but the Duke of Malaga (Giuseppe Addobbati) leads his army in pursuit back to their holy city of Melida. The forces of the local Sheik (Erno Crisa) defeat them, and Addobbati is taken prisoner, although he manages to hide his true identity. Outraged by the attack on a scared obelisk, Crisa arranges for the kidnapping of Addobbati’s daughter, Isabella (Gisella Arden).
When she is snatched, her betrothed Antonio (Massimo Carocci) is determined to mount a rescue operation. However, he gets little encouragement from Addobbati’s brother, Ramiro (Piero Lulli), who is acting as temporary governor of Malaga. Instead, he turns for help to his old friend, Maciste (Ed Fury), and the two embark on this hazardous mission, not knowing that Addobbati is still alive in Crisa’s dungeon.
Another chapter in the heroic exploits of Italian strongman, Maciste, who had first appeared in a long-running series of silent films ending in 1927. When the Peplum craze began after the International success of ‘Hercules/Le fatiche di Ercole’ (1958), the character was revived for a largely unconnected series of new adventures that ran for only five years but comprised 25 films. As the character was largely unknown outside his native land, English-language releases found him rechristened, mostly as Hercules, but occasionally as Samson, Goliath, and even Atlas.
Although these films had a fixed story template, for the most part, occasional entries did vary the formula a little. Paolella’s film falls into this category, giving the action a specific historical setting, the 1500s, and an unusual backdrop of the conflict between the Moors and the Spaniards. For once, there is no evil Queen or usurper on the throne levying ridiculous taxes on the poor. However, that will likely be high on Lulli’s ‘to-do’ list if he gets his hands on the dukedom of Malaga on a permanent basis. Fury also refuses the usual cup of drugged wine that lay low many a Peplum hero, and it’s pleasing to think that this was intended as a sly poke at the clichés of the genre.
Also, Crisa is more of an opponent for Fury rather than an out-and-out villain, the script remaining fairly even-handed concerning the two sides in the conflict. Of course, the script offers up no deep political thinking or cultural comparisons; this is popcorn entertainment. However, it’s nice to see at least some semblance of grey underpinning the drama rather than the usual stark contrast of black and white. However, Crisa’s actions do lead to the brutal, and quite surprising, slaughter of a couple of the supporting characters, one of which is the comedy relief! If this was intended to keep the audience firmly on Fury’s side, it certainly works.
The leading men in these movies were cast more for their physique than their acting experience. However, Fury has an appealing screen presence and proves fairly adept with the scattered moments of humour as well as the physical action. Sadly, some of that is not particularly well-staged, including his interactions with a stuffed lion, who engages him in the shortest man vs big cat fight on record. Blink, and you’ll probably miss about half of it.
There are some good moments, though, such as Fury’s entry into the Sheik’s harem, unrolling out of a rug like a muscleman version of Cleopatra. His trial of strength involves being chained to a rock in public and attacked by five separate gladiators. Serious credit must go to the casting director here, who managed to find five of the biggest, meanest-looking hard men in film history. The resolution to the conflict is surprising too, and a refreshing change from the usual pitched battle when the rebels storm the villain’s stronghold. However, the final scenes featuring Lulli’s inevitable demise are a distinct letdown.
One curious thing is the designation of Crisa’s character as a Sheik. Possibly the filmmakers were uninformed, but a Sheik is generally the head of a nomadic Arabic tribe, while the Moors were Muslims, usually governed by a Caliph. One possible explanation is that the silent Maciste faced off against a Sheik in ‘Maciste vs the Sheik/Maciste contro lo secco (1925). If relying on name recognition of a property almost 40 years old seems a bit of a stretch, it is worth remembering that the silent films were hugely popular in their day.
Paolella had more than two decades of experience as a director before taking the reins for Maciste’s tussle with the Sheik. He made his name with comedies and musicals, but by the early 1960s, he was mostly delivering swashbucklers and historical adventures. This film was his first venture into Peplum, but far from his last. Further titles included ‘Ursus, the Rebel Gladiator/Ursus gladiatore ribelle’ (1962), ‘Maciste Against the Mongols/Maciste contro i Mongoli/Hercules Against the Mongols’ (1964), ‘Maciste nell’inferno di Gengis Khan/Hercules Against the Barbarians’ (1964), ‘Hercules and the Tyrants of Babylon/Ercole contro i tiranni di Babilonia’ (1964) and ‘Goliath at the Conquest of Bagdad/Golia alla conquista di Bagdad/Goliath at the Conquest of Damascus’ (1964). When the popularity of the Peplum faded, he made hopeless Eurospy ‘Agent S 03: Operation Atlantis’ (1965) and two Spaghetti Westerns, including ‘Hate for Hate/Odio per Odio’ (1967).
Nothing special, but straying from the established Peplum formula does bring some rewards.
Mark David Welsh 