''Venus Against the Son of Hercules'' ( it, Marte, dio della guerra, also known as ''Mars, God of War'' and ''The Son of Hercules vs. Venus'') is a 1962 Italian

peplum film Sword-and-sandal, also known as peplum (pepla plural), is a subgenre of largely Italian-made historical, mythological, or Biblical epics mostly set in the Greco-Roman antiquity or the Middle Ages. These films attempted to emulate the big-budget ...

written and directed by

Marcello Baldi Marcello Baldi (1 August 1923 – 22 July 2008) was an Italian director and a screenwriter. Life and career Born in Telve Valsugana, from 1940 to 1954 Baldi worked as assistant director for, among others, Alessandro Blasetti, Lionello De Felice ...

and starring

Roger Browne Roger Browne is an American actor known best for his work in the peplum and Eurospy films popular in Europe in the 1960s and 1970s. Career Roger Browne enrolled in pilot training while serving in the U.S. Air Force, flying the AT-6 trainer a ...

and Jackie Lane.Marco Giusti, Steve Della Casa. ''Il grande libro di Ercole. Il cinema mitologico in Italia''. Edizioni Sabinae - Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia, 2013. .

Plot

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Roman god of war. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin at ...

descends from

Mount Olympus Mount Olympus (; el, Όλυμπος, Ólympos, also , ) is the highest mountain in Greece. It is part of the Olympus massif near the Thermaic Gulf of the Aegean Sea, located in the Olympus Range on the border between Thessaly and Macedonia, be ...

to earth to defend a kingdom besieged by invaders led by an

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

n warlord named Afros. The warlord threatens to destroy the kingdom's capital unless they surrender. Antarus, a corrupt and ambitious member of the king's court conspires to become king. His plans include a deal with Afros and marrying Ecuba, daughter of the king. He is distracted by the beautiful maiden Daphne, whose father the king's emissary was recently killed by Afros during the midst of a parley. Afros is killed in a duel with Mars and his army is scattered during a siege. Antarus continues his plot to become king while maneuvering his pawns in court. Mars rescues Daphne from a couple of Afros' men during her attempt to recover her father's body on the roadside. After falling in love at first sight with Daphne, Mars reluctantly returns to Olympus to reunite with

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never f ...

, who he accuses of deceiving him to look like Daphne on earth. Venus releases Ares, explaining her beauty and grace exists in all mortal women including Daphne who she recognizes Mars is profoundly in love with. He returns to earth in time to learn that Daphne has been condemned to be sacrificed to a

carnivorous plant Carnivorous plants are plants that derive some or most of their nutrients from trapping and consuming animals or protozoans, typically insects and other arthropods. Carnivorous plants still generate some of their energy from photosynthesis ...

monster alongside a

deaf Deafness has varying definitions in cultural and medical contexts. In medical contexts, the meaning of deafness is hearing loss that precludes a person from understanding spoken language, an audiological condition. In this context it is written ...

mute Muteness is a speech disorder in which a person lacks the ability to speak. Mute or the Mute may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Mute'' (2005 film), a short film by Melissa Joan Hart * ''Mute'' (2018 film), a scien ...

slave girl accused of murdering Ecuba (who was killed by Antarus). Mars arrives with heroic timing to save the women from sacrifice but Daphne is fatally shot with an arrow by Antarus who followed after Mars to kill him. The two fight and Antarus is subsequently cornered and devoured by the monstrous plant. Recognizing Mars' eternal love for Daphne,

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but slightly less than one-thousand ...

answers his son's prayer and spares her life as she appears waiting in a white chariot. Mars joins her and bids farewell to the king and his people who arrived at the sacrificial site in time to see the pair ride off into the heavens presumably to live on Mount Olympus forever.

Cast

as Mars * Jackie Lane as Daphne * Massimo Serato as Antarus *

Linda Sini Linda Sini (13 February 1924 – 5 February 1999) was an Italian film actress. She made 75 appearances between 1950 and 1979 and several appearances after this, mostly in film. Debuting in '' Sigillo rosso'' in 1950, she went on to star in ...

as Ecuba * Dante Di Paolo as Frixos * Renato Speziali * Michèle Bailly as Venus *

John Kitzmiller John Kitzmiller (December 4, 1913 – February 23, 1965) was an American actor who worked in his native land, as well as Italy and the United Kingdom. Kitzmiller achieved his greatest fame as a popular and versatile actor in Europe, making an e ...

as Afros *

Giuseppe Addobbati Giuseppe Addobbati (31 December 1909 – 4 January 1986) was an Italian film actor known for his roles in Spaghetti Western and action films in the 1960s and 1970s. He was often billed as John MacDouglas for films released to an American audien ...

Renato Navarrini Renato Navarrini (1892–1972) was an Italian stage and film actor.Verdone p.101 He was married to the actress Fanny Marchiò. Partial filmography * ''La tavola dei poveri'' (1932) * ''Un cattivo soggetto'' (1933) * ''Lohengrin'' (1936) - Il d ...

Folco Lulli Folco Lulli (3 July 1912 – 23 May 1970) was an Italian partisan and film actor. He appeared in more than 100 films between 1946 and 1970. He was the brother of actor Piero Lulli. Selected filmography * ''How I Lost the War'' (1947) * ' ...

Corrado Annicelli Corrado Annicelli (1 September 1905 – 28 August 1984) was an Italian actor. Life and career Born in Naples, Annicelli made his stage debut in 1927, cast by Dora Menichelli to play a fascinating officer in the drama play ''Guerra in tempo ...

Aldo Bufi Landi Aldo Bufi Landi (7 April 1923 – 2 February 2016) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in more than 100 films between 1947 and 2013. Selected filmography * '' Malaspina'' (1947) * '' Madunnella'' (1948) * '' Assunta Spina'' (1948) * ''L ...

Giulio Donnini Giulio Donnini (born 17 February 1924) is an Italian film actor. Life and career Born in Milan, Donnini made his film debut in 1946, in Giacomo Gentilomo's ''Teheran''. He got his first mayor role two years later, playing the epileptic murdere ...

Livio Lorenzon Livio Lorenzon (6 May 1923 – 23 December 1971) was an Italian actor who was mainly active during the 1950s and 1960s. Biography He played minor roles in some memorable commedia all'Italiana movies directed by the likes of Dino Risi and ...

Gianni Solaro Gianni Solaro (born Gianni Lorenzon, 11 August 1926 – 12 August 2006) was an Italian film and television actor. Life and career Born in Rome, Solaro was a character actor in the Italian film industry for about twenty years, between the late 19 ...

Release

''Venus Against the Son of Hercules'' was released in Italy on 24 June 1962. The film was also released as ''The Son of Hercules vs. Venus'' and ''Mars, God of War''.

References

Sources

External links

* 1960s fantasy adventure films Italian fantasy adventure films Peplum films Films directed by Marcello Baldi Films based on classical mythology Greek and Roman deities in fiction Sword and sandal films 1960s Italian films {{fantasy-film-stub