''Gideon and Samson'': ''Great Leaders of the Bible'' () is a 1965

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

historical film A historical drama (also period drama, period piece or just period) is a dramatic work set in the past, usually used in the context of film and television, which presents historical events and characters with varying degrees of fiction such as ...

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, Telve Valsugana, from 1940 to 1954, Baldi worked as assistant director for, among others, Alessandro Blasetti, Lionello De ...

and

Francisco Pérez-Dolz Francisco is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the masculine given name ''Franciscus''. Meaning of the name Francisco In Spanish, people with the name Francisco are sometimes nicknamed "Paco". San Francisco de Asís was known as ''Pater Commu ...

. Consisting of two segments, the first half tells the story of

Gideon Gideon (; ) also named Jerubbaal and Jerubbesheth, was a military leader, judge and prophet whose calling and victory over the Midianites is recounted in of the Book of Judges in both the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible. Gideon was th ...

, while the second the story of

Samson SAMSON (Software for Adaptive Modeling and Simulation Of Nanosystems) is a computer software platform for molecular design being developed bOneAngstromand previously by the NANO-D group at the French Institute for Research in Computer Science an ...

Plot

Israelites are faulted for worshipping

Baal Baal (), or Baʻal, was a title and honorific meaning 'owner' or 'lord Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power (social and political), power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The ...

instead of

Jehovah Jehovah () is a Romanization, Latinization of the Hebrew language, Hebrew , one Tiberian vocalization, vocalization of the Tetragrammaton (YHWH), the proper name of the God in Judaism, God of Israel in the Hebrew BibleOld Testament. The Tetr ...

. Jehovah is said to have abandoned the Israelites for worshiping

false god The phrase ''false god'' is a derogatory term used in Abrahamic religions (namely Judaism, Samaritanism, Christianity, the Baháʼí Faith, and Islam) to indicate cult images or deities of non-Abrahamic Pagan religions, as well as other competi ...

s instead of Jehovah himself. Gideon chooses an army of 300 (Judges 7:8) to wage war against the Midianites. Gideon delivers Israelites from the hands of

Midian Midian (; ; , ''Madiam''; Taymanitic: 𐪃𐪕𐪚𐪌 ''MDYN''; ''Mīḏyān'') is a geographical region in West Asia, located in northwestern Saudi Arabia. mentioned in the Tanakh and Quran. William G. Dever states that biblical Midian was ...

ite raiders. Gideon captures the kings of Midian Zebah and Zalmunna (Judges 8:10). After Gideon's son Jeter shies away from

decapitating Decapitation is the total separation of the head from the body. Such an injury is invariably fatal to humans and all vertebrate animals, since it deprives the brain of oxygenated blood by way of severing through the jugular vein and common c ...

the two Midianite kings, Gideon slays the kings personally (Judges 8:21).

Cast

Anton Geesink Antonius Johannes Geesink (6 April 1934 – 27 August 2010) was a Dutch people, Dutch List of judoka#Highest grades, 10th dan judoka. He was the first non-Japanese judoka to win gold at the World Judo Championships, a feat he accomplished in 196 ...

as Samson *

Rosalba Neri Rosalba Neri (born 19 June 1938) is a retired Italian actress. Early life Born in Forlì, Emilia-Romagna, Italy, Neri was regarded for her beauty even in youth, winning a beauty pageant when she was still young. Eventually pursuing an acting ...

as Delilah *

Ivo Garrani Ivo Garrani (6 February 1924 – 25 March 2015) was an Italian actor and voice actor. In films since 1952, Garrani is possibly best known for his role as Prince Vajda in Mario Bava's '' Black Sunday'' (1960). Biography Born in Introdacqua, ...

as Gideon *

Maruchi Fresno Maruchi Fresno (14 February 1916 – 19 July 2003) was a Spanish film actress. Fresno appeared in around sixty films and television series during her long career. In 1947 she played the role of Elizabeth of Aragon, Isabel of Aragon in the historic ...

as Gideon's wife *

Fernando Rey Fernando Casado Arambillet (20 September 1917 – 9 March 1994), best known as Fernando Rey, was a Spanish film, theatre, and television actor, who worked in both Europe and the United States. A suave, international actor best known for hi ...

as The stranger *

Giorgio Cerioni Giorgio may refer to: * Castel Giorgio, ''comune'' in Umbria, Italy * Giorgio (name), an Italian given name and surname * Giorgio Moroder, or Giorgio, Italian record producer ** ''Giorgio'' (album), an album by Giorgio Moroder * "Giorgio" (song), ...

as Gideon's son *

Luz Márquez Luz Márquez (born María de la O García Márquez Soler; 12 December 1935 in Madrid, Spain), is a Spanish actress whose brief but intense acting career lasted ten years from 1956 to 1966. She appeared in more than 35 films, including '' Manolo Gua ...

as Gaza *

Ana María Noé Ana María Noé (1914 – 9 July 1970) was a Spanish actress. Biography Ana María Noé began her artistic career in Barcelona and began to gain prominence after the Spanish Civil War. By 1940 she had her own company with which she performed ''Lo ...

as Samson's mother *

Mirko Ellis Mirko Ellis (4 September 1923 – 11 September 2014) was a Swiss-Italian film, stage and television actor. Born Mirko Korcinsky in Locarno to a family of Lithuanian origin, Ellis moved, after his studies, to Italy, where he made his film debut i ...

Piero Gerlini This is a list of male actors from Italy, which generally includes those who have resided in Italy or have largely appeared in Italian film productions. This list includes all actors from :Italian male actors. Persons are listed alphabetically ...

Paolo Gozlino Paolo is a masculine given name, the Italian form of the name Paul. It may refer to: People Art * Paolo Abbate (1884–1973), Italian-American sculptor * Paolo Alboni (1671–1734), Italian painter * Paolo Antonio Barbieri (1603–1649), Ital ...

as the Prince of Gaza *

José Jaspe José Jaspe () (10 August 1906 – 5 June 1974) was a Spanish film actor. He played Konev the conductor in '' Horror Express'' (1972), Ahmed in '' House of 1,000 Dolls'' (1967), Henneker in '' The Man Called Noon'' (1973), the traitor in '' The C ...

References

External links

* 1965 films 1960s Italian-language films Sword-and-sandal films Films about Samson Hebrew Bible judges Films directed by Marcello Baldi Films shot in Almería 1960s Italian films Films scored by Teo Usuelli {{1960s-Italy-film-stub