''Samson'' () is a 1961

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 ...

and French

international co-production A co-production is a joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint vent ...

peplum film Sword-and-sandal, also known as peplum (: pepla), 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 Holl ...

shot in Yugoslavia. It was written and directed by

Gianfranco Parolini Gianfranco Parolini (20 February 1925 in Rome, Italy – 26 April 2018 in Rome, Italy) was an Italian people, Italian film director. He is often credited as Frank Kramer. Among his films are ''The Sabata Trilogy'', several sword and sandal films, m ...

in his first film with Brad Harris who plays the title role. It is the film which introduced the character 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 ...

, cleared of his Biblical traits, into the

sword-and-sandal Sword-and-sandal, also known as peplum (: pepla), is a subgenre of largely Italy, 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 ...

cinema. Following the success of ''Samson'', the character was later featured in a series of four films released between 1963 and 1965.

Plot

The treacherous court counselor Warkalla takes possession of the throne of Sulan and of the goods of Queen Mila, replacing her with the beautiful but insignificant Romilda. Samson joins Mila and the rebels to regain the kingdom of Sulan and to hunt Romilda and Warkalla.

Cast

* Brad Harris: Samson * Alan Steel: Macigno aka Hercules *

Serge Gainsbourg Serge Gainsbourg (; born Lucien Ginsburg; 2 April 1928 – 2 March 1991) was a French singer-songwriter, actor, composer, and director. Regarded as one of the most important figures in French pop, he was renowned for often provocative rel ...

: Warkalla *

Mara Berni Mara Berni (born 12 June 1932) is an Italian former stage, television and film actress. Life and career Born in Brunate, Como as Mara Bernasconi, Berni debuted on stage as a child actress with the "Compagnia dei Piccoli" directed by Wanda P ...

: Romilda *

Luisella Boni Luisella Boni (born 24 July 1935) is an Italian actress. Born as Luisa Angela Bozzo, Boni debuted in 1952 in Bernard Vorhaus' film ''Finishing School''. One of the most active actresses in Italian cinema between the early fifties and mid-sixies ...

: Janine (credited as Brigitte Corey) *

Carlo Tamberlani Carlo Tamberlani (11 March 1899 – 5 August 1980) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in 127 films between 1931 and 1976. His brother Nando Tamberlani was also an actor. Life and career Born in Salice Salentino, Tamberlani was born ...

: Botan * Irena Prosen: Mila * Franco Gasparri: Mila's son * Vladimir Leib as Terrabentus

Reception

's performance as the creepy villain Warkalla has been highlighted as the film's strongpoint.Hughes

Biography

* * *

References

External links

* 1961 films 1961 adventure films Films directed by Gianfranco Parolini Sword-and-sandal films 1960s Italian-language films 1960s Italian films Films scored by Carlo Innocenzi {{1960s-Italy-film-stub