Ursus (1961)

There's nothing quite like these "maciste" style films from the early 60's; they have a unique charm to them. Great sword & sandals adventure, featuring a muscle bound hero, often a name from Greek Mythology. Ursus was the son of Hercules, and his name means bear; appropriate since that's how strong he is. Ed Fury plays our hero with all the humanity and heroism required. Ursus has weaknesses and is mortal (unlike his Mt. Olympis ancestry) but he can whup the bad guys just fine, thank you.

In addition to the muscular lead, some other familiar but always appealing sword and sandal elements are here. The women are insanely beautiful, and their flowing dresses and magic hair styles supplement this. The blind servant girl is very sympathetically and believably played by pretty Maria Merlo, best in the cast. She captures many difficult emotions; her facial expressions in the Ursus vs. animal death match are spot on. Raven haired knockout Moira Orfei, who appeared in several of these films, plays the kidnapped betrothed of Ursus; whom he sets out to rescue. Along the way, the son of Herc encounters cults, a femme-fatale queen, and an evil empire that needs to be overthrown. Every sub-plot works, and contributes to the story.

For a low budget film, this one surprises. There are a few editing goofs (most notably in the soundtrack music), but the translation dubbing is remarkably well done. A few bits of dialogue are awkward, but yet again it's in a charming fashion that you can't help but love. The "You filthy murderers!" exclamation is perfect, and sets off one of the best mass-mayhem battle scenes ever.

One of the very best of these Italian and Spanish made mythological adventure movies. Very re-watchable stuff.