Crazy Gary here with part two of our Sword and Sandal extravaganza…(see part one).
Summer, 1959, was a turning point for a lot of monsterkids. A movie opened which fired our imaginations and introduced us to a new type of movie. I’m talking about the movie Hercules which got a lot of us interested in weight training and classical literature, especially Greek mythology.
Starring an unknown –at least to us–actor named Steve Reeves, the movie was complete with heroes, beautiful scantily-clad women, fighting, adventures at sea, ape men, a dinosaur that roared like Godzilla, and many feats of strength. The music was awe-inspiring. And Steve Reeves…wow, was he built. Every guy wanted to look like him. Turns out he was a former Mr. America, Mr. World, and Mr. Universe.
I was only nine when I first saw it, and by the time it had finished its run in the second-run theaters, I had seen it twelve times. I even received the Hercules soundtrack record for Christmas that year.
In the summer of 1960, Hercules Unchained was released and I saw it many times, too. By then, Steve Reeves was a worldwide star and both movies were box office hits. Articles on Steve Reeves and his training methods regularly appeared in the muscle magazines of the time.
Reeves went on to star in several more “Sword and Sandal” type films and his last one, A Long Ride From Hell, was a western. By the end of his career, the term “sword and sandal” referred to any movie set in antiquity, primarily Rome or Greece. Within that genre there were two types of movies: one where the hero possessed great strength and went about righting wrongs. He could be Hercules, Samson, Ursus, Maciste, Goliath (see last week’s article about the two “Goliath” movies), or one of the Sons of Hercules. The other type was where the hero was a regular guy, often a great warrior or Roman soldier, but possessing no exceptional strength. Two of Reeves’ movies stand out in the latter category: Duel of the Titans, with Gordon Scott, and The Slave.
The radio spots featured here are a mixture of both categories. First we have the original spots for Hercules Unchained, and then spots for the double bill reissue of Hercules and Hercules Unchained from 1973, both sets courtesy of The Radio Reaper. It is odd that Steve Reeves’ name is not mentioned in the original Hercules Unchained spots, nor was it given in the original Hercules spots the year earlier. The same is true for the reissue spots.
Next are two spots each for Duel of the Titans and The Slave from Granny’s collection. I saw them both in 1963 and they made an impression on me as a teenager. The language in Duel was especially inspiring and hit home about following a cause you believed in, no matter the cost.
So, give a listen. I’m going to go do some sets of incline dumbbell curls and then check out the latest peplum news on Peplum TV.
Hercules and Hercules Unchained Radio Spots
Duel of the Titans and The Slave Radio Spots
Do you have any radio spots you would like to share? Contact Gary (Granny’s nephew) at [email protected].