You can thank American International Pictures for bringing the Italian Goliath and the Dragon to U.S. theaters. Although originally Hercules was the main character, AIP changed the name to Emilius (known as Goliath in the movie) to provide a sequel (well, sort of) for their release of Goliath and the Barbarians. When the rights to the actual planned sequel fell through, AIP just retitled this one instead. They also added a stop-motion dragon into the movie, but you will only see it in the Americanized version. Still perplexing to me is the presence of Broderick Crawford (Highway Patrol, 1955 TV series). I just can’t envision him as the villainous King Eurystheus. And this sword and sandal opus doesn’t even have either Steve Reeves or Gordon Scott! AIP-TV’s initial offering included this movie in the 40-movie deal they struck for television airplay in 1964. That’s where I originally caught this one (probably on a Sunday morning, along with Tarzan and Abbott and Costello). The pressbook itself is nicely presented and it has a coloring page!
After the success of Goliath and the Barbarians, Lou Rusoff wrote a script called Goliath and the Dragon that Sam and Jim planned to film in Italy with Debra Paget. These plans fell through and AIP ended up buying an Italian movie called The Vengeance of Hercules and reworking it to fit their title by adding scenes with a dragon. (Smith, Gary A., American International Pictures – The Golden Years, BearManor Media.)
