Maciste

Revived in the 1960s

The character was revived in the 1960s. In 1959, Steve Reeves' Hercules, an Italian production, created a minor boom in Italian dramas featuring American bodybuilders in vaguely mythological or classical historical subjects. The actual mythology was frequently pied to make up the improbable plots. Maciste was a frequently recurring hero in these films. This sword and sandal fad continued for about seven years, until the new fad for spaghetti Westerns took over the attention of the Italian cinema industry.

Related Topics:
1960s - 1959 - Steve Reeves - Hercules - American - Bodybuilders - Mythological - Classical - Historical - Sword and sandal - Spaghetti Western - Italian cinema

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If you've watched any of these films, you've probably seen a Maciste picture, even if the title character in the English version was not Maciste. When these films were imported into the USA and dubbed in English, usually badly, the hero was often changed to Hercules, Samson, Goliath, Atlas, or Colossus, because the name of Maciste was not widely recognised in the USA.

Related Topics:
English - Hercules - Samson - Goliath - Atlas - Colossus

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The biggest source of the second series Maciste films from the second cycle in the USA was the Sons of Hercules, a film series which was later made into a syndicated TV show. Best remembered for its stirring title song--hear it once and it will never get out of your head--films originally featuring Machiste were dubbed into a variety of Sons of Hercules pictures, with stock narration at the opening relating each character to Hercules.

Related Topics:
The Sons of Hercules - Syndicated - TV

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One of the first films to appear in the second series was Il Trionfo de Maciste, Anglicized as Triumph of the Son of Hercules. Other Maciste films available in English are Terror of Rome v. the Son of Hercules, Beast of Babylon v. the Son of Hercules, and The Son of Hercules v. Venus. Many of these films are available from Sinister Cinema.

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