The greatest hero of Greek mythology is making his triumphant return to the big screen July 25th. Over the 3 weeks approaching his arrival, let’s examine the world’s strongest man and his role in cinema both stateside, and internationally. We will discover how he started his theatrical journey, and how he interacted with a changing world and popular culture from generation to generation.
Every child needs a hero. While each of my elementary classmates defended the playground as his or her favorite disciple of Professor X, or cart-wheeled away from an imaginary explosion, just in time to morph into The Green Ranger, I watched from afar, peacefully tending my crops. Ever a watchful gaze was cast to my borders, for a weary traveler may arrive in need. I was no Saturday morning distraction. I was no simple “teenager with an attitude”. I was the son of Zeus! I was the benefactor of mankind! I was Hercules! So much of my childhood was devoted to taking in Greek mythology via whatever format available, that I dreamt of growing up to be him. Though endlessly captivated by all the ancient stories, I held none in higher regard than those of Earth’s first superhero. Over these three weeks leading to the latest incarnation of the strongest man in the world, I will be contemplating his cinematic history for you, the Cinapse reader.
Locked away in my office, shirtless, doing pull-ups with my beard… I watched. Calling upon the power of Youtube, Netflix, a VCR and some grainy, washed-out VHS tapes, only a handful of Herc’s glory days in the Italian “Sword and Sandal” oeuvre were viewed. These movies are a little hard to find. After some research, I concluded not one has received a Blu-ray release, and not all have even made it to DVD. What blasphemy! Not every title in the bunch is a masterpiece, but at the very least, even a lousy film ought to be viewed in its proper aspect ratio, say I! Still, what I managed to see lent me enough perspective to understand what made up the era we might consider the classical period of Herculean cinema. Bodybuilders, women, adventures, adventures, and adventures cram the relatively short running time of every film full of fascination. Hercules’ world is a man’s world, and the sexual politics found there are running as wild as nearly every movie’s giggly female cast. Silly, misogynistic, and completely contrived, the gender roles assigned nearly every female cast member are laughable and occasionally sad. This is not the Hercules I imagined becoming.
The stoic Steve Reeves originated the role proper (Tiny Sanford played a cowardly Hercules in The Warrior’s Husband two decades earlier) with the demigod’s first titular appearance back in 1957. Setting a practice in motion which would never truly cease in film and television, Hercules told a hybrid myth, wherein our hero completes only two labors before meeting young Jason, sails with him in search of the Golden Fleece, and manages to make a few stops from The Odyssey along the way (Ulysses is also on board, taking the Roman name for Odysseus). All of these events proceed from the first random act of heroism. Princess Iole is helpless in trying to regain control of her chariot, and Hercules, roasting what appears to be a goat torso, takes it upon himself to stop the feral horses. How does he stop them? He pulls a damn tree out of the ground and throws it in her path, that’s how! It’s always bothered me how often movies do the character injustice by ignoring his most cinematic attribute: indefatigable, otherworldly strength. So many films want to explore what a great fighter he is, but the singular facet most worth filming is the sheer power of his body (after all, isn’t that why he is almost exclusively played by bodybuilders?). Upon her miraculous rescue, Iole, naturally, faints.
This is just a small part of her important role as a woman. She is there to swoon for the alpha male (and alpha, he is! In a scene where he obliterates Iole’s brother in a discus throw, the other boys all go running like he just dropped his trousers to reveal infinite manhood), but not to swoon too much. She must, of course, be achieved by the male protagonist. As the film progresses, her kingdom is threatened, but rather than embrace Hercules’ offer to help, he must still prove himself to her in order to win her adoration. Here, the film puts an equals sign between saving women, and conquering them, and this is not the last time the statement is made. During the expedition, the Argonauts are “captured” by the Amazons. For the uninitiated, before the word “Amazon” meant you could buy your life online, it referred to a (purely fictional) society of warrior women who fought proudly without the help or love of men. These women are almost effortlessly tamed by their prisoners when Hercules comes charging into the situation like a territorial pit-bull. Their queen, Hyppolita lives under the thumb of the tribal elders, and has to ignore her feelings for Jason, and slay the Argonauts, at the behest of her unmoved leaders. After foiling a trap, the Argonauts escape, and Hyppolita, a slave to her newfound heterosexual passions, looks longingly out her bedroom window. Saved from the fate of dispensing her lover, but conquered by man’s trickery, the mighty warrior is put in her place as a woman in the world of men.
Following Hercules, Reeves starred in the direct sequel, Hercules Unchained, where he, Ulysses, and Iole (now his wife) are inserted into events which seem to occur not long after the play Oedipus Rex. This film makes constant comic reference to the idea of Hercules being married, and marriage in general. Even the title seems to be slyly comparing monogamy to slavery. At one point, a snooping handmaiden pulls a set of chains from a chest belonging to Iole and asks, “Does it mean anything for you and Hercules?” Its meaning is fairly obvious as the film moves along. In an attempt to end a quarrel between two of Oedipus’ sons, Hercules leaves on another quest, leaving his wife behind. He drinks magic spring water, is brainwashed by evil Queen Omphale and forgets who he is. Intending to turn him into a stone statue and add him to her collection, Omphale is thwarted by Hercules’ companion, Ulysses. With the help of the reunited Argonauts, they make their escape. As they are sailing away, laughing and cheering and carrying on like drunken frat boys, Hercules is dumbstruck by a realization. To paraphrase: “Oh yeah… I left my wife with a sociopath. We should probably go save her.” It’s oddly played like a “bummer” moment, not to say he is downtrodden in realizing his mistake, but disappointed that he and the boys can’t always be off having adventures now that he is tied down. Women are always portrayed as either the goal, or a distraction from it.
To continue this theme, we should jump ahead a few episodes in the Hercules “franchise” to discuss what must be the capstone of the Italian films. Hercules in the Haunted World, directed by horror movie hero Mario Bava (Black Sunday), is a thrilling trip I would recommend to any movie fan (not just us nerds). Not even the typically dopey writing, and bizarre approach to comedy can damningly distract from its lovely nightmare imagery. Hercules (played here by British bodybuilder Reg Park), slightly better focused on the task of saving his wife this time around, must travel through Hades to restore his love’s memory stolen by her kingdom’s greedy steward (played with a fabulous creepiness by Christopher Lee). Not so focused on any one woman at a time is Hercules’ mortal companion, the hero Theseus. Again, women here are both the greatest obstacle, and the greatest prize. Theseus is only happy with his current lover until it is time to rush to his next manly sojourn. During said sojourn, he meets Persephone, and somehow that adventure stuff in now on the backburner. Along with the common issues of sex, we are blessed with the joy of watching Bava work his magic. Still a young talent then, he had found a lot of work in the sword and sandal genre as a cinematographer. It wasn’t until taking the helm on one of these projects, that he fully injected his visual prowess into the story. Lee’s villainous character is always shrouded, even obscured at times by darkness. The camera moves in ways unique to the rest of the film when he is on screen, suggesting his unnatural abilities. The formal elements are hard at work here in its capable director’s hands. It’s the kind of finely made, creepy piece of whacky entertainment that would make for excellent viewing at children’s Halloween parties.
The last film I caught was also the least of them, unfortunately. The Loves of Hercules (strangely released as Hercules Vs. The Hydra in America, even though the “Vs. the Hydra” part is a brief and tangential moment in the story) picks up with a Hercules who has just lost his wife, Megara, and is now out for vengeance. Arriving at a kingdom where he believes he will find his wife’s assassin, he bumps into Princess Deianara and begins to fall for her. In this movie, we find a far more romantic Hercules. Nearly every choice he makes is in the name of love, rather that of adventure and glory. We can most likely chalk this sudden lack of machismo up to Hollywood’s culture sneaking into the series. In an attempt to harness star power, rather than casting noted musclemen, filmmakers attracted none other than Jayne Mansfield (when she was covertly 3 months pregnant) to the role of Deianara. She agreed only on the condition that her current husband, Mickey Hargitay be cast as Hercules. I wish this film were as strangely entertaining as this setup implies. The whole thing (save for a few impressive sequences) feels like a mistake. Hargitay, who must be the smallest of the actors to take on the role of the ultimate man, can barely fill the sandals freshly voided by Reeves. It’s the only time I had the thought, “Boy, Hercules isn’t very good at lifting stuff.” Though in excellent shape, Hargitay seems to be lacking the kind of coordination required to utilize super-strength in battle, and Mansfield doesn’t look much more comfortable than her hubby does. The Amazons reappear with their queen making a dastardly attempt to imprison Hercules (as a living tree, or to put it another way, leaving him eternally erect), using her feminine (and supernatural) wiles in a way we have come to expect from women in this series. In this film, rather than being saved by another man, however, a general of the Amazon army comes to Hercules’ aid. He then returns to his Deianara, finding her a damsel very much in distress.
In the Italian form, we are treated to a muscular, charming, and uncomplicated Hercules. He may not always know what he wants moment to moment, but he is not a character that develops or changes. He is a rock, unmoved by the events in his extraordinary life. When a woman is lost, another will appear, ready for his embrace. In his world, a woman is easy to find and conquer. The woman who presents a challenge is up to no good. I don’t consider it a coincidence that any female character with power, intelligence, or will is on the side of evil. You may think I am being too hard on this series, but the proof is in the ambrosia. Get yourself watched-up on these interesting and almost always watchable (at least) movies, and you will see that a woman out of her place has no place at all when the strongest person in the world is a man.
