Following the enormous
worldwide success of Pietro Francisci’s HERCULES
(1958) and its star, ex-bodybuilder and Mr. Universe Steve Reeves, Italian film
screens were suddenly flooded with characters like Maciste, Hercules and Ursus. Steve Della Casa’s short but informative
documentary charts the sudden popularity of these films, its stars and the
Italian film industry, which at the time, became known as “Hollywood on the
Tiber”.
Through the use of rare
archival footage and contemporary interviews, this nostalgic look at the once
burgeoning Italian film industry focuses much of its attention – at least in
the beginning – on Steve Reeves and his extraordinary success. In a particularly lively bit of archive
footage, our enthusiastic narrator remarks, “even the nobility opened castles
and gateways for Mr. Muscles” and, in an interesting revelation, it was in fact
actor Mimmo Palmara who suggested to Mr. Francisci to hire “American
bodybuilders”. Of course, this led to other ex-bodybuilders
such as Gordon Mitchell, Gordon Scott, Mark Forest and many others anxiously
following in the footsteps of Mr. Reeves.
In one of the many interview segments, director Carlo Verdone recounts,
rather fondly, about the popularity of these films and their stars when his
Aunt Lina would take him to the movies “twice a week” to see many of them.
While much of the doc’s
attention is primarily focused on these “uomini
forti”, many of the film’s starlets (“brunettes were wicked and the blondes
were handmaidens”) are also given their due through the use of even more
fascinating archival footage. Sylva Koscina,
Moira Orfei, the “fiery” Cuban-born Chelo Alonso are all highlighted while the
once elusive Rosalba Neri grants another terrific interview, which includes
some funny anecdotes related to Tanio Boccia’s HERCULES OF THE DESERT (1964).
 |
| Steve Reeves arriving in Rome. |
Director Steve Della Casa
also touches on the many American productions that took full advantage of the
cheaper production costs in Italy to help produce their “historical epics”, one
of the catalysts that also spawned the “sword-and-sandal” genre throughout
Italy. Footage of Richard Fleischer on
the set of BARRABAS (1961) and
Victor Mature filming Edgar G. Ulmer’s HANNIBAL
(1959) are some of the highlights.
Not as thorough as it could
have been, the short running time – just over 45 minutes – suggests this was
originally made for Italian television, but UOMINI FORTI is still
well worth seeking out and a terrific look at the once prosperous Italian film
industry, which is sadly, a thing of the past.
Released in 2006 by UniVideo with the participation of Rome's Istituto Luce, this English subtitled, all region DVD is still available here.
 |
| The "fiery" Chelo Alonso. |
 |
| Gordon Mitchell |
