Hercules and the Princess of Troy

Hercules and the Princess of Troy is a 1965 Italian-American made-for-television adventure fantasy film directed by Albert Band. It was originally made as a pilot for a television series which never materialized.^[1] Albeit very short, the film was released to US television as a feature film. It is also referred to as Hercules vs the Sea Monster in reference books.

Hercules and the Princess of Troy
Genre	Action Adventure Drama Fantasy
Written by	Larry Forrester Ugo Liberatore
Directed by	Albert Band
Starring	Gordon Scott Diana Hyland Gordon Mitchell Roger Browne
Music by	Fred Steiner
Country of origin	Italy United States
Original language	English
Production
Executive producer	Joseph E. Levine
Producer	Albert Band
Cinematography	Enzo Barboni
Editors	Russell Wiles John Woodcock
Running time	47 minutes
Production company	Embassy Pictures
Original release
Network	ABC
Release	September 12, 1965 (1965-09-12)

Plot

The film opens with the statement that the people of Troy must once a month sacrifice a maiden lest a sea monster from destroying their city. Because of this, some families flee from Troy, only to be captured by pirates. Hercules (Gordon Scott), aboard the Olympia, comes across one of these ships and frees the Trojans aboard. Going to Troy, Hercules is given use of two horses that cannot be wounded by arrows. He then learns from Ortag (Roger Browne) the monster's weakness: its armor doesn't cover its belly.

Shortly afterwards, a boxer named Botus tries to poison Hercules but is impaled on his own spiked gloves and dies. Then Hercules and Ulysses (Mart Hulswit) are attacked by what appear to be thieves, and Diogenes (Paul Stevens) presents the theory that Petra (Steve Garrett) killed his brother, Linus, and is planning to have Princess Diana (Diana Hyland) killed. After this theory is revealed to Princess Diana, she is chosen for the ceremony, and the high priest is killed. After challenging Petra, Hercules is captured and held in a metal hole, down which soldiers pour oil to keep Hercules from climbing out. Ortag rescues Hercules and dies fighting the monster which Hercules finally slays. Princess Diana becomes ruler of Troy, and Hercules continues on his way.

Cast

• Gordon Scott as Hercules
• Paul Stevens as Diogenes
• Mart Hulswit as Ulysses
• Diana Hyland as Princess Diana
• Steve Garrett as Petra
• Gordon Mitchell as Pirate Captain
• George Ardisson as Leander (as Giorgio Ardisson)
• Roger Browne as Ortag
• Jacques Stany as Argus (as Jacques Stanislawski)
• Mario Novelli as Botus
• Dan Christian as Boatswain
• Everett Sloane as Narrator

See also

• List of American films of 1965
• List of films featuring Hercules