Gladiators 7

Not to be confused with Gladiators Seven.

Gladiators 7 is a 1962 film directed by Pedro Lazaga. The film has several elements from Akira Kurosawa's film The Seven Samurai.

Gladiators 7
Directed by	Pedro Lazaga
Screenplay by	Sandro Continenza Bruno Corbucci Alberto De Martino Giovanni Grimaldi[1]
Story by	Alberto De Martino Italo Zingarelli[1]
Produced by	Anacleto Fontini Italo Zingarelli[1]
Starring	Richard Harrison Loredana Nusciak Livio Lorenzon Gérard Tichy
Cinematography	Bitto Albertini Eloy Mella[1]
Edited by	Otello Colangeli[1]
Distributed by	Metro Goldwyn Mayer
Release dates	11 October 1962 (1962-10-11) (Italy) 7 May 1964 (1964-05-07) (United States)
Running time	105 minutes
Countries	Spain Italy[2]

Plot

A Greek gladiator seeks revenge for the murder of his father and finds his lover captured by an evil tyrant.

Cast

• Richard Harrison as Darius
• Loredana Nusciak as Aglaia
• Livio Lorenzon as Panurgus
• Gérard Tichy as Hiarba
• Edoardo Toniolo as Milon
• José Marco as Xeno
• Barta Barri as Flaccus
• Nazzareno Zamperla as Vargas (credited as Tony Zamperla)
• Franca Badeschi as Licia
• Enrique Ávila as Livius
• Antonio Molino Rojo as Macrobius
• Antonio Rubio as Mados
• Emilia Wolkowicz as Ismere

Production

The film was partially shot on some of the locations where El Cid was filmed.^[3] Parts of the film were shot in Spain.^[4]

Release

Gladiators 7 was released theatrically in Italy on 11 October 1962 with a 105 minute running time and in the United States on 6 May 1964 with a 92 minute running time.^[3]

Reception

In contemporary reviews, "Tube." of Variety found the film to have a cliche screenplay with "stiff acting" and "mechanical dubbing".^[5] "Tube." noted that among the action sequences, the best involved a bout between a bull and a bare-handed gladiator but that the film was "erratic in tempo and dramatically heavyhanded [sic]."^[5] A review in the Monthly Film Bulletin stated that "the customary ingredients of colour, passion, and swordplay, here lavishly applied, add up to a lighthearted and lusty swashbuckling film."^[6]