Le fatiche di Ercole (English: The labours of Hercules; English title: Hercules) is a 1957 Italian epic fantasy feature film (released in Italy in Feb., 1958) based upon the Hercules myths and the Quest for the Golden Fleece. The film stars Steve Reeves as the titular hero and Sylva Koscina as his love interest Princess Iole. Hercules was directed by Pietro Francisci and produced by Federico Teti. The film spawned a sequel, Hercules Unchained (Italian: Ercole e la Regina di Lidia), that also starred Reeves and Koscina.
Hercules made Reeves an international film star and effectively paved the way for the dozens of 1960s peplum (or "sword and sandal") films featuring oiled bodybuilders as mythological heroes and gladiators battling monsters, despots, and evil queens.
The film's screenplay is based loosely upon the myths of Hercules and the Greek epic poem Argonautica by Apollonius of Rhodes. In both myths and epic poem, Hercules' role in the Quest for the Golden Fleece is marginal; he abandons the expedition early-on when Hylas, his armor-bearer and eromenos (Greek: ἐρώμενος), is lost on an island while searching for water. With Hylas conveniently absent from the film, Hercules' role is greatly expanded: he remains with the expedition for its duration, saves the Argo from destruction in a storm, disciplines the mutinous crew, and overwhelms enemy forces with brute strength in the film's finale. Twists on the sources include the introduction of Iole into the tale as Pelias' daughter, the replacement of Hylas with young Ulysses as Hercules' protégé, and Hercules' renunciation of his immortality in order to experience life as a mortal man.
Newsweek | 21 Jun 2018