Gladiators 7

Not to be confused with Gladiators Seven.

Gladiators 7
Directed by	Pedro Lazaga
Screenplay by	Sandro Continenza Bruno Corbucci Alberto De Martino Giovanni Grimaldi[2]
Story by	Alberto De Martino Italo Zingarelli[2]
Produced by	Anacleto Fontini Italo Zingarelli[2]
Starring	Richard Harrison Loredana Nusciak Livio Lorenzon Gérard Tichy
Cinematography	Bitto Albertini Eloy Mella[2]
Edited by	Otello Colangeli[2]
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[1]

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

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]

References

Footnotes

1. Bowker 1983.
2. Kinnard & Crnkovich 2017, p. 65.
3. Kinnard & Crnkovich 2017, p. 67.
4. Labanyi & Pavlović 2015, p. 249.
5. Variety's Film Reviews 1964-1967. Vol. 11. R. R. Bowker. 1983. There are no page numbers in this book. This entry is found under the header "April 29, 1964". ISBN 0-8352-2790-1.
6. "Sette Gladiatori, I (Gladiators 7), Italy/Spain, 1962". Monthly Film Bulletin. Vol. 31, no. 364. British Film Institute. May 1964. pp. 77–78.

Sources

• Variety's Film Reviews: 1964-1967. Rr Bowker Llc. 1983. ISBN 0835227901.
• Kinnard, Roy; Crnkovich, Tony (2017). Italian Sword and Sandal Films, 1908-1990. McFarland. ISBN 978-1476662916.
• Labanyi, Jo; Pavlović, Tatjana (2015). A Companion to Spanish Cinema. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-0835227902.

External links

• Gladiators 7 at IMDb