The Sword-and-sandal series (1957-1965) includes numerous films depicting Hercules that go by various titles depending by country of release. Below is a list (chronological order) that begins with the film's U.S.-release title, followed by the original Italian title and translation:[i]
Sons of Hercules was a syndicated television show that aired in the US in the 1960s. The series repackaged 14 Italian sword-and-sandal films by giving them a memorable theme song and a standard intro relating the lead character in each film to the Greek demigod Hercules any way they could. The first title listed for each film was its American television title, followed by the original Italian title in parentheses:
Title
Notes
Mole Men versus the Son of Hercules
(Maciste, The Strongest Man in the World) starring Mark Forest as Maciste
The Terror of Rome versus the Son of Hercules
(Maciste, Gladiator of Sparta) starring Mark Forest
Fire Monsters Against The Son Of Hercules
(Maciste Vs. The Monsters) starring Reg Lewis as Maciste
Triumph Of The Son Of Hercules
(The Triumph Of Maciste) starring Kirk Morris as Maciste
Son Of Hercules In The Land Of Darkness
(Hercules The Invincible) starring Dan Vadis as Hercules
Ulysses Vs. The Son Of Hercules
(Ulysses Against Hercules) starring Mike Lane as Hercules
Son Of Hercules In The Land Of Fire
(Ursus In The Land Of Fire) starring Ed Fury as Ursus
Ursus, Son Of Hercules
(a.k.a. Ursus, a.k.a. Mighty Ursus) starring Ed Fury
The Tyrant Of Lydia Vs. The Son Of Hercules
(Goliath and the Rebel Slave) starring Gordon Scott as Goliath
US film - The story of Jason and Argonauts, a band of heroes in Greek mythology, who in the years before the Trojan War (around 1300 BC) accompanied Jason to Colchis in his quest to find the Golden Fleece.
Ursus is a super-human pseudo-Biblical/Roman character who is the hero in a series of Italian films made in the 1960s.
There were a total of 9 Italian sword-and-sandal films that featured Ursus as the main character, as follows:
^A number of English-dubbed Italian films that featured the Hercules name in their title were never intended to be Hercules movies by their Italian creators:
Hercules, Prisoner of Evil was actually a retitled Ursus film; Hercules and the Black Pirate and Hercules and the Treasure of the Incas were both retitled Samson movies; Hercules and the Masked Rider was actually a retitled Goliath movie; and the films Hercules Against the Moon Men, Hercules Against the Barbarians, Hercules Against the Mongols, and Hercules of the Desert were all originally Maciste films.
Likewise, most of the Sons of Hercules movies shown on American TV in the 1960s had nothing to do with Hercules in their original Italian incarnations.[citation needed]
