GIANT
OF MARATHON (1959)Directors: Jacques Tourneur and Mario Bava
Alpha Video
GIANT
OF MARATHON (1959)Alpha Video has gone all out to
present this fifth Steve Reeves effort and is the only company yet to issue
this title on DVD which was filmed in Dyaliscope and released stateside in May
of 1960. The cast and crew would become familiar to Bavaphiles as this was made
a year before The Maestro’s BLACK SUNDAY (1960).
GIANT OF MARATHON was started by Jacques Tourneur and completed by Mario Bava. Ivo Garrani stars as Krusus and would go on to portray the elder Prince Vaida. The musical score was composed by Roberto Nicolosi, responsible for the magical music for BLACK SUNDAY (1960), GLI INVASORI aka ERIK THE CONQUEROR (1961), I TRE VOLTI DELLA PAURA aka BLACK SABBATH (1963), and LA RAGAZZA CHE SAPEVA TROPPO (1963) aka THE EVIL EYE (1964). The Producer, Bruno Vailati, hustled to get the bucks for more than one Bava opus. And naturally the prolific Ennio De Concini dreamed up the screenplay (along with Vailati and others) andhad many ideas that benefited Mario Bava. The Grand Master was assistant director as he had been with HERCULES (1957) and HERCULES UNCHAINED (1957), completing all the trick photography and special effects for which he often received no credit.
NIGHT OF THE DEMON (1957, as it
was known in the UK) and CURSE OF THE DEMON (1958, as it was known in the USA),
is dealt with in Chris Fujiwara’s last word on the Director, Jacques
Tourneur: The Cinema of Nightfall (published in 1998 by McFarland &
Company, Inc. of Jefferson, North Carolina and London) and BATTLE OF MARATHON
is a noted entry: “The script is a loose transposition of the events of
the First Persian War (Herodotus, The Persian Wars, Book VI). Philippides (Reeves),
champion of the Olympic games, is appointed to the sacred guard of Athens. Hoping
to win the hero’s support for his conspiracy to seize political power in
Athens, Theocritus (Sergio Fantoni) orders his mistress, Karis (the magnificent
Daniela Rocca) to seduce Philippides, who is, however, smitten with Andromeda
(Myléne Demongeot), the daughter of Krusus (Ivo Garrani), a sacred guard
in repelling a sea attack, killing the traitorous Theocritus. Philippides goes
to Sparta to persuade the city leaders to join with Athens in fighting the invader,
then returns to help the Athenians beat the Persians at Marathon. Learning of
the imminent landing of the Persian fleet at Piraeus, Philippides runs to Athens
to warn the city, then leads the sacred guard in repelling the sea attack, killing
the traitorous Theocritus.” The author adds Tourneur was hired by Steve
Reeves himself and was an admirer of the director’s work.
Trickster Bava would exhibit his ease in making a battlefield out of a smaller number of men look formidable (check out ERIK THE CONQUEROR (1961) and KNIVES OF THE AVENGER (1966). And a trademark macabre moment takes place before the hated legions of Persian King Darius meet the noble Greek forces, Athenians and Spartans together, united in their fear and dread of the enemy in battle as they catapult a nifty skull at the Persian enemy (and traitorous quislings) that lands perfectly before them, a moment serving the Persians a chilling omen of things to come. Even a tracking shot of Reeves going through a wooded area would recall the adolescent tavern-maid (Germana Dominici) witnessing both the slow-motion carriage ride in its verdant sylvan splendor to the talons of her real-life father Arturo Dominici conducting the hellish coach ride as guided in the chiaroscuro masterpiece BLACK SUNDAY.
Steve
Reeves portrays Philippides with the gusto, charm and the manliness that made
him world-famous. He once was one of Europe’s best-paid stars, and it’s
easy to see why. Certain underwater sequences are a homoerotic wet dream (not
to mention the bodybuilder’s wrestling and pugilistic talents) and women
also found him irresistible (Reeves’ first marriage was to a Rome-based
motion picture publicist and two other women, one a blonde Russian countess).
Steve Reeves is handsome as ever without facial hair. A treat to all gazing
at his male perfection, this writer would like to see all the remaining Reeves
canon presented in their proper aspect ratios on DVD from start to finish, but
perhaps due to Holder of Copyright problems or the Italian court system, who
knows when?
Alberto Lupo (who NEVER appeared
in a Bava film) starred as Prof. Alberto Levin of ATOM AGE VAMPIRE (SEDDOK,
L’EREDE DI SATANA / 1960) and its titular monster and portrayed a character
named Milziade in BATTLE FOR MARATHON. He was directed by Anton Giulio Majano.
Ethereal music was by Armando Trovajoli (HERCULES IN THE HAUNTED WORLD, GIANT
OF METROPOLIS,
WEREWOLF IN A GIRL’S DORMITORY). One Bava stalwart he appeared with in
ATOM AGE VAMPIRE, however, was Ivo Garrani who needs no introduction here.
At times the color saturation is perfect though many shots appear washed out. GIANT OF MARATHON returns the tale to its original (2.35:1) aspect ratio and is listed as 85 minutes in duration out of 90 or 92, meaning there is a missing five to seven minutes out there somewhere. As with all Alpha releases, there are six chapter stops. One extra is coming attractions from Alpha.
However, this one’s worth the price until superior product comes along. This reviewer will still sing the praises of Steve Kaplan and his effort despite its problems. (Christopher Dietrich)