A happy/safe early Fourth of July to all fellow Svengoolie SvenPals and fellow readers of “Silver Screen Reflections” from coast-to-coast! –C.H.
Fellow SvenPals of Svengoolie will be interested in the upcoming return of the English dub of an Italian “sword-and-sandal”/creature adventure feature from 1963.
“Svengoolie” presents the return of “The Medusa against the Son of Hercules” (1963)
Snippet of “The Medusa Against the Son of Hercules” (1963).
The legendary Berwyn/Chicago-based creature/horror/fantasy film host will present the return of “The Medusa against the Son of Hercules” (1963, a.k.a. “Perseo l’invincibile/“Perseus the Invincible”), this Sat., July 7 at 8 p.m. Eastern/7 p.m. Central on Me-TV.
The feature was directed by Alberto De Martino, who also directed two features that were later riffed on “Mystery Science Theater 3000;” “Operation Kid Brother/Operation Double 007” (1967, riffed on MST3K w/Joel Hodgson in 1993) and “The Pumaman” (1980, riffed on MST3K w/Mike Nelson in 1998).
The special creature effects for De Martino’s “The Medusa against the Son of Hercules” were done by legendary special effects artist Carlo Rambaldi, who would later work on special effects for two blockbuster Steven Spielberg features; “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” (1977) and “E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial” (1982).
This will mark Sven’s second showcase of “The Medusa against the Son of Hercules” on Me-TV. He previously showcased the North American dub of De Martino’s cult “sword and sandal”/creature epic back in Sept. 2017, as part of Sven’s move to primetime on the Me-TV airlanes.
Who was in De Martino’s “Hercules” entry?
The players who appeared in “The Medusa against the Son of Hercules” (1963) were Richard Harrison (as Perseo/Perseus), Anna Ranalli (as Andromeda), Arturo Dominici (as Acrisio), Leo Anchóriz (as Galenore), Antonio Molino Rojo (as Tarpete, a.k.a. “Molino Rojo”) and Roberto Camardiel (as Cefeo).
Harrison would later appear in several low-budget ninja warrior features in his acting career, according to his IMDB profile. According to details from the July 18, 1960 issue of Billboard Magazine, Italian actress/model Anna Ranalli was crowned “Miss Europe.” “The Medusa against the Son of Hercules” was one of six feature films that she appeared in throughout her brief acting stint (according to IMDB). Antonio Molino Rojo later appeared in Sergio Leone’s “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” (1966, in the role of Capt. Harper, Rojo was credited as Molino Rocho in Leone’s classic western).
Released in the United States as part of a syndicated group of “Hercules” features for television
The North American distribution of the English-dubbed version of “The Medusa against the Son of Hercules” was handled by Joseph E. Levine and his art-house/independent film distribution company, Embassy Pictures for first-run television syndication (according to IMDB).
This was part of a package of dubbed “Hercules” films that was syndicated by Embassy for local television syndication, titled the “Sons of Hercules” package. According to the ad for Embassy’s syndicated offerings for TV that was featured in the March 15, 1965 issue of “Broadcasting” (“Broadcasting and Cable”) magazine, 13 dubbed features were included in the “Sons of Hercules” collection and were also condensed into 26 hour-long programs for local stations.
This might have been done to capitalize on the television success of Pietro Francisci’s “Hercules” (1958, featuring Steve Reeves in the title role; Levine handled the North American theatrical rights to the sword-and-sandal feature, Embassy syndicated Francisci’s “Hercules” to local television stations in 1963). “Hercules” (1958) was later riffed on “Mystery Science Theater 3000” with Joel Hodgson in 1993.
Be sure to watch and/or record Svengoolie and the return of “The Medusa against the Son of Hercules” (1963), this Sat. on Me-TV!
Don’t miss out on the fun with Sven, Doug (with his parody song) and Kerwyn (with his “mail call” segment) during Svengoolie’s showcase of the return of “The Medusa against the Son of Hercules” (1963), this Sat. on Me-TV! You will not be disappointed! Highly recommended to all fellow SvenPals!
If you missed out on Sven’s Sept. 2017 showcase of “The Medusa against the Son of Hercules” on Me-TV, you will have another chance to witness his showcase of a cult “sword-and-sandal” creature feature! -C.H.
Svengoolie presents the return of “The Medusa against the Son of Hercules” (1963)
Sat., July 7 at 8 p.m. Eastern/7 p.m. Central on Sat., June 30 at 8 p.m. Eastern/7 p.m. Central on Me-TV (part of “Super Sci-Fi Sat. Night”)
In the Frederick, Maryland/Washington, D.C. area: WTTG-5.3/Cable 196/Fios 489/Antietam Cable 194 (also on QAM digital 68.6 for Antietam cable subscribers)
In the Baltimore, Maryland area: WBAL-TV 11.2/Cable 208
In the Hanover/Gettysburg/York, Pennsylvania area: WGAL-TV 8.2/Cable 248
Join in on the fun and live-tweet (via Twitter) with all fellow SvenPals out there during #Svengoolie’s Me-TV Sat. showcase of the return of “The Medusa against the Son of Hercules” (1963)!
Svengoolie’s recent cameo appearance in the Sunday funnies!
According to Sven’s official Twitter feed, he asked his fellow SvenPals to check out the July 1 edition of Ray Billingsley’s King Features comic strip, “Curtis.” Several fellow SvenPals have confirmed that the man in the movie poster was definitely Sven!
Congratulations, Sven on behalf of all of us fellow SvenPals on the cameo appearance in Ray Billingsley’s “Curtis!” -C.H.
A get-well greeting to one of our fellow SvenPals/MSTies:
On behalf of all fellow Svengoolie SvenPals and fellow MSTies of MST3K, the writer of “Silver Screen Reflections” would like to extend get-well greetings to fellow SvenPal/MSTie Chris A. Filippone. Glad to hear you’re back on the airlanes! Get well soon, sir! -C.H.
In relation to “The Medusa Against the Son of Hercules:”
“Medusa against the Son of Hercules” is also available to watch for free on Shout! Factory TV (Note: there are digital image artifact problems during the first few seconds of the feature).