DVD review – Guido Malatesta’s ‘Goliath contro i giganti’ (Italy, Spain, 1961)

Peplum films are almost totally left out from the recent revival of interest in Popular Italian Cinema. These movies were mostly marketed to teenagers, and they don’t have the appeal which makes actioners, thrillers and horrors so tasty nowadays. So, credit is due to Italian company Ripley’s Home Video for bringing to the DVD market some obscure but nonetheless interesting titles in the genre.

Goliath contro i giganti (Goliath Against the Giants in the states) is credited to Guido Malatesta. Actually, it was completed by Gianfranco Parolini (a.k.a. Frank Kramer), who directed most of the action scenes and is credited as artistic director. Stating Parolini’s own words, Malatesta was fired for asking the producers too much in order to build the scenery for a central naval scene. The movie is a co-production between the Spanish Procusa and the Italian Cineproduzioni Associate, as is the 1961 Sergio Leone’s Il Colosso di Rodi. Second unit direction is by Jorge Grau, who also worked as assistant director for Leone’s movie, and would later become a central figure in Spanish Horror.

The cast is quite interesting. Brad Harris as Goliath gives a great performance in one of his earlier appearances on Italian screens (and before becoming a staple in Parolini’s filmography along Tony Kendall). Next to him, as Namath, a fresh-faced Fernando Sancho, the Euro Western and Eurocult favorite. The infamous villain Bokan is colorfully played by no less than Fernando Rey, while his minion Jagoda is the stuntman/charachter actor Nello Pazzafini, an important and constant presence in Popular Italian Cinema. Less interesting are the female presences, with Barbara Carroll as Bokan’s woman, Daina, and Gloria Millard as the purple-clad femme fatale Elea.

While the plot is enjoyable, it is also nothing more than ordinary. After a five years war fought far from home, Goliath is set to free his land, the reign of Beirat, usurped by the evil Bokan. On his voyage home he encounters obstacles varying from a sea serpent, to a furious storm, to an ambiguous lady – the latter being the most dangerous one.

In spite of the plot, prone to a conscious political development, the movie lacks the intelligent political side that directors like Vittorio Cottafavi brought to the genre. It is otherwise competently directed, as solidly narrated, and serves as a perfect example of a diffused high craftsmanship level of production which characterised Italian Cinema of the sixties. No dazzling special effects here, but a straightforward naivete which makes for a lovely time.
Nonetheless, it is interesting as it shows the typical cultural approach to the genre. A not-so-subtle misogyny pervades the script, in the characterization of women as in some sentences contained in the script. Plus, it shows the “creative” exploitative approach which screenwriters took in fronting these Biblical figures. Goliath appeared a year before in Italian Cinema, in Ferdinando Baldi’s and Richard Pottier’s Davide e Golia, retaining his negative nature as an evil mighty giant fought by David in a search of freedom. Here it looses his negative nature, becoming a good force against tyranny and the giants (himself being originally a giant). It is quite amusing that these movies were a sure value for second-run or third-run screens managed by parish churches all around Italy!

Italian and English Dolby Digital mono audio options are offered, both in good shape. Unfortunately, no English subtitles are provided for the Italian track. The DVD (Region 0, PAL) has been mastered directly from the original negative, and the anamorphic widescreen transfer is top quality, presenting the film in it’s original 2,35:1 aspect ratio. The print is in very good shape and runs for 91’43’’ (mastered in PAL format – 25fps).
The extras consist of the film theatrical’s trailer and a 18’ interview with Gianfranco Parolini by Italian critic Tatti Sanguineti, which comes with removable English subtitles. Parolini is lively and enthusiastic and spends some time recounting his career and sharing anecdotes (some fun ones concerning Sergio Leone) about his long involvement in Italian movie industry, which continues today with a project featuring Amazon warrior women.