Ursus (film character)
Encyclopedia
Ursus is a fictional character featured in a series of Italian sword and sandal
films produced in the early 1960s. The character was an archetypical
Greco-Roman
warrior, similar to the mythical Hercules
or Robert E. Howard
's Conan the Barbarian
. The character was obviously inspired by the mightily-muscled Roman slave Ursus (played by Buddy Baer) who slays a bull with his bare hards in a Roman gladiatorial arena in the 1951 Hollywood classic "QUO VADIS?". When the "Hercules" film craze hit in 1959, Italian filmmakers were looking for other muscleman characters similar to Hercules whom they could exploit. A character named Ursus was featured in a series of nine Italian-made films from 1961 to 1964.
The classical warrior was first prominently featured in 1961's Ursus, where he must rescue his fiancee from a sacrificial cult with the aid of a blind girl, and was portrayed by actor Ed Fury
. This film was released in the United States
initially as Mighty Ursus and was later adapted for the American
television series The Sons of Hercules
, where it was retitled "Ursus, Son of Hercules".
In 1961's La Vendetta di Ursus (The Revenge of Ursus), while portrayed by Canadian muscleman Samson Burke
, Ursus is a farmer with his younger brother Doraius, who fights to prevent the malicious King Zagro and his henchman Lycurgas from overtaking the neighboring kingdom of Leecha.
The third film, Ursus e la regazza tartara (Ursus and the Tartar Girl, released in English-speaking countries as Ursus and the Tartar Princess), was filmed in France
in 1962, and starred British
actor Joe Robinson
as Ursus, but takes place in Central Asia
; Ursus fights a Khan
played by famous Armenian actor Akim Tamiroff
. This film was also released to American television under the title "The Tartar Invasion".
That same year, Ed Fury returned in Ursus nella valle dei leoni (Ursus in the Valley of the Lions), where the audience sees Ursus' origin for the first time. He is the prince of a fallen kingdom, raised in a valley by a pride of lion
s (thus a feral child
) after the rest of the royal family was killed. The film cuts ahead in time, revealing the adult Ursus imprisoned by the very ruler who overthrew his family's kingdom long ago. When Ursus realises the identity of his captor, he vows to overthrow him.
Ursus nella terra di fuoco (Ursus in the Land of Fire), released in 1963, yet again stars Ed Fury. In it, Ursus must overthrow a vicious general who has overtaken the throne of an unnamed country. Land of Fire was adapted for the American
television series The Sons of Hercules
, where it was retitled "The Son of Hercules in the Land of Fire".
Ursus's next three films were Ursus il gladiatore ribelle (Ursus The Rebel Gladiator, aka "The Rebel Gladiators"), 1963 (starring Dan Vadis); Ursus il terrore dei kirghisi (Ursus, the Terror of the Kirghiz, aka "Hercules, Prisoner of Evil") 1964 (starring Reg Park); and Gli Invincibili Tre (The Invincible Three, aka "The Three Avengers") 1964 (starring Alan Steel as Ursus).
The 9th and final film to feature Ursus was the relatively high-budget teamup film Ercole, Sansone, Maciste e Ursus gli invincible(Hercules, Samson, Maciste and Ursus: the Invincibles) (1964) which was released in English-speaking countries as "Samson and the Mighty Challenge" . The film features Ursus along with Maciste
, Samson
and Hercules
, with a special cameo appearance by Zeus. Yann Larvor portrays Ursus in this film, while Alan Steel played Hercules, Renato ("Red") Rossini played Maciste and Nadir Baltimore played Samson. This film was also released in Europe as "Le Grand Defi" or "Combate de Gigantes".
Sword and sandal
The Peplum , also known as Sword-and-Sandal, is a genre of largely Italian-made Historical or Biblical Epics that dominated the Italian film industry from 1957 to 1965, eventually being replaced in 1965 by the "Spaghetti Western"...
films produced in the early 1960s. The character was an archetypical
Archetype
An archetype is a universally understood symbol or term or pattern of behavior, a prototype upon which others are copied, patterned, or emulated...
Greco-Roman
Classical antiquity
Classical antiquity is a broad term for a long period of cultural history centered on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ancient Greece and ancient Rome, collectively known as the Greco-Roman world...
warrior, similar to the mythical Hercules
Hercules
Hercules is the Roman name for Greek demigod Heracles, son of Zeus , and the mortal Alcmene...
or Robert E. Howard
Robert E. Howard
Robert Ervin Howard was an American author who wrote pulp fiction in a diverse range of genres. Best known for his character Conan the Barbarian, he is regarded as the father of the sword and sorcery subgenre....
's Conan the Barbarian
Conan the Barbarian
Conan the Barbarian is a fictional sword and sorcery hero that originated in pulp fiction magazines and has since been adapted to books, comics, several films , television programs, video games, roleplaying games and other media...
. The character was obviously inspired by the mightily-muscled Roman slave Ursus (played by Buddy Baer) who slays a bull with his bare hards in a Roman gladiatorial arena in the 1951 Hollywood classic "QUO VADIS?". When the "Hercules" film craze hit in 1959, Italian filmmakers were looking for other muscleman characters similar to Hercules whom they could exploit. A character named Ursus was featured in a series of nine Italian-made films from 1961 to 1964.
The classical warrior was first prominently featured in 1961's Ursus, where he must rescue his fiancee from a sacrificial cult with the aid of a blind girl, and was portrayed by actor Ed Fury
Ed Fury
Ed Fury , born Edmund Holovchik, was an American body builder and physique model who travelled to Italy to take advantage of the popularity of sword and sandal films...
. This film was released in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
initially as Mighty Ursus and was later adapted for the American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
television series The Sons of Hercules
The Sons of Hercules
The Sons of Hercules was a syndicated Embassy Pictures television show that aired in the United States of America in the 1960s. The series repackaged 14 Italian sword-and-sandal films by giving them a standardized theme song for the opening and closing titles, as well as a standard introductory...
, where it was retitled "Ursus, Son of Hercules".
In 1961's La Vendetta di Ursus (The Revenge of Ursus), while portrayed by Canadian muscleman Samson Burke
Samson Burke
-Biography:Burke attended Baron Byng High School and McGill University where he earned a degree in physical education. He wrestled and swam for Canada in the 1948 Summer Olympics....
, Ursus is a farmer with his younger brother Doraius, who fights to prevent the malicious King Zagro and his henchman Lycurgas from overtaking the neighboring kingdom of Leecha.
The third film, Ursus e la regazza tartara (Ursus and the Tartar Girl, released in English-speaking countries as Ursus and the Tartar Princess), was filmed in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
in 1962, and starred British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
actor Joe Robinson
Joe Robinson
Joe Robinson is an English actor and stuntman born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. His brother is also a stuntman and actor, Doug Robinson The Robinson's were a famous family of wrestlers, Joe's father and grandfather were world champions....
as Ursus, but takes place in Central Asia
Central Asia
Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...
; Ursus fights a Khan
Khan (title)
Khan is an originally Altaic and subsequently Central Asian title for a sovereign or military ruler, widely used by medieval nomadic Turko-Mongol tribes living to the north of China. 'Khan' is also seen as a title in the Xianbei confederation for their chief between 283 and 289...
played by famous Armenian actor Akim Tamiroff
Akim Tamiroff
Akim Mikhailovich Tamiroff was an Armenian actor. He won the first Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor.Tamiroff was born in Tiflis, Russian Empire , of Armenian ethnicity. He trained at the Moscow Art Theatre drama school. He arrived in the U.S. in 1923 on a tour with a troupe of actors...
. This film was also released to American television under the title "The Tartar Invasion".
That same year, Ed Fury returned in Ursus nella valle dei leoni (Ursus in the Valley of the Lions), where the audience sees Ursus' origin for the first time. He is the prince of a fallen kingdom, raised in a valley by a pride of lion
Lion
The lion is one of the four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger...
s (thus a feral child
Feral child
A feral child is a human child who has lived isolated from human contact from a very young age, and has no experience of human care, loving or social behavior, and, crucially, of human language...
) after the rest of the royal family was killed. The film cuts ahead in time, revealing the adult Ursus imprisoned by the very ruler who overthrew his family's kingdom long ago. When Ursus realises the identity of his captor, he vows to overthrow him.
Ursus nella terra di fuoco (Ursus in the Land of Fire), released in 1963, yet again stars Ed Fury. In it, Ursus must overthrow a vicious general who has overtaken the throne of an unnamed country. Land of Fire was adapted for the American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
television series The Sons of Hercules
The Sons of Hercules
The Sons of Hercules was a syndicated Embassy Pictures television show that aired in the United States of America in the 1960s. The series repackaged 14 Italian sword-and-sandal films by giving them a standardized theme song for the opening and closing titles, as well as a standard introductory...
, where it was retitled "The Son of Hercules in the Land of Fire".
Ursus's next three films were Ursus il gladiatore ribelle (Ursus The Rebel Gladiator, aka "The Rebel Gladiators"), 1963 (starring Dan Vadis); Ursus il terrore dei kirghisi (Ursus, the Terror of the Kirghiz, aka "Hercules, Prisoner of Evil") 1964 (starring Reg Park); and Gli Invincibili Tre (The Invincible Three, aka "The Three Avengers") 1964 (starring Alan Steel as Ursus).
The 9th and final film to feature Ursus was the relatively high-budget teamup film Ercole, Sansone, Maciste e Ursus gli invincible(Hercules, Samson, Maciste and Ursus: the Invincibles) (1964) which was released in English-speaking countries as "Samson and the Mighty Challenge" . The film features Ursus along with Maciste
Maciste
Maciste is one of the oldest recurring characters in cinema. He cuts a heroic figure throughout the history of the cinema of Italy from the 1910s to the 1970s, even if most of the movies that featured him are considered to be of poor artistic quality...
, Samson
Samson
Samson, Shimshon ; Shamshoun or Sampson is the third to last of the Judges of the ancient Israelites mentioned in the Tanakh ....
and Hercules
Hercules
Hercules is the Roman name for Greek demigod Heracles, son of Zeus , and the mortal Alcmene...
, with a special cameo appearance by Zeus. Yann Larvor portrays Ursus in this film, while Alan Steel played Hercules, Renato ("Red") Rossini played Maciste and Nadir Baltimore played Samson. This film was also released in Europe as "Le Grand Defi" or "Combate de Gigantes".
Films
- Ursus/ Ursus (Mighty Ursus, 1960) starring Ed Fury (TV title: "Ursus, Son of Hercules")
- La Vendetta di Ursus/The Revenge of Ursus (The Revenge of Ursus, 1961) starring Samson Burke
- Ursus e la Ragazza Tartara/Ursus and the Tartar Girl (Ursus and the Tartar Princess, 1961) starring Joe Robinson (aka "The Tartar Invasion")
- Ursus Nella Valle dei Leoni/Ursus in the Valley of the Lions (Valley of the Lions, 1962) starring Ed Fury
- Ursus il Gladiatore Ribelle/ Ursus, the Rebel Gladiator (The Rebel Gladiators, 1962) starring Dan Vadis
- Ursus Nella Terra di Fuoco/Ursus in the Land of Fire (TV title: Son of Hercules in the Land of Fire) 1963, starring Ed Fury
- Ursus il Terrore dei Kirghisi/ Ursus, the Terror of the Kirghiz (Hercules, Prisoner of Evil, 1964) starring Reg Park, directed by Antonio Margheriti
- Gli Invincibili Tre/The Invincible Three (Three Avengers, 1964) starring Alan Steel as Ursus
- Ercole, Sansone, Maciste e Ursus: Gli Invincibili/ Hercules, Samson, Maciste and Ursus: The Invincibles (Samson and the Mighty Challenge, 1964) starring Yann Larvor as Ursus (aka "Combate dei Gigantes" or "Le Grand Defi")
See also
- Sword and SandalSword and sandalThe Peplum , also known as Sword-and-Sandal, is a genre of largely Italian-made Historical or Biblical Epics that dominated the Italian film industry from 1957 to 1965, eventually being replaced in 1965 by the "Spaghetti Western"...
- MacisteMacisteMaciste is one of the oldest recurring characters in cinema. He cuts a heroic figure throughout the history of the cinema of Italy from the 1910s to the 1970s, even if most of the movies that featured him are considered to be of poor artistic quality...
- PeplumPeplumPeplum originates in the Greek word for 'tunic' and may refer to one of the following:*A genre of Italian films also known as 'Sword and Sandal'*Peplos, a kind of women's garment in ancient Greece*Veil...
- SamsonSamsonSamson, Shimshon ; Shamshoun or Sampson is the third to last of the Judges of the ancient Israelites mentioned in the Tanakh ....
- HerculesHerculesHercules is the Roman name for Greek demigod Heracles, son of Zeus , and the mortal Alcmene...
- Sons of Hercules
- Steve ReevesSteve ReevesStephen L. Reeves was an American bodybuilder and actor. At the peak of his career, he was the highest-paid actor in Europe.-Childhood:...