Hercules Unchained

Hercules Unchained Italian Ercole e la regina di Lidia , Hercules and the Queen of Lydia is a 1959 ItalianFrench epic fantasy feature film starring Steve Reeves and Sylva Koscina in a story about two warring brothers and Hercules tribulations in the court of Queen Omphale. The film is the sequel to the Reeves vehicle Hercules 1957 and marks Reeves second and last appearance as Hercules. The films screenplay, loosely based upon various Greek myths and dramas, was written by Ennio De Concini and Pietro Francisci with Francisci directing and Bruno Vailati and Ferruccio De Martino producing the film.

The tale of Hercules and Queen Omphale is taken from the ancient Greek myth, of which there are several variations throughout history. Character names are drawn from a mixture of various Greek legends and plays, notably The Seven Against Thebes by Aeschylus and Oedipus at Colonus by Sophocles. Hercules line I wove the threads of my memory together is a reference to his task of spinning thread and weaving with Omphales attendants. The film is only very loosely based on the source material, randomly mixing events and featuring characterizations varying from those depicted in the sources.Film critic Howard Hughes argues that due to a better script, punchier action and more convincing acting the film was superior to its predecessor Hercules. Concerning the cast he praises in particular the French actress Sylvia Lopez movingly effective whose career ended prematurely when in 1958, soon after finishing this film, she died at the age ofof leukaemia. ........

Source: Wikipedia