THE GIANT OF MARATHON

 

THE GIANT OF MARATHON is a 1959 Italian-French historical epic dealing with the conflict between Greece and Persia in 490 B.C. It stars Steve Reeves, who had helped start the Golden Age of Sword & Sandal adventures after playing Hercules in the late 1950s. 

In this film Reeves is Phillipides, a renowned athlete and member of the "Sacred Guard" of Athens. Athens, and all of Greece, is under threat from Persia. A leading citizen of Athens named Teocrito (Sergio Fantoni) is conspiring with the Persians, hoping to gain power when they conquer Greece. Phillipides has fallen for the beautiful Andromeda (Mylene Demongeot), but she is betrothed to Teocrito, and her father is also in on the conspiracy. Phillipides helps raise an army to fight the Persians at Marathon, and then makes his famous run back to Athens to warn the populace about the Persians' naval invasion. A major sea battle takes place, where the Greeks are victorious and Phillpides saves Andromeda from the clutches of Teocrito. 

THE GIANT OF MARATHON (original title LA BATTAGLIA DI MARATONA) is best known now for the involvement that the great cinematic artist Mario Bava had on it. Bava was cinematographer, creator of special effects, and he also directed numerous scenes in the film. The movie's credited directors are Jacques Tourneur and Bruno Vailati (who was also the producer and co-writer). Various sources give different reasons for why Jacques Tourneur didn't helm the entire feature--he either left the production early or he wasn't all that interested in it. THE GIANT OF MARATHON doesn't seem to be the type of story that would suit Tourneur's own considerable talents, but it certainly was fitting for Bava, who had worked on the two Hercules films with Steve Reeves and had also come to the rescue of a number of other Italian-made projects. 

If one is a Mario Bava aficionado, and knowledgeable about his films, it's easy to spot familiar shot compositions and camera set-ups throughout THE GIANT OF MARATHON. A set of columns are used several times in the movie, in different shots and in different arrangements. Bava did a similar trick in HERCULES IN THE HAUNTED WORLD, a movie he officially directed and had much more control over. 

THE GIANT OF MARATHON is more of a historical war story than an entry in the muscleman/mythology genre. Phillipides may have great athletic prowess, but he doesn't have supernatural powers. He's not invincible or all-powerful (although at one point Reeves does push large boulders down a hillside). In this film Reeves is clean-shaven, and his hair is shorter than usual, and the result is that he doesn't look as imposing as he normally does. Reeves (as expected) is dubbed on the English soundtrack, which doesn't help his performance, but he's his typical stalwart self, although there's nothing that makes Phillipides very notable, other than inadvertently inventing the marathon athletic event. 

The exquisite Mylene Demongeot is a perfect innocent damsel in distress, while Sergio Fantoni makes a good villain as the surly Teocrito (as soon as he's first shown in the movie, you know the guy's up to no good). In just about every sword & sandal picture made during this period, there's a dark-haired exotic temptress who is a counterpoint to the fair maiden, and in THE GIANT OF MARATHON it's Daniela Rocco as Karis, who Teocrito uses to distract Phillipides. 

A lengthy battle at sea takes up much of the climax of THE GIANT OF MARATHON. The battle is enlivened by the use of flaming spears against the Persian fleet, and there's a lot of underwater action (unusual in a film of this type). During the battle Phillipides gets somewhat lost in the shuffle. All the action scenes in MARATHON are handled adequately, but they don't flow as smoothly as they should. The overall film has an uneven pace (probably due to the multiple directors) and there's a lot of dialogue--something a dubbed production should avoid. 

THE GIANT OF MARATHON is a decent time-filler but it's not one of the more notable Italian ancient historical epics. The movie would have been much better off if Mario Bava had total control of the project. His HERCULES IN THE HAUNTED WORLD is much more cinematic, memorable, and entertaining. Galatea Productions, one of the companies involved in the making of THE GIANT OF MARATHON, was so impressed with Bava's work that they gave him a chance to make his official directorial debut with the now iconic BLACK SUNDAY.