Maciste

A soldier of near-superhuman strength fights battles in the First World War and wages a private war to rescue a young woman from the castle where she is imprisoned.

Maciste, for the first time, suddenly discovers to be in love. The object of his love is Ada, the daughter of Thompson, an enlightened industrialist persecuted by Bethel, a competitor without scruples. He first makes use of a small group of agitators in order to foment the workers, then he tries to affect his loved ones, kidnapping his daughter. But he hasn’t squared things up with Maciste. In Maciste innamorato private and politic life interlace and condition each other. Maciste, a new popular hero, acts in advance of his time and sees himself as a media idol: after punishing the instigators, the crowd will recognize him as a movie star and promptly forget their claims carrying him shoulder-high. A hero, though, doomed to an unhappy love.

The most explosive and surreal episode of the Maciste series in which we see the hero up against the hardships of the average man: stress, women and cars. The Itala studios are in a disorderly state, the crew watches Maciste in the courtyard as he happily darts around in his new car, a single seater renamed Diattolina in honor of the car maker Diatto, the film’s “sponsor”. Maciste is happy; he caresses the car and talks about his vehicle as if it were his bride. The only thing missing is the honeymoon. But peace and tranquility are not easy to come by: in every corner of the country Maciste is recognized as a generous film star. Waiters, salesmen, passersby and little kids: everyone has a problem for him. Who said something about relaxing? An abandoned castle looks like a peaceful place, but Maciste has not met the wild American girl hiding in the cellar…

Maciste takes advantage again of a break of acting in order to wash away injustice and castigate the wicked, this time in the name of dynastic legitimacy. Otis, the prince of Sirdagna kingdom, lives undercover in a foreign land, waiting to ascend the throne; Stanos the evil ruler though, is willing to do anything in order to prevent the legitimate prince installation. The court is a dangerous place, Otis is young and naïf: in order to solve the situation, Maciste, following the advice of his friend Saetta, temporarily takes Otis’s place, and presents himself as the legitimate prince. The crowd, enamored by his good looks, applauds him immediately as the emperor.

The devil takes Maciste down to hell in an attempt to corrupt and ruin his morality.

Bartolomeo Pagano as Maciste in Maciste in the Lions' Den. A Italian silent from 1926.

Expert mountain-guide Maciste lives in the Dolomites. He dotes on his young nephew Hans, the illegitimate son of his sister, who died of a broken heart for the dishonour of being seduced and abandoned. Maciste’s bitter rival is the sinister Schultz, a smuggler in search of easy money who teams up with two adventurers: Müller and the mysterious Vanna Dardos. Schultz’s plan is to steal the design for a revolutionary aviation project that engineer Riccardo Ewert is finishing in the peace and quiet of his mountain chalet. Thanks to Maciste the plan is thwarted and Müller and Schultz die overwhelmed by an avalanche while escaping through the mountains.

Menelaus is the king of Sparta and temporarily departs from his residence, leaving Helen, the queen of Sparta, without him. When Paris of Troy, ambassador and son of the king, arrives in Sparta, he kidnaps Helen and brings her to Troy where the two fall in love. The Greeks attempt to siege the city walls of Troy, but fail. The Greeks then place a huge wooden Trojan horse with Greek warriors hidden inside under the walls of Troy, pretending to be dedicated to the gods and ending the war. Falling for the trap, the Trojans break down the city walls to bring the wooden horse inside.

The most explosive and surreal episode of the Maciste series in which we see the hero up against the hardships of the average man: stress, women and cars. The Itala studios are in a disorderly state, the crew watches Maciste in the courtyard as he happily darts around in his new car, a single seater renamed Diattolina in honor of the car maker Diatto, the film’s “sponsor”. Maciste is happy; he caresses the car and talks about his vehicle as if it were his bride. The only thing missing is the honeymoon. But peace and tranquility are not easy to come by: in every corner of the country Maciste is recognized as a generous film star. Waiters, salesmen, passersby and little kids: everyone has a problem for him. Who said something about relaxing? An abandoned castle looks like a peaceful place, but Maciste has not met the wild American girl hiding in the cellar…

Maciste, for the first time, suddenly discovers to be in love. The object of his love is Ada, the daughter of Thompson, an enlightened industrialist persecuted by Bethel, a competitor without scruples. He first makes use of a small group of agitators in order to foment the workers, then he tries to affect his loved ones, kidnapping his daughter. But he hasn’t squared things up with Maciste. In Maciste innamorato private and politic life interlace and condition each other. Maciste, a new popular hero, acts in advance of his time and sees himself as a media idol: after punishing the instigators, the crowd will recognize him as a movie star and promptly forget their claims carrying him shoulder-high. A hero, though, doomed to an unhappy love.