Ursus in the Valley of the Lions (1961)

A typical peplum adventure, in that it follows the simple peplum formula of having the same kind of plot as all the other films in the genre, but changing the characters and setting to make it look different. What makes this film particularly interesting is the hero, Ursus, who seems to be a mythic Italian variation on the character of Tarzan, in that he was brought up by lions (how?) in a cave and has had little human contact in his life. Of course, he also wanders around in a loincloth a lot too, which brings the comparison even closer to home.I loved a scene at the beginning of the film, which runs for over five minutes, and just shows Ursus hanging out with a pride of lions. Well, it's not actually Ursus who comes into contact with the lions, but clever cutting will make you think that it is. This period just shows him playing with the lions, making amusing dubbed remarks, and pulling their tails. Soon afterwards the generic storyline of a cruel ruler and rebellion is dragged in for the umpteenth time, and unfortunately this bogs down a larger part of the middle of the film. Thankfully things pick up again for the action-orientated finale.After being chained in a dungeon (a very spooky dungeon actually, which wouldn't look out of place in a Gothic - possibly it may have been left over from one of them), Ursus is freed by a rebel woman from his chains. Our faith in his power is considerably diminished in this scene, as other heroes, such as Gordon Scott or Gordon Mitchell, would have surely had the strength to rip the chains off themselves. Our faith is restored almost immediately when Ursus battles a squad of soldiers and pulls a load of bricks out of the wall, causing part of the dungeon to collapse.Afterwards, he manages to infiltrate the dungeons from outside once more, and accidentally falls into a pit of hyenas in what is arguably the film's most exciting scene; these hyenas are vicious, horrible animals and it looks like the stuntman who tamed them was in real danger. After defeating all the hyenas (and throwing an enemy to them, in what seems to be an unusually harsh action for a good-natured hero) Ursus must then battle three or four elephants who threaten to drag his friends into a flaming pit of fire. You can just tell that today, this guy would be perfectly at home hosting a nature documentary on a cable channel.As for everything else, the direction is okay but the acting is not; in fact, even for a dubbed Italian flick like this, the acting is below standard. Ed Fury is a particularly wooden muscular lunk, and probably the worst hero I've seen in a peplum film. He has to be given orders constantly and seems unable to think for himself; that childhood being reared by lions must have affected his brain somehow. Sure, he has the physique for the film, but just not the acting experience to carry it off, and his presence is a less than imposing one. The chief villain is distinctly unmemorable, and disappointing, and the females are just as bad. Yet another case of "pretty faces, no talent". The only other item which may be of interest to horror fans is the crediting of one Ruggero Deodato as assistant director - yes, the infamous director cut his teeth on these Italian spectacles before moving into the cannibal genre for which he is mainly known. This isn't a totally bad peplum flick, just one that's a bit unimpressive in places.

At some point in ancient history Generic Power Mad Usurper conquered Generic Greek CityVilleopolis and King Rightful Ruler was slaughtered. But not before Lil' Prince Trouble-Waiting-To-Happen...er I mean Ursus was spirited away by his mom and a couple ladies-in-waiting. Mom and the gang made it about as far as the parking lot behind the studio before they were fallen upon by the Usurper's men. Since they were escaping during a siege neither mom nor her guards thought to bring any weapons and are quickly butchered, except young Ursus, whose horse runs away with him attached. Eventually he is found by a pride of lions. Instead of turning him into a mid-day snack, they decide to raise him as one of their own. This is shown by a wipe type effect where a shot of a lion licking an infant's face (did they actually let a real lion lick a real infant's face!!??) is replaced by a shot of a lion licking a grown and strapping Ursus' face.Ursus spends most of his time frolicking with his lion friends, yanking their tails and shouting" HO SO YOU THINK YOU'RE STRONGER THAN URSUS? HAHA!" Yet the lions let him live. This would have never gone over in my family, not that seeing this movie as a kid influenced me to behave in any like manner. No way. Not me.So Ursus lives a simple life which he really seems to enjoy until one day while out hunting he finds in his pit trap, not dinner, but a slavers wagon, loaded down with some sweet looking slave girls and their slave trader.Ursus hauls the wagon out of the pit and exchanges googly eyes with one of the slave girls. They have a real Hubba Hubba moment and Ursus decides to throw her over his shoulder and haul her off to his cave. The slave trader doesn't want to lose good product do he follows Ursus to the Cave of Lions, where he is scared spitless by a Cave full of lions. He demands payment and Ursus, not knowing what money is, offers one of his lions as a trade for the girl. The slaver is less than enthused until he sees an amulet, an amulet that was given to Ursus by his father right before he died, an amulet that is in reality...THE ROYAL SEAL! The slaver knows he can get a pretty denari for that, so he offers to take it off Ursus' hands. Ursus agrees and off the slave trader goes to sell the Seal in the Big City.The slave girl is charmed by Ursus' simple honesty, massive physique and inexplicably well groomed hair and teeth and decides to stay with him, despite the fact that the only furniture in her new house is a rock, some elk bones and some lion poop.But their rustic happiness can't last forever. Eventually the Royal Seal falls into the hands of the Usurper, who fears Ursus will one day visit some poetic justice on his behind, and sends his soldiers out to kill our hero. They fail of course, probably because ancient despots didn't have access to modern human resource-style motivation and training techniques. They do manage however to kidnap Ursus' lady and kill most of his lion friends with poison meat. (Because lions are immune to arrows) I'll leave the rest of the movie a surprise, although I will say Ursus spends it rescuing his honey and avenging the death of his father, mother and lion friends. He fights tons of soldiers, a pack of trained killer hyenas and a herd of elephants among other things. Although it would have been really funny if the writers added a little more "fish out of water" humor when Ursus was learning about civilization, overall this was a very entertaining peplum. It's absolutely worth your time and shekels

The second film in Ed Fury's "Ursus" trilogy, (though there's little in the way of story-line to connect the three movies), begins with an obligatory setting-the-scene prologue which establishes the infant Ursus as the true heir of a kingdom overrun and conquered by a villainous barbarian. Though faithful subjects manage to smuggle the infant Ursus out of the besieged city in a basket, the basket tumbles into the lair of a pride of lions and the lost heir soon becomes nothing more than the subject of wistful rumor and legend. Mercifully the movie quickly jumps forward to the adult Ursus, now grown into a strapping though naive young man who learned his language skills from men in passing caravans. Up to this point the second "Ursus" movie has shown little promise, primarily because the lions which raised our hero look and act like lethargic, second-rate sideshow attractions rather than wildly magnificent Kings of the Beasts. Then we have a routine sequence in which Ursus acquires a slave girl from a passing trader. However, once the evil usurper learns that the rightful occupant of his throne is alive in the land, various elements of the movie finally come together to create a lively and entertaining entry in the sword-and-sandal cycle. One element worth noting here are the two "beefcake-bondage" sequences which are among the best such sequences to be found in the whole gamut of this genre. In the first, a peplum-wearing Ursus -- played, of course, by Ed Fury -- stands as a captive in the usurper's court. A length of wood, (perhaps too thin for this purpose), has been bound to the backs of his outstretched arms. Chains around his wrists and ankles are held by nervous-looking soldiers. Other soldiers guard him with spears pointed menacingly toward him. The usurper taunts him but Ursus remains defiant. Later, having been taken to a torch-lit dungeon, the sweaty Ursus stands with outstretched arms chained to the stone walls. That wooden pole has been removed from his shoulders but a metal ring now encircles his neck and a chain attached to this ring leads up to the ceiling. Two long pieces of wood are fitted around his ankles, preventing him from kicking or changing position. Fury, about 32 or 33 years old at this time, is only ever-so-slightly past his prime -- his waist looks a bit thick -- but he's still a compelling hunk of manhood and his bondage poses are of iconic quality. What's more, his nipples are dark and sharply-defined against his skin. Unfortunately, there's no actual torture here, unlike the other two Ursus movies in which a series of whiplashes play a symphony of pain on Ed Fury's bare back as he's forced to turn grindstones. (As other reviewers have pointed out, the print under discussion here has lamentably faded into muddy-looking sepia tones.)

This was Ed Fury's second film in the Ursus character, and in this one we learn that Ursus, of noble blood, was raised among lions. When he enters the "human" world, he is wide-eyed and naive, but gradually adapts to the ways of the world, saves a beautiful woman who loves him, and overthrows an evil dictator. Fury plays the various phases of the character's evolution (from naivete to a kind of disgusted smirking to a regal heroic bearing) well. The scenes among the lions and the wolves will be an easy mark for those who want to nit-pick, but the techniques used here will be familiar to any fan of low budget films and won't bother anyone familiar with the concept of "willing suspension of disbelief." As is common among budget-conscious Italian "spectacle" films, the art direction and production design are quite imaginative and suggest a lot for a few lira. I've got to give some credit to a film that takes a lot of chances, and this film is, like an old serial, so over-the-top in its entertainment value that anyone looking to have some fun and set aside any critical questions should have an enjoyable 90 minutes with Ed Fury and crew. I've been digging out the old Ed Fury films recently, and I must say that he brings a special charm to the peplum genre--it was nice to see him honored with a retrospective at UCLA last year. Director Carlo Ludovico Bragaglia has credits dating back to the 1930s, but his 1960s credits tend to be costume adventures and comedies. With this film, he's created a unique mix of peplum heroics, fantasy, and wit that I found quite entertaining.