Tuesday, May 1, 2018

By the Gods!

Harry Baird in TAUR THE MIGHTY (1964)

This is a 'twin production' with THOR & THE AMAZON WOMEN (1963), both starring Joe Robinson. It's one of the most bizarre PEPLUM movies ever made (and that's saying something). Originally, the two productions were supposed to have been Tarzan stories, with Robinson as Tarzan, but possible lawsuits from the Edgar Rice Burroughs estate prompted major changes to the stories. I don't know how much of the original plot scripts survived the abrupt changes but the storylines for both productions are NOT Tarzan-like whatsoever. This might explain the movie's oddity.

Baird, who died a few years ago, was also in the short lived British series UFO. The director of these  two films, Antonio Leonviola, loved pairing a white guy and a black guy. He also did this with MACISTE - STRONGEST MAN IN THE WORLD (Mole Men Vs Son of Hercules), with Mark Forest and Paul Wynter, and MACISTE IN THE LAND OF THE CYCLOPS, with Gordon Mitchell and Paul Wynter.

1 comment:

Brrrodie the Westie said...

On Turner Classic Movies I watched the original THE ITALIAN JOB (1969), and was surprised to see Harry Baird as a member of that all-star cast, driving the getaway car. He had appeal way beyond the Peplum genre. Also stars Raf Vallone (EL CID)