Steve Reeves is HERCULES!!

Hercules is a 1958 Italian film based upon the Hercules and the Quest for the Golden Fleece myths. The film stars body builder Steve Reeves, born on this day in 1926, as the titular hero and Sylva Koscina as his love interest Princess Iole.  Hercules was directed by Pietro Francisci and produced by Federico Teti.   The film spawned a 1959 sequel, Hercules Unchained, that also starred Reeves and Koscina.  Hercules made Reeves an international film star and effectively paved the way for the dozens of 1960s peplum (or “sword and sandal”) films featuring bodybuilder actors as mythological heroes and gladiators battling monsters, despots, and evil queens.