War between the Trojans and the Greeks arose when the Trojan Prince, Paris (Warner Bentivegna), abducted the Queen of Sparta, Helen (Edy Vessel). Paris, the son of King Priam (Carlo Tamberlani), took Helen back to Troy. The King of Sparta, Menelaus (Nando Tamberlani), sent his armies to Troy to retrieve her. The Greek armies set siege to Troy. The siege lasted nine years. In the waning year of the Trojan War, Priam’s other son, Hector, is killed by Achilles (Arturo Dominici) as revenge for Hector killing his friend Patroclus. The body of Hector is eventually returned to Priam after the old king begs for it.
Paris is sent to see Agamemnon (Nerio Bernardi), the brother of Menelaus and the commander of the Greek warriors, to propose a truce. In exchange the Trojans will give the Greeks four wagons of gold, all the wood they want and a number of hostages to ensure that the truce is abided. They insist that the hostages be from noble families, and one must be from Priam’s family. Paris sends his sister Creusa Juliette Mayniel). This was Helen’s idea since she knows that Creusa is in love with Aeneas (Steve Reeves), but no one knows they are secretly married. Since Paris hates Aeneas he is more than willing to sacrifice his sister, should it come to that.
Aeneas is sent to round up some more troops. When he returns Agamemnon believes that they have broken the truce and attacks. Aeneas finds out that Creusa is one of the hostages. He rescues her. Achilles attacks with his men. Fighting continues. Eventually the Greeks retreat to their ships at sea as a ploy. Ulysses (John Drew Barrymore) has a plan to infiltrate Troy and attack from the inside. While the truce was going on he had his men create a giant hollowed out wooden horse. The horse is left for the Trojans to find. Inside are hidden Greek soldiers. The Trojans believe it is a gift from the gods. They open the gate and bring it into the center of Troy.
“The Trojan Horse” AKA “La guerra di Troia” AKA “The Wooden Horse of Troy” AKA “The Trojan War” was released in 1961 and was directed by Giorgio Ferroni. It is an Italian sword and sandal film. The story of the Trojan Horse comes from the Iliad. The Iliad is a really, really long book. Actually, it is an epic poem told in 24 books. Believed to have been written by Homer it details the final weeks of the Trojan War. The movie is loosely based on the final book.
As far as Trojan War movies are concerned, this one is good. The sets are lavish, and the acting is good, even Steve Reeves does a great job as Aeneas. There are a number of decent fight scenes and battles in the movie and I’m sure a fair amount of horses were killed or maimed.
As far as the characters are concerned, Paris is an egotistical cowardly twit and Helen is a manipulative bitch. I’m not sure why Menelaus wanted her back. The character played by John Drew Barrymore was called Ulysses in the film. In the actual Iliad his name is Odysseus. The Latin version of the name is Ulysses, which is what most people know him by. Nando Tamberlani, who plays The Greek king Menelaus, and Carlo Tamberlani, who plays the Trojan king Priam, were brothers in real life.