Superargo and the Faceless Giants

1968 film

Giovanni Cianfriglia
Guy Madison
Luisa Baratto

Cinematography

Aldo Greci
Godofredo Pacheco

^[1]Music by

Berto Pisano^[1]

Production
companies

G. V. Cinematografica
Società Europea Cinematografica
Ízaro Films^[1]

Release date

January 1968 (1968-01) (Italy)

Running time

102 minutes^[1]Countries

Italy
Spain^[1]

Superargo and the Faceless Giants (Italian: Superargo - L'invincibile Superman, Spanish: Superargo, el gigante, also known as Superargo, The King of Criminals and Superargo the Giant) is a 1968 Italian-Spanish science fiction-superhero film written and directed by Paolo Bianchini (here credited as "Paul Maxwell"). It is the sequel of Nick Nostro's Superargo Versus Diabolicus.^[2]^[3]^[4]

Plot

Superargo battles Faceless Giants. One of his friends wants to kill Superargo.

Cast

Ken Wood as Superargo
Guy Madison as Prof. Wendland Wond
Luisa Baratto as Claire Brand
Diana Lorys as Gloria Devon
Aldo Sambrell as Kamir / Pao-Ki
Tomás Blanco as Davies
Sergio Testori as Jo Brand
Valerio Tordi as Professor Presenski
Aldo Bufi Landi as J.G. Stafford
Valentino Macchi as Bank Guard

Release

Superargo and the Faceless Giants was submitted to the Italian censorship board in September 1967, but was not released until January 1968 in Italy.^[5] The film was released on home video in the United States from several labels including Code Red as a double feature with Wacky Taxi and as part of the Cinema Insomnia collection where it is interspersed with comic commentary by Mr. Lobo in a manner similar to horror host antecedents like Elvira, Mistress of the Dark.^[5] Rifftrax released a version with their own humorous commentary in December 2016.^[6]

Reception

In a contemporary review, the Monthly Film Bulletin stated that "in the hierarchy of superheroes, Superargo....must rate lower than Jungle Jim."^[7] The review found Guy Madison "completely miscast" as "one of the most harmless-looking of villains". The review concluded that the film would "please easily-pleased children, but comic strip aficionados will find even less to arouse them here than in Doc Savage."^[7]

References

Footnotes

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Curti 2016, p. 123.
^ Roberto Chiti; Roberto Poppi; Enrico Lancia; Mario Pecorari (1991). Dizionario del cinema italiano. I film. Gremese Editore, 1992. ISBN 8876055932.
^ Marco Giusti. 007 all'italiana. Isbn Edizioni, 2010. ISBN 9788876381874.
^ Paolo Mereghetti. Il Mereghetti - Dizionario dei film. B.C. Dalai Editore, 2010. ISBN 8860736269.
^ ^a ^b Curti 2016, p. 125.
^ "Superargo and the Faceless Giants". 9 December 2016.
^ ^a ^b McGillivray, David (1975). "Re dei Criminali, Il (Superargo)". Monthly Film Bulletin. Vol. 42, no. 492. British Film Institute. pp. 203–204.

Sources

Curti, Roberto (2016). Diabolika: Supercriminals, Superheroes and the Comic Book Universe in Italian Cinema. Midnight Marquee Press. ISBN 978-1-936168-60-6.