Ercole al centro della Terra (1961)

[PeplumParadise]

• Credited cast
• Uncredited cast
• Unidentified cast

Director

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Mario Bava

Storyline

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To be added

[PeplumParadise]

Credited cast

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(actors credited in Italian, English and German versions)

Reg Park
as Hercules

Christopher Lee
as Lico

Leonora Ruffo
as Deianira

Giorgio Ardisson
as Theseus

Marisa Belli
as Aretusa

Ida Galli
as Persephone

Franco Giacobini
as Telemachus

Mino Doro
as Keros

Rosalba Neri (c.s.c.)
(credit only)

Ely Drago
(credited as Ely Dracò)
as Jocasta

Gaia Germani
as Medea, the sibil

Raf Baldassarre
as Leader of the assassins

Elisabetta Pavan
as Woman in chains

Aldo Pedinotti
as Sunis

Claudio Marzulli
as Doctor

[PeplumParadise]

Uncredited actors

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Zulina Badaloni
as Presumed to be the Mother of Helena

Iolanda Fontini
as Excited citizen

Osiride Pevarello
as Assassin

Uncredited actors listed by other sources but not identified

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• Monica Neri (German programme) as Egle / (IMDb) as Helena - they also credit the role to Rosalba Neri, whom ANICA credit as playing Egle, but Rosalba definitely does not appear. Monica may be Rosalba's sister, but I have never been able to find any confirmation of this
• Grazia Collodi (ANICA) No role / (IMDb) as Electra

Note: there are no characters called by the names Egle or Electra in the film

[PeplumParadise]

Unidentified actors

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Helena, handmaiden of Deianira
IMDb credits this role to both Rosalba Neri and Monica Neri. It most certainly is not Rosalba. Monica Neri, who is credited in a different role in the German programme for the film, is rumoured to be Rosalba's sister, but is another total unknown having no credited roles.
Johan believes she is played by Grazia Collodi, but this needs confirmation.

Prominent Hesperides
These are the only 2 other small female speaking roles. Maybe one of these is intended to be the mysterious "Egle" character? I think the first one does bear a passing resemblance to Rosalba Neri, so maybe could be the elusive Monica?

The Hesperides

Procrustes, the rock monster
Unlikely to be identified unless some production information identifies him. He is presumably played by a stuntman.

Lico's first victim
This character appears in the pre-credit sequence and is cut from some versions. Pretty difficult to get an idea of how she looks from the awkward angles, but her nose did make me think of Thea Fleming as being a possibility.

The assassins

Citizens

Lico's guards

Presumed to be The family and servants of Helena
For a handmaiden she seems to have a rather large household of her own!

Zombies
Like the rock monster these are unlikely to be identifiable unless some production information can be found. I would guess that they are played by stuntmen since they have to fight with Reg Park and have tree trunks thrown at them.

[Johan Melle]

Helena is very probably played by Grazia Collodi in a dark wig, but I'll have to dig out the fotoromanzi I have with her to make sure.

Elisabetta Pavan is the naked girl chained to the tree. She is better known as Liz Kubiska (with about 50 different spellings of her name) and was a very pretty prominent fotoromanzo actress. She used the name Elisabetta Pavan in the first few fotoromanzi she appeared in at the start of the 1960s and then changed her name to Liz Kubiska, so presumably Elisabetta Pavan was her real name and she changed it to something more "exotic". There's also a 1950s fotoromanzo actress named Elsa Pavan who resembles her a lot. I strongly suspect Liz is Elsa's younger sister, but I obviously can't prove it.

Anyway, the identification of Gaia Germani surely cannot be considered as absolutely certain.

[PeplumParadise]

Helena is very probably played by Grazia Collodi in a dark wig, but I'll have to dig out the fotoromanzi I have with her to make sure.

Elisabetta Pavan is the naked girl chained to the tree. She is better known as Liz Kubiska (with about 50 different spellings of her name) and was a very pretty prominent fotoromanzo actress. She used the name Elisabetta Pavan in the first few fotoromanzi she appeared in at the start of the 1960s and then changed her name to Liz Kubiska, so presumably Elisabetta Pavan was her real name and she changed it to something more "exotic". There's also a 1950s fotoromanzo actress named Elsa Pavan who resembles her a lot. I strongly suspect Liz is Elsa's younger sister, but I obviously can't prove it.

Anyway, the identification of Gaia Germani surely cannot be considered as absolutely certain.

Thanks, I will add the image for Pavan. Which still leaves the mystery of Monica Neri, credited as playing "Egle" in the German programme (a character ANICA credits to Rosalba), but there is no character by the name Egle in the film. Anyway once I have finished posting the unidentified actors the available possibilities will be more obvious.

Unfortunately these comments before the topic is completed will have to be deleted, or else copied and posted below once it's finished.

[Johan Melle]

Unfortunately these comments before the topic is completed will have to be deleted, or else copied and posted below once it's finished.

Yeah, sorry. I didn't think about that. No problem, though. Liz might get her own topic anyway since she appears to have done a fair bit of uncredited work.

[FatmanDan]

Ups, sorry, too... Have a good night, everyone!

[PeplumParadise]

Anyway, the identification of Gaia Germani surely cannot be considered as absolutely certain.

Gaia Germani is credited in the role of the sibil in the credits in the German programme, from the films original release. It also lists Monica Neri as the mysterious Egle.

[PeplumParadise]

In Tim Lucas: Mario Bava – All the Colors of the Dark, Cincinnati 2007, S. 461 (a book for which I was happy to contribute with some German (then VHS) prints of Bavas films to support Lucas' searching) he tells about an interview in which Rosalba said she was not able to fulfill the contract and instead sent sister Monica to play the part she was intended for... (Helena). Very mysterious...

Incidentally, just today I received the perfect 3-DVDs with many extras (interviews, reviews etc, plus the Bava-shot ´Quel bandito sono io`[1949]) ))

I'm copying this message as a quote since it is relevant, but I am deleting the original post as it was breaking the flow of the initial topic.