Der Löwe von San Marco

Venice 1620: pirates are attacking the town almost weekly, and the army of mercenaries does not defend it properly. So Manrico (Gordon Scott) decides to pick up the black mask of the "Lion of San Marco" and attack the pirates when they don't expect it, only with the help of a few dedicated citizens. Things become complicated when Manrico falls in love with the beautiful pirate lady Rossana (Gianna Maria Canale) - now both are suspected to have become traitors...

A fast moving, colorful pirate adventure which benefits from its Venetian setting. It is something quite different from the usual Caribbean scenery: hardly open sea, different boats, the gondolieri, the designs. Nice role for Mirko Ellis who later appeared in many westerns. The lively music by Carlo Rustichelli also deserves mentioning. Note: the German version (for the cinema distribution in 1964) was cut to 89 minutes.

This film is mainly worth seeing for its exquisite photography of historical Venice in the 17th century. The action is a romantic swahbuckler account of the son of a Doge who falls in love with a pirate princess, for whose sake he deserts his bride to be, another but more conventional princess. The action is fast with many brilliant fights and a great siege to a fortress and a naval battle in the end. The costumes are also exquisitely stylish, the story is all right in its romantic exaggerations, while the actors are all rather mediocre, incluidng Gordon Scott in the lead. If you find this entertainment somewhat superficial and undramatic in its load of clichés, at least you can enjoy the beauty of Venice and its 17th century people to the full.

Adventure film about Renaissance Venice with Tarzan and Peplum star Gordon Scott

This film, also known as "Il leone di San Marco" and "The Lion of St. Mark", was released in Italian cinemas on November 21, 1963. The film was directed by Luigi Capuana, who also made "Der Henker von Venedig / The Executioner of Venice" (1963) with Lex Barker in the same year.

In 1620, Venice was repeatedly attacked by pirates from the Dalmatian coast. The Venetians want to defend themselves, but the Doge (Feodor Chaliapin Jr.) wants to leave it to hired mercenaries. This doesn't sit well with his son Manrico (Gordon Scott) and his friend Giandolo (Rik Battaglia). Since the mercenaries don't fight decisively enough, the two powerful ruffians really want to take on the fight themselves. Manrico, disguised as the Lion of San Marco, begins to trouble the pirates more and more and gradually becomes a folk hero. But there are also problems on the private front. The Doge wants to marry his son to the beautiful Isabella (Franca Bettola), who is already dreaming of a diplomatic career alongside her future husband at the French court. That's nothing for the tough daredevil. Luckily, he runs into the pugnacious pirate daughter Rosanna (Gianna Maria Canale)...

You can already tell that a predictable story is supposed to be crossed with beautiful images of Venice and lots of action-heavy fight scenes. This works quite well too. The pictures of Venice are really impressive. Gordon Scott, who became Lex Barker's successor in the USA as Tarzan (particularly worth seeing: "Tarzan's Greatest Adventure" (1959) and "Tarzan, the Mighty" (1960) ), does a large part of his own stunts and is actually a Quite an agile guy who definitely doesn't mind the many fights. Even next to Steve Reeves, he really didn't have to hide, which he impressively demonstrated in "Romulus and Remus" (1961). Incidentally, Gordon Scott (1926-2007) was married in Hollywood to Vera Miles (1954-1959), who is unforgettable for her appearance as Marion Crane's sister Lila in "Psycho" (1960) by Alfred Hitchcock.

As the Lion of San Marco's sidekick, the attractive Rik Battaglia (1927-2015) also gets to shine a bit, appearing in films such as "La risaia / The Rice Girl" (1956) with Elsa Martinelli, "Sandokan" (1963) with Steve Reeves and - it should will not be left out here - is also known as Winnetou's murderer in German sauerkraut western "Winnetou III" (1965).

Gianna Maria Canale (1927-2009), who was married to director Riccardo Freda, had already been seen as the Amazon queen in "Le fatiche di Ercole / The Incredible Adventures of Hercules" (1958) alongside Steve Reeves (1926-2000), with his success The grandiose boom with Italian adventure films (Peplum or, as here, Cloak and Dagger) had only just begun at the box office around the world.

Highly recommended because of the beautiful Venice pictures and the good-humored actors!

Set in Venice, around 1620, a group of Skokian pirates invade a nightly ball where the Doge's son, Manrico (Gordon Scott) is engaged with a Lady, and after stealing the guests' jewellery, Manrico makes a vow to stamp out these pillaging pirates from terrorising Venice and dons a mask to become the leader of St. Mark ( the symbol of Venice), however, during this, he falls in love with a pirate (Giana Maria Canale), which poses a problem as his father wouldn't approve of this union.

Gordon Scott dons in flamboyant costume and tights and rattles a fair sabre ( well, epee) as the hero, though it's baffling why his likeminded group of saviours didn't don a mask too, but that's overthinking, and with a vibrant film punctuated with so much action - sword fighting galore- it's best just to relax and enjoy this pulp matinee style swashbuckler for what it is. Good escapism.

The production is really good, there's opulent sets, great costumes, ballroom dances and the grand view of Venice, it's canals and it's ornately gaudy gondoliers. The latter lends an authenticity to the proceedings.

Gordon Scott cuts (quite literally) a fine dash as the hero, coming across as sincere, and Gian Maria Canale acts well as the lady pirate who is willing to change her ways for love. Ah, the perils and fortunes of romance!

Luigi Capuano made significant savings :for this movie and " il boia di Venezia" , he used the same settings (the palace , the tavern, even the convent !) and the same scenes of the carnival ,complete with masks and farandoles. Two movies for the price of one!

As Lex Barker was the son of a doge in the other swashbuckler , so is Gordon Scott ;but the screenplay is botched, less interesting than that of "il boia " ,and the hero is some kind of Zorro (the lion of Saint Mark ) who does not like his aristocratic fiancé and who falls for a woman pirate (Gianna Maria Canale); the rest is so predictable that no surprise lies in store for the viewer ; the cinematography is splendid, but the paucity of the story does not help .

If you want to see a swashbuckler set in Venice, take "il boia " instead. Not much food for thought ,but entertaining all the same!