The Vengeance of Ursus 1961

King Zagro, Livio Lorenzon, seeks to cement his power by proposing a marriage between his daughter, Princess Sira, Wandisa Guida, and King Alteo. This union would bind their two realms and secure Zagro’s dominance. The mighty warrior Ursus, Samson Burke, who long fought in Alteo’s army, has retired to a quiet farm with his little brother Dario, Andrea Costa. Ursus had once asked Alteo for Sira’s hand, but the king refused because Ursus was not of noble birth.

After Princess Sira travels to Zagro’s kingdom to wed, she learns Zagro’s true plan: to assassinate her father after the wedding and dispose of her later, leaving Zagro in control of both realms. Zagro has a spy in Alteo’s kingdom, the king’s foppish adviser Licurgo, who uses his influence to sway Alteo’s decisions and plant doubts about Ursus.

Ursus learns of the plot and wants to warn Alteo, but Zagro captures Ursus’s brother and threatens to kill the boy if Ursus does not surrender. Ursus turns himself in and is forced into slavery in Zagro’s prison camp. A rebellion within Zagro’s court then frees Dario, and Ursus escapes with his brother, making for Alteo’s kingdom to warn him of the impending danger.

Licurgo uses his influence to deepen Alteo’s suspicion of Ursus’s warning, suggesting that Ursus is lying to win the princess’s hand. He even arranges for an assassin to murder Alteo and frames Ursus for the crime. To clear his name, Ursus endures several brutal tests of strength in an arena, the pinnacle of which binds him to an elephant that drags him toward a wall bristling with knives. With astonishing power, Ursus resists the oncoming threat and convinces the crowd that Zagro masterminded the assassination plot.

Enraged, Zagro turns on Licurgo and stabs him to death. He then orders his armies to attack, igniting a tremendous battle. In the chaos, Ursus drives Zagro to his end with Zagro’s own sword, freeing the people and rescuing Princess Sira. Sira ascends the throne and invites Ursus to rule by her side, and the kingdom rejoices in its newfound freedom.