Ulysses

Ulysses (Italian: Ulisse) is a 1954 fantasy adventure film adapted from Homer's Odyssey, produced as an international co-production involving Italy, France and the United States. Directed by Mario Camerini, it stars Kirk Douglas as the king of Ithaca, with Silvana Mangano taking on a double role as both his faithful wife Penelope and the enchantress Circe. Anthony Quinn plays Antinous, the leader of the suitors. The story follows the epic poem fairly closely, though events were condensed, rearranged and cut to fit a running time of around a hundred minutes. Georg Wilhelm Pabst was originally set to direct but withdrew at the last moment, leaving the job to Camerini; cinematographer Mario Bava contributed to the direction of the Cyclops sequence. The film premiered in Italy in October 1954 and reached American cinemas the following year through Paramount Pictures, which is why it is sometimes dated 1955. It became the top box-office success of the 1954-55 season in Italy.