Mickey Hargitay Movies

Italian filmmaker Renato Polselli (aka Ralph Brown) wrote and directed this wonderfully sick and demented giallo thriller, a shining example of the sort of outrageous psychosexual perversity for which the genre has become cherished by cult enthusiasts. Former Mr. Universe Mickey Hargitay was already a sleaze favorite for his turn as Il Boio Scarlatto and his disingenuously tearful tour of his late wife's estate in The Wild, Wild World of Jayne Mansfield. Hargitay only solidifies that image here as Prof. Herbert Lyutak, a perverse sex maniac employed as a criminal psychologist. Lyutak is first seen giving a young woman a ride in his car, eventually attacking her and chasing her through the woods to a creek, where he beats her to death. Lyutak's wife (Rita Calderoni) finds his bloody shirt, but because there is another murder while the demented shrink is consulting the police, he is cleared. Working with the authorities, Lyutak has a family friend (Katia Kardinali) pose as a prostitute to catch the killer, but he simply murders another hooker not far away. The bodies continue piling up, with so many alibis and confusing contradictions that it soon becomes apparent the killings are the work of several hands. Polselli keeps the sleaze factor high throughout, notably in some psychedelic nightmare sequences featuring Lyutak's fantasies of torturing nude women in his basement and in the murder of Kardinali, which features some fairly graphic whipping and kinky sexual allusions. There's also lesbianism, strangulation, and an interesting synth-rock score by Gianfranco Reverberi to keep viewers interested, and the ultimate conclusion is -- in keeping with the title -- a delirious, bloody battle between three psychopaths in a cellar. That's only in the original version, however, because the American re-edit removed most of the sleaze, changed the setting from England to the United States, and added two extra murders and a police shootout, not to mention some dubious Vietnam flashbacks. The ultimate entertainment value to genre enthusiasts, therefore, is highly dependent on which version they see, as the extensive changes reduce a wild, flamboyant shocker to just another dull mystery. Gaetano Cimarosa and Stefano Oppedisano co-star. ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi

This documentary serves as a low-budget travelogue of Las Vegas. Performances by singer Vic Damone, dancer Juliet Prowse, and sex goddess Jane Mansfield are the highlights of the film that was obviously filmed a few years before the premiere at the Hollywood Theatre on June 23rd, 1967. An ironic footnote; Mansfield died in an auto accident June 29th, 1967, the day after Variety reviewed the feature. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

In this western, a man exacts bloody revenge upon the avaricious land baron who was responsible for the death of the young man's family. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Jayne Mansfield bares almost all (and became the first Hollywood actress to do so) in this nearly universally panned sex comedy from the early 1960s. In the story, poor Sandy is desperate to get pregnant. Unfortunately, her husband, a television script writer, is too wound up over his high stress job to make love to her at night even though he too, wants a child. To help him loosen up, they go on a relaxing cruise and meet another couple. The foursome hit it off and begin drinking heavily. They soon exchange partners and retire to their rooms. Later both wives show up pregnant, but now the question remains: which baby belongs to which father? ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

This was one of the earlier movies to follow from Italy in the wake of the success of Hercules starring Steve Reeves, and marked an attempt to add some star power to the notion of a mucleman movie, not so much in the title role as the female lead. Mickey Hargitay, a body-builder, plays the Greek hero, while his then-wife, Jayne Mansfield, then one of Hollywood's reigning sex queens, has two roles in the film. Hercules learns of the murder of his wife and seeks vengeance, only to learn that the kingdom from which the murderers came is besieged from within, by a usurper to the throne. Jayne Mansfield portrays the king's daughter, who sympathizes with Hercules and opposes the usurper; she and Hercules are parted when he is wounded battling a three-headed dragon and given aid by a group of Amazons, who bring him to their queen (also played by Mansfield). She proceeds to woo the strongman, not knowing that she has a unique way of terminating her relationships -- transforming her lovers into trees. Hercules manages to escape with his life while the queen is done in by one of her victims. He eventually returns to free the princess and her kingdom. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi

Jayne Mansfield recreated her starmaking stage role in this film adaptation of George Axelrod's Broadway comedy. Mansfield plays a Monroe-like movie queen whom adman Tony Randall hopes to sign for a product endorsement. Through a fluke, the press believes that Randall is having an affair with Mansfield; she eagerly pounces on the attendant publicity, much to the dismay of her body-builder beau (Mickey Hargitay, then married to Mansfield). At the behest of his ad agency, Randall is forced to propose to Mansfield on a coast-to-coast TV show, which breaks the heart of his true love (Betsy Drake). Both Randall and Mansfield are saved from a marriage neither one wants by the last-minute arrival of Mansfield's hometown boy friend (Groucho Marx). Director Frank Tashlin uses Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter as an excuse to take satirical potshots at everything from TV commercials to the unwieldiness of CinemaScope. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Delirium director Renato Polselli delivers yet another delectable slice of cinematic sleaze with this sadomasochistic shocker set in a gothic castle, and culminating with the sacrifice of seven naked virgins during a bloody satanic orgy. Lurid depictions of whippings, torture, and beatings abound in a truly diabolical tale of inhuman cruelty starring Euro sleaze-queen Rita Calderoni and prolific actor/bodybuilder Mickey Hargitay. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi