Good sad, lots of action and adventurous story takes the viewer to Venice where pirates are causing disarray, causing nobleman Gordon Scott to disguise himself as the "Lion of St. Mark" to keep the city safe. He falls for female pirate Gianna Maria Canale while ending his engagement to the controlling Franca Bettoia who vows in the first few minutes of the film before she gets the boot that she can get him to do everything she wants. At least she loves her dog from her childhood who just died.
About 20 minutes into the film, there is a sequence that seems almost like a trailer for it without the titles, and it's a very strange attempt at narration. The film looks more expensive than it probably is, with lots of period costumes and glamorous sets, and more importantly, dubbing that doesn't look phony. This is one of the more upscale of these much churned out peplum adventures, but the characters are basically cardboard cutouts and no different than pirate movies that had been besieging the screen the decade before. The light attempts at comedy distracting or silly, and it ends up being just a pleasant time filler. Scott is quite a formidable leading man, with Canale rather rugged even if her hairstyle is a bit too modern.
About 20 minutes into the film, there is a sequence that seems almost like a trailer for it without the titles, and it's a very strange attempt at narration. The film looks more expensive than it probably is, with lots of period costumes and glamorous sets, and more importantly, dubbing that doesn't look phony. This is one of the more upscale of these much churned out peplum adventures, but the characters are basically cardboard cutouts and no different than pirate movies that had been besieging the screen the decade before. The light attempts at comedy distracting or silly, and it ends up being just a pleasant time filler. Scott is quite a formidable leading man, with Canale rather rugged even if her hairstyle is a bit too modern.