Siegfried is like a German Viking iceland-ish version of the Greek Hercules. Siegfried has defeated kings, slayed dragons, destroyed armies ... checked all the hero boxes. If you shot up on adrenaline and testosterone, you might feel half as virile as Siegfried. He also has a magic cap that makes him invisible and invincible.
But, the bachelor days are over when Seigfried sets eyes on Kriemhild, and he becomes smitten and demands Kriemhild’s hand in marriage. Two problems. King Gunther, Kriemhild’s brother, needs the help of Siegried to marry the crazy Queen Brunhild of Iceland, who has three conditions for marriage - be a great fighter, drink her under the table, and make her hear “the angels sing”. King Gunther, however, is a wimpy, impotent clown. So Siegfried, in a take off of Cyrano de Bergerac (See Roxanne with Steve Martin 1987) subs in during the dark and gets the angels to sing for Queen Brunhild.
The second problem is that Kreimhild likes girls more than she likes boys and until Siegfried gets Kriemhild to hear the angels, she resists Siegfried’s advances. Siegfried overcomes these challenges and Kriemhild develops a deep love for Siegfried. In fact, when she compares her wimpy brother king Gunther to Siegfried the Virile, he tells her sister in law Queen Brunhild that Siegfried should be king and that Brunhill’s husband tricked her - that it was actually Siegfried that satisfied her. Brunhill is enraged and continues to relentlessly whip her husband and in a fit of rage, arranges for one of the captains of the King’s guard to murder Siegfried. Of course, Kriemhild gallops in to the rescue and they live happily ever after.
This is one of the best comedy fantasy sexploitation movies I’ve watched. The cast is competent. The girls perfectly portray their characters. The director David Friedman, who is also credited as the producer and the writer did a good job. The movie was shot in German and many parts look dubbed, but there are also moments where you can trace English if you look at the lips. The film faced controversy and censorship in Germany shortly after its release in 1971.
I have read that there are significant differences between the US and German versions, with Friedman making substantial cuts and alterations for the American market. I have not seen the German version but I look forward to finding a copy. It was released with alternative titles of Siegfried und das sagenhafte Liebesleben der Nibelungen, Maiden Quest and The Lustful Barbarian.
Friedman was a savvy marketer and his famous motto was sell the sizzle not the steak and he often employed suggestive content rather than explicitly depicting sexual intercourse in his films. His best known film is probably Ilsa: She-Wolf of the SS. Friedman also wrote an autobiography, A Youth in Babylon: Confessions of a Trash-Film King, providing a firsthand account of his experiences in the industry. A Lot of inside secrets in the book.
Now the actresses. Let me concentrate on two. First Céline Benier. She was the page. Her film credits suggest that she was most active in the early to mid-1970s and even did some TV episodes up through 2006 according to IMDb. Next is Sybil Danning. Clearly the universe of the plot of the movie revolves around her in every way. Sybille Johanna Danninger, born in 1952, in Upper Austria. Her father was in the U.S. military and her mother was Austrian. She grew up on bases in New Jersey, Maryland, and Sacramento. She started as a Cosmetologist and upon reaching the age of consent, she began modeling. By the late 60s, she was a sought-after model. Her film debut came in 1968 and she appeared in several German sexploitation movies. Films like Naughty Nymphs and The Girl with the Hot Mesh are good examples. She went big time with The Three Musketeers (1973).
