HEN STEVE REEVES returned to Califor- nia after the completion of Le fatiche di Ercole, he was not greeted as a conquering hero. He had neither a contract for additional pictures nor the promise of a sequel to show for his efforts. Reeves went to Ray Wilson, his former employer at American Health Studios, to ask for his old public relations job back. Wilson rehired him, but with some wrist-slapping at- tached; he took him back at a reduced salary, and assigned him to less visible PR duties in San Diego. So, for the next six months, Reeves had nothing to show for having played Hercules but diminished means.
