Wednesday, April 5, 2017

By the Gods!


A scene from WHEN DINOSAURS RULED THE EARTH (1970)

Trying to figure who's who with this cast is difficult since they all look alike. Robin Hawdon is the fellow in the middle (or is the one lying down?). I recently got a HD version of this. Interesting companion to ONE MILLION YEARS B.C.. Watching it in HD is sorta good and bad. The details are an eyeful, certainly with the mostly near-nude cast, and also with the special effects by Jim Danforth which still hold up quite nicely today but in other scenes, the studio bound settings are quite obvious and it's sorta cringeworthy. Since dinosaurs and humans didn't co-exist, this is more a fantasy than anything else. Every type of PEPLUM cliché is used : sacrificial offerings, washing up on the beach, the raft, etc. Check out the blog's permanent page of PEPLUM clichés to see what I mean.

4 comments:

Scott Ochiltree said...

WHEN DINOSAURS RULED THE EARTH was made by Hammer in 1970 and received a "General" rating - presumably because of no female toplessness.

If made today it would doubtless include lots of nudity, ultra violence, and would be marketed to premium cable channels.

The not very good MARCO POLO by Netflix would presumably be the template.

Richard Svensson said...

Robin Hawdon is the guy standing on his knees in the middle of the photo. The other guy has been injured by a dinosaur.

When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth was also released in a non-"G" rated version, where Victoria Vetri runs around topless, there is some nude bathing, and some clumsy caveman sex between a rather comical couple.

Compared to One Million BC this film is very clunky, and I often sit there wondering what the hell it's really about. But it's very nicely shot, and the Oscar-nominated Jim Danforth animation is chillingly realistic at times. I was able to talk to Danforth in an animation forum many years ago and he revealed lots about how the puppets were constructed, and some very ingenious ways he used to make the animation smoother.
The making of this film is covered in great detail in the second part of Danforth's autobiography "Dinosaurs, Dragons, and Drama."

PEPLUM TV said...

Richard thanks

hsc said...

The cave girl on the left is Imogen Hassall, and to her right is Magda Konopka; the two of them were featured with blonde star Victoria Vetri in numerous advertising materials, including some that evoked the "three babes lounging about" publicity materials for the then-recent "Valley of the Dolls".

As for the guys, Robin Hawdon is at center, as Richard Svensson posted above. The wounded guy lying down is Sean Caffrey, with bad guy Patrick Allen (who also narrated, and was a voice artist for years) standing over him.

Connie Tilton (a retired British stuntwoman) is to the right.