Friday, January 3, 2020

Model cities in PEPLUM films

One of the fun things to see in PEPLUM movies are scenes over discussion of the creation of cities and grand scale architectural projects. I'm not a historian and I can't say if these scenes are historically accurate but they're cool nonetheless. Here's a small sample of these scenes.


QUO VADIS (1951)

In QUO VADIS, Nero (Peter Ustinov) wishes to erect a new Rome and he showcases this grand scheme to his friends and cohorts. The problem: the project is set to be construction on land where there are already buildings and houses, and people living and working in those places will have to be displaced...by a catastrophic fire?

The model is quite intricate and spectacular.



THE COLOSSUS OF RHODES (1961)

The leaders of Rhodes, lead by Conrado San Martin (in red),  plot some nefarious evil scheme with the help of a model representation of Rhodes, its port and the Colossus. Nice.



GOLIATH & THE DRAGON (1960)
Broderick Crawford shows a model made of gold of the city of Thebes to Ugo Sasso. 


MY SON, THE HERO (1962)
We rarely see the model in the same shot as the lead actors. This is the best scene with the big model (on the right). With Antonio Molino Rojo.


SLAVE QUEEN OF BABYLON (1963)

Semiramis (Yvonne Furneaux) examines the model representation of Babylon. I really like this one.



1 comment:

Scott Ochiltree said...

Thanks. Most intersting compilation.