Musings!

Maciste (Bartolomeo Pagano) is transformed after kissing Proserpina (Elena Sangro) in MACISTE IN HELL (1925)

I love the 1962 version starring Kirk Morris and directed by Riccardo Freda but I also like the silent version, which is a totally different beast. It's an epic film with a 'cast of thousands.' Like the 1962 movie, this one also goes back and forth between the living on earth and hell itself. The costumes are great (look at the details on her costume) and the huge cast of devils/demons surrounding Maciste is quite amazing. The old concept of hell is fascinating to me and this movie, like many genre movies, mixes PEPLUM and Horror. The intertitles are a hoot (below). In clothes, Bartolomeo looks ordinary but once his clothes vanish, his old style physique (aka Real) is excellent and still looks impressive. All the versions I've seen look battered. I wish there was a pristine copy of this made available.