Jacques Sernas and Franca Bettoia in DUEL OF CHAMPIONS (1961)
Everything about this movie is sorta sad. Jacques Sernas was in a major Hollywood blockbuster, HELEN OF TROY (1956), before returning to Europe to continue with his career in PEPLUM movies that weren't as high caliber as the TROY movie. After a long time covering the PEPLUM genre, and knowing very little about Franca Bettoia at first, I realized, after years of research, she must have been disappointed with her short-lived career. She tried to make it big in American productions but that didn't happen. She even courted Alfred Hitchcok, not realizing she wasn't really his type. Sernas and Bettoia are not even the stars of the movie. A tired Alan Ladd was, who looked out of place. Ladd walked off the set of the movie after nearly 3 months because he hadn't been paid anything. He only resumed filming after he got paid. That would explain his performance in it.
Terence Young was the director, or the co-director since there was an English crew and an Italian one, lead by Ferdinando Baldi. Young's career would explode after this gloomy production by directing DR. NO (1962), FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE (1963) and THUNDERBALL (1965). The setting and sets are bleak. The whole project looks bleak. There's a scene in a flooded forest. The outdoor locations look cold and uninviting. The story is not that compelling. It seems everyone involved was either going down or rising after making it. The tone and feel of this movie is similar to the WAR GODDESS (1973), also directed by Terence Young. I wrote about that movie's effects last week. Both movies have the same uninspired feel to them. And yet I don't hate it. It's not a fun movie but I watch it because I'm fascinated by it. The only bright spot is the beautiful score by Angelo Francesco Lavagnino.
