Giovani Cianfriglia as Antaeus in HERCULES THE AVENGER (1965)
It's amazing what PEPLUM movies got away with back in the 1950s and definitely in the 1960s. For the most part, PEPLUM movies of the 1950s mostly played it safe except for a bunch of movies like TWO NIGHTS WITH CLEOPATRA (1954) or even HERCULES (1958). By the 1960s, all pretence of decorum disappeared in many films and even today, they're quite eye openers. For instance, this scene where Antaeus clearly forces himself on Queen Leda (Gia Sandri). It's played so straightforward. The scene doesn't last long but one has to remember that PEPLUM movies were popular with kids. Why is that? Why did these kind of movies got away with stuff other films couldn't even imagine back then? It's very fascinating.
