Image of the week!

A dying Alexander (Richard Burton) says his last words to Barsine (Claire Bloom) and Roxane (Teresa Del Rio) in ALEXANDER THE GREAT (1956)

At the movies...

 CLEOPATRA (1963) playing at the Victoria theatre in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Musings!

Atlas (Gordon Mitchell) tries to push a boulder down to block a road in ATLAS IN THE LAND OF THE CYCLOPS (1961)

This is one of the best PEPLUM musclemen movies as it hits all the right PEPLUM buttons in one movie, including this familiar action. I can think of a dozen movies with just this rock pushing action. It's fun. There's nothing more to it. It's just fun stuff. The movie is smogasborg of everything PEPLUM.

Behind-the-Scenes

Steve Reeves and Mylène Demongeot in costume for the filming of THE GIANT OF MARATHON (1959) while visiting a shop on a publicity tour.

Clip of the week: THE PHARAOHS' WOMAN (1960)

Ramses (Armando Francioli) goes after Akis (Linda Cristal). Clip from new copy not seen anywhere else. Great film!
 

Portraits

Maria Felix as Messalina in THE AFFAIRS OF MESSALINA (1951)

HD Alert!

Scenes from LAND OF THE PHARAOHS (1955) starring Jack Hawkins

Not an alert but just that I got it in HD. The image is a clear upgrade to the DVD. Colors are really rich. My one complaint is the movie seems to have a reddish tint to it. Interior scenes are nice but exterior scenes, like the one below, are spectacular. Well worth buying.

Vintage Article

Old article on SANDOKAN THE GREAT (1963) starring Steve Reeves.

Musings!

Gloria Milland and Alan Steel, as Commodus, in URSUS - THE REBEL GLADIATOR (1962)

Alan Steel plays Commodus. Gloria plays his mate. They make a great couple. It's sorta rare to see couples in the way it's portrayed in this movie. Alan is quite good as Commodus. More interesting than the one seen in other films. Gloria is always fun to watch. She excelled in PEPLUM movies. The title of this movie is confusing. The English title, THE REBEL GLADIATORS, doesn't make much sense since the main rebellious gladiator is Ursus, played by Dan Vadis. It's sometimes simply referred to as THE REBEL GLADIATOR. URSUS - THE REBEL GLADIATOR is the correct title. 

PEPLUM Movie Poster

French poster of ROMULUS AND THE SABINES (1961) 

A fun comedy of rape for the whole family! Seriously, nice poster.

Image of the week!

Emiliano (Steve Reeves), aka Goliath, is put to the test in GOLIATH AND THE BARBARIANS (1959)

Lobby Cards Set: THE AFFAIRS OF MESSALINA (1951)

Incomplete UK lobby cards set of THE AFFAIRS OF MESSALINA (1953) starring Maria Felix and Georges Marchal. The set is incomplete but even so it's a good selection of scenes. It gives a good preview of the movie.

Musings!

Ed Fury and Maria Luisa Merlo in URSUS IN THE VALLEY OF LIONS (1961) 

This is one of three URSUS movies Ed made in the early 1960s. I like this file but it's not as good as the other two. It's entertaining, of course, but there's on major issue with the movie: it uses a lot of lions and the professional lion tamer is Ed's body double for scenes with Ursus standing next to lions but the problem is the lion tamer is not as fit as Ed and of course, the whole thing is sorta jarring. One second, we see Ed, the next we see the lion tamer from the back. It's unfortunate that this i so obvious because it's a fun movie. Maria also starred in the first URSUS movie but not URSUS IN THE LAND OF FIRE (1963).

Behind-the-Scenes

Georges Marchal on the set of THEODORA - SLAVE EMPRESS (1954)

Clip of the week: WITCH WITHOUT A BROOM (1968)

Gladiators fight! With Gustavo Rojo. 

New PEPLUM Art!

With a few prompts, new PEPLUM art by AI. 

From MEN OF PULP @ X 

MASTER OF ARMS

SPFX DEPT.

 Scene from URSUS AND THE TARTAR PRINCESS (1961) 

This is the only scene with a matte painting. It's pretty good. The set was used in other movies, including ALI BABA AND THE SEVEN SARACENS (1964). It was dressed up for this movie, inclding matching matte work.

Same costume, different films!

Who wore it best?

Top left: Massimo Serato (with Hedy Lamarr) in THE LOVE OF THREE QUEENS (1954)

Top right: Ivo Garrani in HERCULES (1958)

Bottom left: an extra in THE MIGHTY URSUS (1960)

Bottom right: Philippe Hersent (with Mark Forest) in GOLIATH AND THE DRAGON (1960)

In my opinion, number one is Ivo, then it's Philippe, Massimo and the extra.

Musings!

Susy Andersen, the blonde one, and other female gladiators in THOR AND THE AMAZON QUEEN

I like Susy Andersen. She only made a handful of PEPLUM films and yet I'm a fan. My question is: what happened to her? This is one of the frustrating things about the PEPLUM genre. All these interesting actors and artists and nothing about them. I like her character in it. She is forced to fight even though it's against her principles. Even though the movie could have ended up in the exploitation level, and it does to a certain level, it actually remains serious all the way to the end. The story can be seen as camp by many but the direction is serious. One of the first movie released in HD!

PEPLUM Movie Poster

French poster of THE APOCALYPSE (1947) 

I finally got a copy of this ultra rare movie. And it didn't disappoint. I will have a full review in the upcoming issue of BY THE GODS!

Image of the week!

The nine gladiators got revenge for the death of Roccia in THE TEN GLADIATORS (1963)

(With Roger Browne and Jose Greci, left side... there are too many actors to identify)

VHS Covers: SIGN OF THE GLADIATOR

VHS covers of SIGN OF THE GLADIATOR (1959) starring Anita Ekberg, Georges Marchal and others. Somewhat limited selection for such a big title and with average covers. Nothing too earth shattering.

 

US cover. The artwork is from THE BACCHANTES! Well, at least the movie had a VHS release in the US. If anyone has a digitized copy, please email me at peplumtv2@gmail.com.

Italian cover. Those KOLOSSAL covers were ugly.

 

German cover. Beautiful.

Second German cover. 

 

French cover. Absolutely ugly! 😂

Musings!

Ed Fury in URSUS IN THE LAND OF FIRE (1963) 

This is fun, colourful and violent URSUS movie. The one thing that sorta takes me out is the big prop seen here. It's in a lot of other PEPLUM movies. It's always funny to see it here. PEPLUM movies were not no budget movies but they knew how to cut corners in every way possible. Maybe I should do a list of movies, if I an remember them all.

Behind-the-Scenes

Paul Newman, Virginia Mayo, both in costumes, with Natalie Wood, not in costume, on the set of THE SILVER CHALICE (1954)

Clip of the week: SINS OF POMPEII (1950)

Mount Vesuvius erupts! With Georges Marchal and Micheline Presle