Musings!

Richard Burton is ALEXANDER THE GREAT (1956) 

Is it time to face the fact that movies like this one will never be made anymore? Whether you like this film or not, PEPLUM movies of this caliber are, like their stories, a thing of a distant past. It's pretty much over. With the upcoming THE ODYSSEY, which boast top of the line actors and crew, and seemingly can't even get anything right, it's time to face the music. Unless someone comes along and shakes up the film industry, there's very little to look forward to. There are so many PEPLUM movies from the past that it's really not that bleak but, yeah, we're stuck with these old movies forever. 

Behind-the-Scenes

Haya Harareet and Charlton Heston at the premiere of BEN-HUR (1959)

Clip of the week: TWO NIGHTS WITH CLEOPATRA (1954)

Tortul (Paul Muller) introduces Nisca (Sophia Loren) to Cleopatra (Sophia Loren).

Portraits

Rita Gam, as Herodias, in KING OF KINGS (1961)

HD Alert!

Mark Damon in THE TYRANT OF CASTILE (1963)

I finally got hold of a print of the German Blu-ray release of this movie thanks to my source in Europe. It's a very nice print. The interior scenes are sorta grainy in spots and HD won't make the uninspired lighting better. But exterior scenes are truly beautiful. It's not a bad film by any means but it's not that memorable. It's a much needed upgrade to the 5 problematic versions I have in my collection. 

Added to the list of PEPLUM movies in HD!

Vintage Article

Article in Muscle Builder (June 1956) with Steve Reeves. Bottom left photo: Steve with Reg Park. The photo of Steve hold those 4 women in the air comes from ATHENA (1954).

Musings!

Calypso (Vanessa Williams) and Odysseus (Armand Assante) in THE ODYSSEY (1997; TV)

I forgot to include this TV miniseries in the TROJAN TALES issue of By The Gods! Once I realized it was missing, it was too late to add it but honestly, the miniseries is not that good. Miniseries were dying by 1997 and even though it boast an amazing cast, it still not that memorable. Certainly when half of that amazing cast was miscast. Bernadette Peters as Circe? NO! Assante was miscast as well. I saw it back in 1997 and barely remember anything from it. Vanessa Williams could have been better as Circe. With the current controversy of casting choices for the upcoming THE ODYSSEY movie, the casting choices of this miniseries didn't even make a ripple.

PEPLUM Movie Poster

Japanese poster of HELEN OF TROY (1956) 

Fairly simple poster art. Nothing dramatic. 

Peplum Public Discussion

Comments are open in this post. You have something to mention about this week's posts? Or something else. This is the only place you can voice your opinion. Comments are curated therefore any bad comment won't be published! Be respectful!

Image of the week!

Hercules (Steve Reeves) is in a death grip of Antaeus (Primo Carnara) in HERCULES UNCHAINED (1959)

Lobby Cards Set: SAMSON AND THE LOST TREASURE OF THE INCAS (1964)

Original Italian lobby cards set (fotobusta) of SAMSON AND THE LOST TREASURE OF THE INCAS (1964) starring Alan Steel. Nice short set. Missing is a card with a shirtless  Alan, which happens in the movie. 

Musings!

Georges Marchal and Ettore Manni in LEGIONS OF THE NILE (1959) 

In PEPLUM movies, there are two types of actors: action stars and actors. Action Stars didn't have to act much even if they could act. While Actors had the most lines and were able to give nuance performances. One is not better than the other. It's just how things work. Some beefy actor were limited in range and the Actors, like these two men, helped. But then there are movies in which Actors played Action Star...does it really work? Marchal has proven himself time and time again that he could be both. He's an excellent Actor but also pretty good as Action Star, as his movie ULYSSES AGAINST HERCULES (1962) and THEODORA SLAVE EMPRESS (1954) have shown. But Ettore? 

Ettore starred in a good bunch of movies, mostly directed by Vittorio Cottafavi, like this movie or THE WARRIOR AND THE SLAVE GIRL (1958) or even HERCULES AND THE CAPTIVE WOMEN (1961), though the Action Star in that movie was Reg Park, Ettore did a lot too. But I see him more like an Actor than Action Star. He's not bad at all in these action roles, like this movie, but he's too polite and 'nice' to be an Action Star. Excellent actor? Yes. Action Star? Not really. His leading roles in PEPLUM movies would eventually disappear and he became a supporting actor. 

Behind-the-Scenes

Rossana Podesta, still in costume, standing next to a vespa in Rome on the set of HELEN OF TROY (1956)

Clip of the week: MACISTE - STRONGEST MAN IN THE WORLD (1961)

Maciste (Mark Forest) VS Bangor (Paul Wynter). Bangor is credited as Bango at IMDb but in the movie itself it's Bangor. 

New PEPLUM imagery

THE RETURN OF BANGOR

MEN OF PULP

SPFX DEPT.

Scenes from A THOUSAND AND ONE NIGHTS (1945)

Nice matte paintings from this old movie starring Cornel Wilde and Phil Silvers. There are more matte paintings than these two but they are my personal favourites. It was nominated by the Oscars for special effect. Lawrence W. Butler is credited for the movie's special effects but it's not clear if he was responsible for the paintings themselves. I love old Hollywood movies. 
 

THE ODYSSEY controversy

Unless you live under a rock, the upcoming Hollywood production of THE ODYSSEY has caused a lot of controversy, certainly after it was revealed that many characters were cast according to Oscars' guideline for eligibility. To be eligible for any Oscar nomination, the production of a film has to follow certain criteria or quotas, including have characters of a visible minority be cast, regardless of historical accuracy. The issue went viral all over social media platforms, including X (aka Twitter).

The studio went into damage control for the $250 million production. The director has appeared on the cover of TIME magazine promoting the movie and there was a segment on him and THE ODYSSEY on 60 Minutes. 

The pros and cons usually fall on political spectrum. One of the funniest arguments is 'Who cares? It's just a movie.' But if they had done is exactly like it should have been done, the same people would complain that it's not reflective of diversity. There's no winning this argument. I think it's all just a ploy to drum up interest for the movie and many of those who critique it will most likely say that it wasn't as bad as expected. It's all a game.

Personally, I won't be watching it. Just the casting of Matt Damon, who's not a favourite actor, was enough for me to realize that this movie won't live up to expectations. I saw the trailer and the costumes look bland and the general outlook looks boring. I'd rather watch THE TROJAN HORSE (1961), with Steve Reeves or FURY OF ACHILLES (1962) with Gordon Mitchell. Or ULYSSES (1954) with Kirk Douglas and Silvana Mangano or the 1968 ODYSSEY TV miniseries starring Bekim Fehmiu and Irene Papas.

Musings!

Rosalba Neri as Delilah in THE GREAT LEADERS OF THE BIBLE (1965) 

This movie is two short stories in one film. The first story is the story of GIDEON and the second one is  SAMSON. I'll be writing only about the second segment. Overall, I like it. My main criticism is that the look of the movie is drab, certainly compared to the Technicolor version in SAMSON AND DELILAH (1949). The fact that this version is around one hour long and it actually drags in some places shows how thin the story of mystery of Samson's strength is. Once the secret is known, the story ends with Samson bringing down the temple, which in this movie is very well made even if some scenes are obviously models. Rosalba is a great choice for Delilah and I wish the movie had been a full movie, with dazzling colours and violent action, as in ESTHER AND THE KING (1960) in which Rosalba also starring in. But the tone here is more serious and Sunday school style than entertaining style. The movie has two directors. Who directed what is unknown. Exterior scenes were shot in Spain and with interior scenes filmed at Cinecittà.

PEPLUM Movie Poster

French poster of THE WARRIOR AND THE SLAVE GIRL (1958) 

Not a very flattering image of Ettore Manni. It looks like him but he looks sick.

PEPLUM Break

I take a break roughly every two months. My last break was at the beginning of March so it's that time again. 

So stay tuned!

I'll leave you now with King Leonidas (Richard Egan) from THE 300 SPARTANS (1962), saying "From this wall, we do not retreat!"

Peplum Public Discussion

Comments are open in this post. You have something to mention about this week's posts? Or something else. This is the only place you can voice your opinion. Comments are curated therefore any bad comment won't be published! Be respectful!

Image of the week!

A caged Randus (Steve Reeves) is scorned by Claudia (Gianna Maria Canale), wife of Crassus, the Governor of Egypt, which Randus is trying to overthrow, in THE SON OF SPARTACUS (1962; aka The Slave)

PEPLUM Movie Quotes

SALAMMBO (1960) starring Edmund Purdom and Jeanne Valérie as Salammbo.

NARR HAVAS (Purdom): You do well, Salammbo. Your indignation soothes the grief of all of Carthage. All of them will die, to the last man.

Musings!

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.

Behind-the-Scenes

Lex Barker holding Jocelyn Lane on the set of ROBIN HOOD AND THE PIRATES (1960)