Friday, February 14, 2025
Image of the week!
Samson (Victor Mature) tries to convince Delilah (Hedy Lamar) to join him in SAMSON AND DELILAH (1949)
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Lobby Cards Set: THE CENTURION (1961)
Original Italian lobby cards set of THE CENTURION (1961; aka Conqueror of Corinth) starring Jacques Sernas, Gianna Maria Canale, John Drew Barrymore, Genevieve Grad and others. Beautiful set. So colourful. It makes me laugh though that some cards are scenes from other movies (cards 3 and 4). Otherwise, the cast is fully displayed.
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Thursday, February 13, 2025
Musings!
Gordon Mitchell, Jacques Sernas and Gianni Santuccio in THE CENTURION (1961; aka Conqueror of Corinth)
This film is often overlooked. It does have a lot of re-used scenes from other movies and the ending is sorta affected by this but it's a pretty solid production, directed by the reliable Mario Costa. This screenshot is from a HD copy. It's gorgeous. Why isn't it on Blu-ray? I recently bought a German DVD pack which had this title, with the English audio, but the image was in a poor state. It's odd that this movie, which had a theatrical release in the US, is still not available to buy in HD.
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Wednesday, February 12, 2025
Clip of the week: GOLIATH AND THE VAMPIRES (1961)
Dance number from the movie. With Gianna Maria Canale.
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Tuesday, February 11, 2025
SPFX DEPT.
Scenes from ATLANTIS - THE LOST CONTINENT (1961)
This George Pal movie has tons of special effects, from matte paintings (above) to full scale and pretty large models (below). Explosions and elaborate makeup (creatures), etc. Here are two examples: above is a combination of many elements, including actual location with actors (crowd) combined with model (submarine) and matte painting (background). Below are big and tall models (taller than a man) with a painted background. And of course, a pool of water that's not really the ocean.
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Missing scenes from THE WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF GUERRIN MESCHINO (1953) Blu-ray
A new French Blu-ray from Artus Films of THE WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF GUERRIN MESCHINO was released recently. It's great to see it in HD. I wrote about here here. The problem is, thanks to a tip from my friend in Europe, there are several missing scenes in it compared to the original Italian version. There's one scene in particular, the one with the giant, that entirely cut. Why? It devalues the Blu-ray release. Here's a quick rundown of those scenes I've noticed.
Above and below: The introduction is missing a painted representation of Guerrin Meschino's adventures, including images of the crocodile and the giant. Is it important? Not really but it's fun and original so yeah, cutting it was stupid.
The entire scene about the giant, pictured in the intro, is missing. It starts with Guerrin and friend who come across a statue of the giant. They eventually meet the terrifying (albino?) giant. The friend is hung upside down and Guerrin battles with him (last screenshot). There's some violence but I really don't know why this entire scene was cut in the French version. It's one of the major highlights of the movie.
So, we're back to zero now. These scenes might seem minor but they're not. The movie is called Adventures not Adventure...and cutting one of the major adventures of our hero is dumb. This Pietro Francisci movie needs to be released on Blu-ray uncut.
Above and below: The introduction is missing a painted representation of Guerrin Meschino's adventures, including images of the crocodile and the giant. Is it important? Not really but it's fun and original so yeah, cutting it was stupid.
This scene with secondary characters is missing/abbreviated.
The entire scene about the giant, pictured in the intro, is missing. It starts with Guerrin and friend who come across a statue of the giant. They eventually meet the terrifying (albino?) giant. The friend is hung upside down and Guerrin battles with him (last screenshot). There's some violence but I really don't know why this entire scene was cut in the French version. It's one of the major highlights of the movie.
So, we're back to zero now. These scenes might seem minor but they're not. The movie is called Adventures not Adventure...and cutting one of the major adventures of our hero is dumb. This Pietro Francisci movie needs to be released on Blu-ray uncut.
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Monday, February 10, 2025
Musings!
Juliette Binoche in THE RETURN (2024)
This movie came out without any fanfare and got barely any attention. I watched it recently and I have to say that it's good. It's the first PEPLUM film or show that was made recently that I watched entirely. Does it have many issues? Yes. But I enjoyed the straight forward aspect of the production. It's Odysseus (Ralph Fiennes) returning to his home. It's basically just the ending from ULYSSES (1954) expanded to a movie minus the beautiful costumes and sets. The bizarre thing is it has very brief nudity (full frontal) and some harsh violence, which makes it unwatchable for the whole family. It's adult but the story itself is not. Oh well...The actors are very good, certainly Binoche as Penelope. It's a very grounded PEPLUM without any fantastical elements. It's bare bones and in a way I like this approach. But because of its low budget, the settings made everyone looked like cave people. I missed beautiful, elaborate sets of Antiquity. But overall, I enjoyed it for what it was.
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Friday, February 7, 2025
Image of the week!
Roccia (Dan Vadis) and Chimbro (Milton Reid) fight to the death while Daliah (Helga Liné) watches in shock in SPARTACUS AND THE TEN GLADIATORS (1964)
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At the movies...
TRIUMPH OF MACISTE (1961) playing at Cinechoc in Paris. Now in colour. Previous post. There's a list of movie listed there, like some sort of festival.
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Thursday, February 6, 2025
Musings!
Mimmo Palmara doing what he does best: being a bad guy in TWO GLADIATORS (1964)
I recently got a bunch of new DVDs, yes, DVDs, not Blu-rays, from Germany. These DVDs are not new but are new to my collection. One of the best in the bunch is this movie. The image is very good. There's no English audio of course. But I really wanted a quasi-pristine print of this movie and the DVD filled the need. Almost all of my other dozen or so print of this movie are good to barely ok. You can check out the list of DVDs I got at BY THE GODS! website. I'll list them here soon under Recent Acquisitions.
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Wednesday, February 5, 2025
Clip of the week: CLASH OF THE TITANS (1981)
The Kraken appears to Andromeda (Judi Bowker) in CLASH OF THE TITANS. With Harry Hamlin, Bubo, and others!
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Tuesday, February 4, 2025
HD Alert!
SON OF SAMSON was released in HD in the US before any other country, including those in Europe. This Blu-ray is apparently the first release of this film in HD in Europe.
Screenshot from the US Blu-ray! With mark Forest.
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PEPLUM exhibition
There's an exhibition of the PEPLUM genre in Paris at the Fondation Pathé Seydoux. The exhibition is called "Antiquité et Cinéma" and the show runs until March 29. My friend in Europe already mentioned this to me and Jacques Le Roux contacted me about it as well. Le Roux is a lecturer and author on Art History. He also provided photos he took while visited the museum. If you're in Paris, make sure to check it out.
I purchased the catalogue but haven't received it yet. Anyway, thanks to Jacques for these great photos. I'd like to see it but I'm not planning on traveling to Paris.
Photo of the construction of the colossus in COLOSSUS OF RHODES (1960)
Poster and chariot from BEN-HUR (1959)
QUO VADIS (1951) poster and production design (below)
Costumes from CLEOPATRA (1934)
Above and below: costumes from THE PRODIGAL (1955). Notice the posters in the background.
Matte painting from SPARTACUS (1960)
Photo of the construction of the colossus in COLOSSUS OF RHODES (1960)
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Monday, February 3, 2025
Musings!
Sylva Koscina as Empress Theodora in THE LAST ROMAN Part 2 (1969)
I love Sylva Koscina. She was great in all her roles in PEPLUM movies, including playing Iole in HERCULES (1958) and HERCULES UNCHAINED (1959). But I have to say that Gianna Maria Canale as Theodora in THEODORA - SLAVE EMPRESS (1954) was so memorable that Sylva doesn't hold a candle next to her. These two movies, THE LAST ROMAN and this sequel, came out when the PEPLUM genre was all but dead. There were still some movies made here and there but this project stands mainly for being out in the wrong time. I like the movies but I have some reservations. Sylva's dress here is an example but there's something missing about it. It's well produced and quite impressive in parts but it's sorta robotic. I got the double DVD set from Germany. The screenshot is from that set. I didn't so any adjustments to the image aside from adding the blog's address.
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Friday, January 31, 2025
Image of the week!
Salammbo (Jeanne Valérie) stops Mathos (Jacques Sernas) and the Mercenary Chief (Raf Baldassarre) in SALAMMBO (1960)
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Thursday, January 30, 2025
Musings!
Milton Reid, Gianno Rizzo and Dan Vadis in SPARTACUS AND THE TEN GLADIATORS (1964)
Our hero, Roccia (Vadis), is in a tight situation. It's a fairly regular thing in PEPLUM musclemen features. He had to be kneeling since he's 6'4" and he would have towered everyone else. I love this movie, even with the plethora of re-used scenes from other movies. The action is fast and the cast is great and, as one can see in this quasi-HD shot, it's nice looking when seen in its original glory. The title is always a problem with the TEN GLADIATORS movies. In my collection, I name it TEN GLADIATORS_SPARTACUS, in order to have all three TEN GLADIATORS movies together. With the title starting with Spartacus, the movie is a hassle to find in my collection.
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Behind-the-Scenes
Director Robert Aldrich going over a scene with Scilla Gabel on the set of SODOM AND GOMORRAH (1962).
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