Monday, January 31, 2011

Photo of the Day


Debra Paget in JOURNEY TO THE LOST CITY (The Tiger of Eschnapur).

Movie Poster Mondays

Pepluminous movie poster for SAMSON & THE  7 MIRACLES OF THE WORLD.

A fun film starring Gordon Scott and Yoko Tani. And in COLORSCOPE, no less.
A remake of this, with all its grandiose aspirations intact, would actually be cool.

Having seen it several times though, I still wonder what the 7 miracles are supposed to be. According to the poster, the 7 "miracles" are:

The man made earthquake (ok, that's one)
The chariot of death (huh? that's a miracle?)
The rock of freedom (?)
The tree of mystery (?)
The bell of truth (in the film the bell is called the bell of freedom)
The golden tiger (there's a tiger but just your average tiger)
The living dead (there were living dead in it? samson knocks himself cold and people think he's dead....)

John Barry - RIP

Legendary film composer John Barry died yesterday. Barry was incredibly
versatile and composed some of the best film scores ever. He won 5 Academy
awards. Sadly, made very few scores for films that would fall in the PEPLUM
genre. Here's his only score for the "mature" Swashbuckler "ROBIN & MARIAN"

The first soundtrack record I've ever purchased was a John Barry score. 

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Photo of the Day

























A chained Errol Flynn is inspected by Maureen O'Hara in AGAINST ALL FLAGS, a colorful Swashbuckler filled with the usual ingredients of whippings, galley battles, lost treasures and all that.

Then & Now: Renato Rossini (Howard Ross)









Renato Rossini (aka Howard Ross) in SAMSON & THE MIGHTY CHALLENGE; Renato today

Saturday, January 29, 2011

Photo of the Day

Carmen Electra, Sean Maguire and Kevin Sorbo star in the universally panned MEET THE SPARTANS.

Funny enough, Sorbo played Hercules in a long lasting TV series and was almost always dressed from head to toe. I always thought that was a bizarre decision. He was 37 years old when he started the series. When Sorbo decided to be part of this send-off of 300 and finally agreed to appear in some skimpy outfits, he was 50 years old!

PEPLUM Behind the Scenes

Rudolph Maté directs a scene from THE 300 SPARTANS

POLL: King Leonidas vs King Leonidas

Who's the best King Leonidas?



Richard Egan from THE 300 SPARTANS or Gerard Butler from 300?

Friday, January 28, 2011

Photo of the Day

Theda Bara as CLEOPATRA (1917). This photo is amazing!

Fotonovela: Liana Orfei

Liana Orfei in HERCULES CHALLENGES SAMSON







Dwarfed Conan

Conan looks mighty small next Wilt Chamberlain and Andre the Giant

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Photo of the Day

The beautiful Marilù Tolo and the handsome Mark Forest make a sexy
 couple in THE MAGNIFICENT GLADIATOR. 

Cinematic Confusion

Video cassette cover for CARTHAGE IN FLAMES is really deceptive. Yes, Terence Hill
is in it but his role is minor and he hardly participates in any  fighting. By looking at
this you'd think the film was an all out action film not the grand moody epic that it is.
Guaranteed that anyone who rented this because of the cover was disappointed by it.

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Photo of the Day

Yul Brynner in the over-the-top ending from SOLOMON & SHEBA.

The ending is controversial in more ways than one. Personally speaking, it's thumbs down
for me as I find it to be more anti-climactic than anything else and it makes me giggle
but I have to admit it's spectacular in goofy kinda way.

ARES - Greek God of the Month (week 3)

Mars, of Love & War

Mars (Ares) wasn't known only for being the God of War. 


Mars & Venus by Carlo Saraceni


Mars ~ Bringer of War by Gustav Holst

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Photo of the Day

Yoko Tani and Ettore Manni in URSUS & THE TARTAR PRINCESS.

I like almost every PEPLUM flick ever made but I still can't quite figure this film out. Is it good?
Is it bad? Is it good/bad? I'm sitting on the fence with this one. 

Movie Memorabilia

Comic book (?) for the big Robert Wise film; that's Rossana Podesta on the cover

Monday, January 24, 2011

Photo of the Day


Gladiators from ALONE AGAINST ROME. Cool scene!

Movie Poster Mondays

German poster for URSUS AND THE TERROR OF THE KIRGHIZ. Love it!

PEPLUM Toys

Full size action figures based on the INCREDIBLE HERCULES comic book.


Sunday, January 23, 2011

Photo of the Day


Vitale Di Stefano (as Massinissa, the Numidian King) and Bartolomeo Pagano (as Maciste) in
CABIRIA (1914), the granddaddy of all PEPLUM flicks.

Mini Hercules & Iole

I don't know from where this is from or who did this but I love it.

PEPLUM Babe of the Week: Sylva Koscina

Even if Sylva only made a handful of PEPLUM & Swashbuckling flicks, she left
a lasting impression on fans of the genre. To many, Sylva is the Queen of PEPLUM Cinema.

As Iole, Sylva will be eternally linked to Steve Reeves because of HERCULES (1958)

A young Sylva in HERCULES (1958)

Sylva starred in SIEGE OF SYRACUSE with Rossano Brazzi

Sylva as Theodora in THE LAST ROMAN

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Photo of the Day


John Derek and Charlton Heston are being questioned by Vincent Price in THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. A super spectacular film, in more ways than one, but also hopelessly campy and a tad overlong.

PEPLUM Behind the Scenes

Dan Vadis and Moira Orfei having fun, most likely while filming THE TRIUMPH OF HERCULES

SWORD & SANDAL Imagery

The Girl with the BIG Sword...obviously inspired by Keira Knightley in KING ARTHUR

Friday, January 21, 2011

Photo of the Day

Steve Reeves wrestles Alan Steel (Sergio Ciani) during the opening credits 
for THE GIANT OF MARATHON.

Alan can be seen sporadically throughout the movie but this is the only scene with the 
two PEPLUM superstars are in full action together. If you blink, you'll miss this 
scene. It's a shame they didn't make movies together.

PEPLUM Cliché: Eating Grapes

Mimmo Palmara & Rosalba Neri in THE 3 AVENGERS

Harry Baird is fed some bountiful grapes by Janine Hendy in THOR & THE AMAZON WOMEN

Sophia Loren & Ettore Manni in TWO NIGHTS WITH CLEOPATRA

Sophia Loren again this time with Alberto Sordi in TWO NIGHTS WITH CLEOPATRA

A scene from SIEGE OF SYRACUS

Current News


This was used as a base for an electric lamp but it turned out to be a 2,000 year old Roman vase which was sold for £445,250!

I love these stories!

Link

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Photo of the Day

Gina Lollobrigida in the "orgy" dance scene from SOLOMON & SHEBA. 

This dance number is still considered pretty hot by today's standards.

Cinematic Confusion


The official English title for Spade senza bandiera is SWORDS WITHOUT A COUNTRY. The word Sword is in plural. But everywhere elsewhere, including the TV listing I saw this film listed as was listed as SWORD WITHOUT A COUNTRY, Sword without an S. That single letter makes a big difference. Even IMDb (below) lists it in the singular. It's very common that titles for PEPLUM films are all messed up as the genre gets very little respect.


Hercules - Boston Premiere

Cool photo. Notice that it says "Cast of Thousands."

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Photo of the Day

Wandisa Guida and Ettore Manni in REVOLT OF THE SLAVES.

They both gave the best performances in the film. Love this photo.