Monday, April 22, 2024

Musings!


Sappho (Tina Louise) and fellow students sneak about in SAPPHO - THE VENUS OF LESBOS (1960; aka The Warrior Empress)

A fun film which literally has everything in it. It's still pretty much missing in action. Aside from a TV broadcast in the US, an old copy I had years ago and it's the one available everywhere on the internet now after I uploaded to Youtube, the movie is forgotten. It was never released on DVD or broadcast in a nice widescreen copy anywhere in Europe. Anyway, here's a little test: above is a photo is from a Black & White lobby card. 



Above is a colour lobby card. 


 

This is a colourized version of the black and white photo made at a website which adds colour to old B&W photos.


These are the actual colours in the movie. 😂

4 comments:

  1. I remember taping this off TV back in the days of VHS and it was full frame and the soundtrack was off. I wonder why this has always been MIA as far at home video versions. Put it right up there with The Pharaohs' Woman for inaccessibility to see.

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  2. The colours in the lobby card and the AI image are nothing like the film, particularly their clothing. I don't think the image itself occurs like this in the film, perhaps it is a promotional shot. But, check out the video from 18:00 onwards.

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Tci-p370PSU&pp=ygUQc2FmbyB0aW5hIGxvdWlzZQ%3D%3D

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  3. The colourization gives a cleaner-looking image, I have to admit, but where is the beautiful red of Tina's hair? Is nothing sacred?

    On something more esoteric:

    The lobby card has a "U" next to the title "The Warrior Empress".
    I see it on British posters, but hadn't noticed it before on lobby cards.
    It stood for Universal Exhibition (Persons of all ages will be admitted).
    I wonder if there were any peplum films rated A or even X?

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_British_film_certificates#1951–1970


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  4. Further on my query about film classifications in the UK, there must indeed have been quite a number of 'A' classified peplum films at the time. Below are just the ones I found from film posters in this blog.

    The Queen of Babylon / The Slave Woman (1954), Aphrodite Goddess of Love (1957), Ben-Hur (1959), Son of Samson (1960), The Minotaur (1960), Fury of the Vikings (1961), Cleopatra (1963), Perseus Against the Monsters (1963), Hercules Against Moloch (1963), Carry On Cleo (1964).

    'A' = More Suitable for Adult Audiences. Children under 12 (originally 16) had to be accompanied by their parent or adult guardian.

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_British_film_certificates#1951–1970

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