Image of the week!

Hercules (Steve Reeves) looks out to the Argonauts after examining the bodies of the people killed by Eteocles in HERCULES UNCHAINED (1959)

AI PEPLUMTV

ONE SPARTAN

PEPLUM Movie Quotes

New feature here at the blog. I'll be posting Quotes from PEPLUM movies.

From FURY OF HERCULES with Serge Gainsbourg: 

'Without violence, power gives no satisfaction!'

Musings!

Remo (Enrico Montesano) and Romolo (Pippo Franco) in REMO E ROMOLO - STORIA DI DUE FIGLI DI UNA LUPA (1976)

I recently realized that I was missing this movie from my collection. Now I have 4 different prints! A ribald raunchy comedy/musical of the story Remus and Romulus that's typical of the Italian style filmmaking of the 1970s. See NERONE and MESSALINA, MESSALINA, both from 1977. From what I've seen, it wasn't translated into English. 1970s PEPLUM movies were to PEPLUM movies of the Golden Era like Spaghetti Westerns were to classic Westerns. They're chaotic, crude, raunchy, messy, etc. This one is no exception. The male cast is almost entirely in underwear or wearing very little. Not ready for today's audiences. The women are hippie chicks! The 'She-Wolf,' played by Gabriella Ferri, is memorable. There's bawdy singing scenes. Unlike anything made today. A complete opposite of the Steve Reeves - Gordon Scott epic DUEL OF THE TITANS (1962). I like it.

Behind-the-Scenes

Maria Montez on the set of COBRA WOMAN (1944) 

Clip of the week: THE QUEEN OF SHEBA (1952)

The Queen of Sheba (Leonora Ruffo) starts attack on Jerusalem. Great film!

Portraits

Iloosh Khoshabe as Vulcan in VULCAN - SON OF JUPITER (1962) 

HD Alert!

Spanish Blu-ray of ATTILA (1954)

Has anyone bought this? It's a BD-R. Like Warner Archive. This would mark the first time the movie is available in HD. But it might also be a DVD quality blown up to HD. The company which distributes this movie also has a huge library of titles, including OMAR KHAYYAM (1957) which I know is not official.

I have multiple copies of this movie but only one in English. I even bought the Sophia Loren DVD boxset for this title but it's in Italian, which is fine. The English version is very difficult to obtain. Any info would be helpful. 

Sophia Loren and Anthony Quinn

'Interesting' Mural Art in PEPLUM movies

Even if actors wore very little to the point of being almost nude, nudity or anything overtly sexual was taboo in movies of the past. Disregarding the many Wardrobe Malfunctions seen in those movies, intentional or not, anything to do with sex was censored. A way around for movie makers is to use background art or statues (another article) to avoid censors.

 

From HERCULES (1958). Audiences are watching Sylva Koscina but look at the mural behind her. What's going on there?
 

From the HD print, you can clearly see a woman facing the man and the placement of the hand during the climax with Steve Reeves in action!

Above & below: from ANDROCLES AND THE LION (1953). The artwork is basically depicting a threesome.

 

Above & below: in SODOM AND GOMORRAH (1962), the relief art behind Pier Angeli is 'interesting.' Phallic symbols and hands covering up areas.
 

 

A mural art from FURY OF HERCULES (1962). Hmm...

If you have any other examples, let me know.

Musings!

A chained Ugo Tognazzi tries to escape his captor, the BIG daughter of Tiberius, Lavinia (Olimpia Cavalli), in TIBERIUS (1960)

I've added this title to the list of movies in HD. I didn't post it under 'HD Alert!' because I had this copy for over 5 years. It's a nice print. I can't wait for the English dub to surface. I know it exists since I saw an old TV Times listing of it when it was shown on TV in the US back in the 1960s. In the meantime, the English subtitles will do. The sets of this movie are particularly good. Yes, it's a comedy!

PEPLUM Movie Poster

Original Turkish poster of TARKAN VS THE VIKINGS (1971)

The Tarkan films are Turkey's contribution to the PEPLUM genre. The depiction of the action is in the movie, but looks completely different in the movie. ↓

Image of the week!

Iride 'Aphrodite' (Belinda Lee) is ready to model for master sculptor Prassitele (Massimo Girotti) in GODDESS OF LOVE (1957)

At the movies...

THE EGYPTIAN (1954) playing at the FOX theatre in Detroit. 

Musings!

Mike Lane, as Hercules, and Alessandra Panaro in ULYSSES AGAINST HERCULES (1962)

The first time I watched this movie, I was left indifferent but that's mainly because of the pan & scan old public domain print. When I saw it as it was intended to be seen, in beautiful colour and widescreen, it quickly became my favourite PEPLUM of all time. Everything about it works even if the story seems to be slim. Mike Lane is actually pretty good in it. Mike was a professional wrestler at the time in the US and his good performance is one surprising element. He was cast after he appeared in VALLEY OF THE DRAGONS (1961) in which he played a caveman but looked more like Hercules. In that movie, the 6'8" tall man had a beard but in this movie, as one can see, Mike is beardless. I always prefer Hercules to have a beard but it's not a big issue. Alessandra is also excellent in this. She also starred in THE BACCHANTES (1961) which is also one of my faves so that's a pretty good track record. As you might have figured out, this scene is the ending and it always works (they're waving at Ulysses on a boat. Ulysses is brilliantly played by Georges Marchal). The production is excellent but the real star is the location: the Canary islands. Stupendous location. It elevates the movie to the top. I have *multiple* copies of this film including a HD copy from France. It looks beautiful. Mario Caiano, the director, did a fabulous job. He thought outside of the PEPLUM box and it worked. Never rely on an old battered public domain print to judge a movie.

Behind-the-Scenes

Right to left: Steve Reeves, director Pietro Francisci, Sylva Koscina, ?, cinematographer (lighting) Mario Bava on the set of HERCULES (1958). The photo was of poor quality and colonizing it was difficult. 

Clip of the week: GOLIATH AND THE DRAGON (1960)

An angry Goliath (Mark Forest) is in the mood for some renovations... 

Blog's 15th anniversary: STAR WARS, a PEPLUM in space

In celebration of the blog's 15th anniversary, I'm re-posting old posts. Here's one popular post I wrote back in 2011. Here's the link to the post.

Photographic proof that STAR WARS was basically a PEPLUM set in a science-fiction/outer space setting. I saw STAR WARS before any Sword & Sandal films and as I was watching the 300 or so films one after the other I couldn't believe how much of the elements in the STAR WARS films were inspired or directly lifted from Italian Sword & Sandal films, which at the time and for the most part even today are still frowned upon. There are so many elements that I won't mention all of them but here's a bunch just to give you an idea.

I added some screenshot of Google searches of how STAR WARS was inspired by Ancient Rome history and directly by the PEPLUM genre. I wrote it 14 years ago, way before anyone else.

Opening credits that sets up the storyline :

From REVENGE OF HERCULES

Desert locations, with bones of dead creatures :

GOLIATH AND THE GIANTS

GOLIATH AND THE GIANTS

Wise Old Man

WAR GODS OF BABYLON

Evil Ruler on his throne

HEROD THE GREAT

Disposable soldiers of Evil Ruler

HERCULES & THE CAPTIVE WOMEN

Resourceful little people always on the side of good

GOLIATH & THE SINS OF BABYLON

Donut-style hair fashion statement

THEODORA ~ SLAVE EMPRESS

Cheesecake (there's very little Beefcake in Star Wars films)

Publicity shot of Rhonda Fleming for SERPENT OF THE NILE

Torture (what's a PEPLUM film without a torture scene?)

GOLIATH AND THE SINS OF BABYLON

Sword fights (hence the term Sword & Sandal)

FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE

Council chambers

HEROD THE GREAT

Crushing walls of death

FURY OF HERCULES

The annoying sidekick

GLADIATOR OF ROME

Regular reader to the blog Paul sent me this.