Image of the week!

Romulus (Steve Reeves) battles with King Tatius (Massimo Girotti) in DUEL OF THE TITANS (1961)

Spotlight: THE SIGN OF THE CROSS (1932)

A visual spotlight on the pre-code epic directed by Cecil B. DeMille and starring Fredric March, Elissa Landi, Charles Laughton and Claudette Colbert.

 

 

 

IMO, this is DeMille's best film. 

What's the next movie that should have the PEPLUM TV spotlight for the month of June?

Musings!

Roger Browne, Dan Vadis and José Greci in THE TEN GLADIATORS (1963) 

A popular hit which spawned two other films, which, imo, are much better than this one. The first one is very entertaining and colourful but it uses so many scenes (like the other two films) from other movies that it diminishes the whole production. In a movie which is wall-to-wall muscle, José stands out as the sole female character. This is one of my favourite roles of hers. Roger is fine but his character is hard to grasp/confusingly written. I could write paragraphs about it but let's just leave it at that. And Big Dan. He's always impressive since he's so tall and agile. He did all his stunts and could do all sorts of acrobatics  But his entire presence in this movie is hampered by the fact that his hair or haircut is the worst by any actor in a PEPLUM movie. His haircut in COLOSSUS OF THE ARENA (1962) was also bad but this one is extremely unflattering. Mark Forest's hair in COLOSSUS OF THE ARENA was also bad but not as bad as in MACISTE - THE STRONGEST MAN IN THE WORLD (1961) which is a close second to Dan's here. Fortunately for Big Dan, a hairstylist took care of his hair and he looked fine in his other movies.

This screenshot is from a recent nice print that's not fully HD.

Behind-the-Scenes

Carmen Sevilla awaits patiently as assistant director Ricardo Muñoz Suay makes some touch-ups on the set of DESERT WARRIOR (1957). Thanks Juan! 

Clip of the week: COLOSSUS OF ROME (1964)

Clelia (Gabriella Pallotta) and Valeria (Maria Pia Conte), designated 'hostages,' try to escape. With Massimo Serato. Also known as HERO OF ROME.

 

Funnies!

Dan Vadis in HERCULES THE INVINCIBLE (1964; aka Hercules in the Land of Darkness)

HD Alert!

Steve Reeves as Philippides in THE GIANT OF MARATHON (1959)

I recently got a new HD print of this movie. Source? It's still not clear. Anyway, the transfer is absolutely beautiful. It's not harsh or too 'tweaked.' Above, the image is so clear you can see the sweat on Steve's skin.

Below is Mylène Demongeot and Daniela Rocca. The image is beautifully soft and unlike the HERCULES (1958) and HERCULES UNCHAINED (1959) recent Blu-ray disasters. Hopefully, this print will be released on Blu-ray soon in North America.

I have acquired additional HD prints which will be added soon to the list of PEPLUM movies in HD. 

 

The REAL Real PEPLUM X

I'm not sure how to approach this topic but here goes...

Years ago, I wrote an extensive article called THE REAL PEPLUM X. In it, I write how the genre is focused on the male physique and beautiful actors in general, male or female, and what they hinted at during the 1950s and 60s, PEPLUM movies of the 1970s and 80s showed it all. There was no more teasing. I always had some sort of hunch that the genre itself had some sort aspect which was always kept behind the scenes, with its focused on torture, whippings, unrealistic Feats of Strength, etc, all done with beautiful actors with pseudonyms like Alan Steel. Well...

I came across these photos of Reg Lewis and Margaret Lee from COLOSSUS OF THE STONE AGE (1962). There's frontal nudity. And kissing. These photos are so odd and out of place in regards to the movie. Why were they taken? Were these taken as favours? These are not scenes in the movie. So why did they take photos of Lewis and Lee in a simulated sex scene. I'm baffled by them. Did they film adult content that would only be edited in a private version of the movie? These photos sorta hint at what I wrote in THE REAL PEPLUM X. 

BTW, I came across these photos on eBay. Yes, eBay. It's a Cinematic Confusion. And, yes, they're real.

Click here for full (censored) photos

Musings!

Howard Keel, as Hannibal, and Esther Williams in JUPITER'S DARLING (1955) 

Esther Williams' last movie at MGM. It was not well received when released. I always thought it looked poky but now I got a High Definition print and my mind has changed signifiicantly. The print is not pristine. There's lots of grain and some nights scenes are very dark. And the idea of making a musical based on Hannibal is odd, to say the least. Some of the songs are good while others are not memorable. It's a mixed bag. But this new print at least makes the movie look truly epic. PEPLUM musicals exist but are rare so enjoy them, no matter how odd they are.

PEPLUM Movie Poster

Original Italian poster of FURY OF THE PAGANS (1960)

Ok poster for an ok film. 

Image of the week!

Delilah (Rosalba Neri, center) awaits the fate of Samson during the climax of the Samson & Delilah segment of GREAT LEADERS OF THE BIBLE (1965; in HD)

MUSCLES Inc.

PEPLUM star Serge Nubret on the cover of the UK edition of HEALTH AND STRENGTH (Oct 1963). Serge starred in THE TITANS (1962; aka My Son, The Hero) and below, GOLIATH AND THE REBEL SLAVE (1962) with Gordon Scott.

Musings!

Tom Baker in THE GOLDEN VOYAGE OF SINBAD (1973)

This scene, when the statue of Kali comes alive, is one of the best from any Ray Harryhausen movies. So why isn't it more famous? Or as famous as the skeleton army JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS (1963)? Tom Baker was a great villain. The release of this movie in 1973 re-ignited a short but strong explosion of PEPLUM movies, including the re-release of HERCULES (1958) and HERCULES UNCHAINED (1959). I find this fascinating. The PEPLUM genre was all but dead by the end of the 1960s but this short revival buckled the trend. It didn't last long though. The movie was a hit and signalled movie audiences were ready for escapist movies which STAR WARS (1977), a PEPLUM in space, ran away with.

Behind-the-Scenes

Reg Park having fun with Eddie Constantine on the set of HERCULES AND THE CAPTIVE WOMEN (1961). The walls are supposed to be red...

Clip of the week: THE AVENGER (aka War of the Trojans)

This scene is cut from all versions except the French VHS (DVD?) copy. With Steve Reeves and others. 

It happens at the very beginning of the movie. Aeneas (Reeves) explains to the fellow on horseback that they're lost. But the rider wants them out because they're frightening his horses. The fellow tells them what part of the Kingdom they are. Aeneas approaches him and the fellow finally tells them the Tiber is nearby and the river is full of fishes. Aeneas give him some presumably gold cuffs for the info and to buy some horses but the now happy man says to take all the horses. 

Blog's 15th anniversary: Location - Tor Caldara

In celebration of the blog's 15th anniversary, I'll be re-posting old posts. Here's the link to the post.

Here's a post on the popular location seen in many PEPLUM movie: Tor Caldara

Practically every PEPLUM film shot a scene in that often dried up riverbed so there's no point of mentioning them but here are a couple of examples.

THE MIGHTY CRUSADERS

Lex Barker and cast in ROBIN HOOD AND THE PIRATES

Susy Andersen in SAPPHO THE VENUS OF LESBOS

The spectacular climax from HERCULES, SAMSON & ULYSSES starring Iloosh Khoshabe and Kirk Morris

SPFX DEPT.

Scenes from IRONMASTER (1983)

This 1983 movie, often dismissed by many, is actually pretty good. Not just the film itself but the production. It was directed by veteran Umberto Lenzi, who had directed many PEPLUM movies back in the 1960s. The movie is filled with creative special effects. I already covered the matte paintings from the movie. Here, we see the elaborate model/miniature works, which we see throughout the movie, and are credited to Emilio Ruiz del Río.

Vintage Article

From a book called LA GRAN HISTORIA DEL CINE, a page on HERCULES (1958) with photos of Steve Reeves, Fabrizio Mioni and Gianna Maria Canale.

Musings!

Martha Raye in THE BOYS FROM SYRACUSE (1940) 

Based on Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors, this popular broadway play was eventually made into a movie. Now, I don't know how the play was but the movie is good and some very bad. The production is very good. The humour falls flat. It seems PEPLUM comedies, Italian or Hollywood ones, suffer from the same fate. 

"That was a quick change. Did you ever belong to a fire department?"

I groaned. You see, the story is about twins and they...well, never mind! Anyway, in the screenshot, Martha dances and sings. It starts off sorta fine then it turns into a samba of sorts. The bulk of the movie (presumably not the play) are anachronistic jokes: modern stuff, like samba or a chariot made to look like a taxi with a meter, seen in Antiquity. The production is quite elaborate. They spent a lot of money on this thing. I like watching it. But that's about it. Only 73 minutes long.

PEPLUM Movie Poster

Belgian poster of SAMSON (1961) 

Typical colourful poster from Belgium. I like this one but the scene depicted with the horses is totally different in the movie and lasts briefly.

Image of the week!

Maciste (Reg Park) is reduced to a mindless slave labouring over extreme tasks in MACISTE IN KING SOLOMON'S MINES (1964)