Image of the week!

Sinuhe (Edmund Purdom) sets eyes on Nefer (Bella Darvi) for the first time in THE EGYPTIAN (1954)

MUSCLES Inc.

Steve Reeves and Jane Powell on the cover of THE REG PARK JOURNAL with a behind the scenes photo from the ATHENA (1954) movie. This is the cover of the article I posted last week.

Musings!

Guy Williams, as Damon, is to be killed in DAMON AND PYTHIAS (1962) 

A pretty solid PEPLUM movies which I believe is probably one of the most viewed PEPLUM films because of its accessibility to the general public (kids and adults alike). The production is pretty good: cast, sets, even matte paintings. It does have a kids movie feel to it (the ending is a bit too nice...) but there's too much adult stuff (slow drama) in it to be considered a true kids movie. The movie somehow fell into public domain territory but even so Warner Archive released a great DVD of this. Also known as TYRANT OF SYRACUSE in many countries. An Italian - American co-production. The score by Angelo Francesco Lavagnino is very familiar. A silent movie version of the famous story is also worth checking out.

Behind-the-Scenes

Part of the cast on the set of ANDROCLES AND THE LION (1952), including Jean Simmons, Robert Newton and Alan Young.

Clip of the week: SINBAD OF THE SEVEN SEAS (1989)

A beefy Sinbad (Lou Ferrigno). A slimy monster. A damsel in distress. Lasers. What more can you ask for?

Blog's 15th anniversary: Location: Appian Way (Via Appia)

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

Here's a post on the popular location seen in many PEPLUM movie: The Appian Way

The Appian Way is ancient road which date as far back as 312 BC. This historical and picturesque road was used in many PEPLUM films, including QUO VADIS (1951) which actually starts with a voice-over saying "This is the Appian way" as we see a Roman army marching towards Rome. I'd love to go there one day.

Robert Taylor from QUO VADIS riding his chariot on the Appian way.