Musings!

Mario Novelli using a man's body as a weapon in THREE SWORDS FOR ROME (1964)

A PEPLUM cliché done correctly. It's used infrequently but enough to be considered a cliché but most of them fail in the execution. Here, Mario is clearly strong enough to carry this man and use him a way to clubber the ones who try to stop him. Mario is one of the many unsung PEPLUM actors who appeared in a lot of movies, even in the 1980s PEPLUM revival, but is seldom credited. I like him. He's a great actor? Not really but he's extremely athletic and charismatic and that often counts more than super acting skills. He was also a stuntman. His biggest leading role, aside from this one, was THE INVINCIBLE BROTHERS MACISTE (1964). The movie is in HD (French source) and it I enjoy it in that it's very entertaining but it's a hot mess of sorts. The movie includes a urinating donkey in one unnecessary scene. It also probably has more wardrobe malfunctions and underwear shots, many wearing modern ones, than any PEPLUM movie. And believe me, that's a lot!