HD Alert!

Scenes from SCIPIO THE AFRICAN (1971; Scipione Detto Anche l'Africano)

Marcello Mastroianni starred as Scipione, or Scipio in English, in this 1970s production. The HD print is absolutely gorgeous. Marcello only made a handful of PEPLUM movies. This one is quite rare since it had limited release. I'm not sure if it was dubbed into English but the print came with English subtitles created by my contact in Europe. He did a great job. I had one previous print which was acceptable. This one is a major improvement. The movie itself has a lot of familiar faces from the PEPLUM genre, which is always fun to see.

 

Silvana Mangano also stars in it with Marcello.

Then & Now: Lesley-Anne Down

Lesley-Anne in THE LAST DAYS OF POMPEII (1984); The most recent photo of the actress.

BY THE GODS! magazine issue 4

January 2026 sales were the second best sales period since the first month the first issue went on sale! It's quite amazing. I guess people waited after Christmas to buy it. Again, a big thank you to all who bought the current issue or the previous ones.

New Issue no 4. Details at the link below.

https://www.magcloud.com/browse/issue/3205057 

A reminder as well: I'm not responsible for the publishing and shipping of the magazine. MagCloud is.

Musings!

Daniela Rocca, leader of the Amazons, is angry at her fellow Amazonian warriors for infighting in COLOSSUS AND THE AMAZON QUEEN (1960)

There's something that stands-out in this shot and it's not the bountiful actresses. It's the background. What do you see? It's a massive painted mural. This is a modest budgeted comedy and the production is quite amazing. Most of the sets and stuff were not actually built for this movie but for SIEGE OF SYRACUSE (1960), directed by Pietro Francisci. Since this comedy is a TWIN PRODUCTION, the sets and settings were reused for this movie as well. It explains the movies quasi-opulent look even if this a goofy comedy. Daniela excelled in comedy. This role and her role in REVENGE OF THE BARBARIANS (1960) puts her on the top of funny female actresses in PEPLUM movies. Anyway, Daniela was a one of a kind actress who lead a tragic life. It's sad to see how things turned out for her. Side note: is it me or she looks like Lady Gaga (no disrespect to Daniela)? 

PEPLUM Movie Poster

US one-sheet poster of GOLIATH AND THE VAMPIRES (1961) 

This poster is interesting. The artist is Reynold Brown, who basically painted a ton of movie posters in the 1950s and 60s. He's great. But the content in the poster. Of course, there are no creatures like that in the movie. The actor, who doesn't look like Gordon Scott, is wearing a loincloth, like Tarzan. Scott played Tarzan. I guess they wanted to link this film with the Scott's popular Tarzan productions. Dino De Laurentiis' name is on it. And as I wrote last week, and will post soon, this is actually a Maciste film rebranded as Goliath for the US/Canada. The title is different depending on which print. 

Personally, I think Goliath is more suited than Maciste. There's nothing really Maciste about this film. The modern Maciste was almost always seen as alone, without family and community. In this, Maciste lives in a village, has girlfriend, family, etc. 

Last Week's Views

Nearly 200,000 views last week! Amazing new record.

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ATTENTION, SPARTAN!