PEPLUM Break

I take a break roughly every two months. My last break was at the beginning of March so it's that time again. 

So stay tuned!

I'll leave you now with King Leonidas (Richard Egan) from THE 300 SPARTANS (1962), saying "From this wall, we do not retreat!"

Peplum Public Discussion

Comments are open in this post. You have something to mention about this week's posts? Or something else. This is the only place you can voice your opinion. Comments are curated therefore any bad comment won't be published! Be respectful!

Image of the week!

A caged Randus (Steve Reeves) is scorned by Claudia (Gianna Maria Canale), wife of Crassus, the Governor of Egypt, which Randus is trying to overthrow, in THE SON OF SPARTACUS (1962; aka The Slave)

PEPLUM Movie Quotes

SALAMMBO (1960) starring Edmund Purdom and Jeanne Valérie as Salammbo.

NARR HAVAS (Purdom): You do well, Salammbo. Your indignation soothes the grief of all of Carthage. All of them will die, to the last man.

Musings!

Giovani Cianfriglia as Antaeus in HERCULES THE AVENGER (1965) 

It's amazing what PEPLUM movies got away with back in the 1950s and definitely in the 1960s. For the most part, PEPLUM movies of the 1950s mostly played it safe except for a bunch of movies like TWO NIGHTS WITH CLEOPATRA (1954) or even HERCULES (1958). By the 1960s, all pretence of decorum disappeared in many films and even today, they're quite eye openers. For instance, this scene where Antaeus clearly forces himself on Queen Leda (Gia Sandri). It's played so straightforward. The scene doesn't last long but one has to remember that PEPLUM movies were popular with kids. Why is that? Why did these kind of movies got away with stuff other films couldn't even imagine back then? It's very fascinating.

Behind-the-Scenes

Lex Barker holding Jocelyn Lane on the set of ROBIN HOOD AND THE PIRATES (1960)

Clip of the week: THE MAGNIFICENT GLADIATOR (1964)

Mark Forest will make a magnificent gladiator...and hero! With Marilù Tolo and Jolanda Modio. I love PEPLUM movies.

Funnies!

Rosalba Neri and Alan Steel in HERCULES AND THE BLACK PIRATE (1964)

SPFX DEPT.

Scenes from AMAZONS OF ROME (1961) 

Two beautiful matte paintings seen briefly in the film. The one above is pretty convincing. The one below is a matte painting seen in a tracking shot. Crowd scenes with matte paintings always work. The person responsible for these works is not credited.

 

 

Sylvia Syms stars.

CABIRIA comic strip

CABIRIA (1914) is the legendary silent movie in which the character Maciste came from. The movie was a big hit and if you look at it, it basically sums up the entire PEPLUM genre. The movie was serialized decades later in a Turkish publication in the form of a comic strip. Here are some images of the comic strip I was able to save, and two scenes from the movie to compare with the artwork. It's almost impossible to get a hold of. 

 

Musings!

Bette Blythe and Fritz Leiber in THE QUEEN OF SHEBA (1921) 

This silent film is presumed lost. Very little of it is left. I've always been intrigued by it. Bette plays the Queen of Sheba and Fritz plays King Solomon. Since it's lost and the product is presumably in the public domain, wouldn't it be cool that someone would recreate the entire film via AI. It's a win win, in my opinion. Just follow the script, which should still exist in print form, and recreate it scene by scene. The original prints were destroyed in a fire so there's no chance it will ever surface, unless it's found in another country. So, recreating it with new technology would give it new life.

PEPLUM Movie Poster

Original Italian poster of MACISTE AGAINST HERCULES IN THE VALE OF WOE (1961)

Very nice poster with a good set of paintings on the right of the crowded cast, including Kirk Morris as Maciste.

Last Week's Views

290K for the week of 27 April to 3 May. 69538 views on Tuesday, 28 April. A sharp decline from the 1.4 million views of last week but that's ok since that was not normal. 😂 Average 7 day views: 41K. 

Peplum Public Discussion

Comments are open in this post. You have something to mention about this week's posts? Or something else. This is the only place you can voice your opinion. Comments are curated therefore any bad comment won't be published! Be respectful!

Image of the week!

Livius (Stephen Boyd) carries the body of Commodus (Christopher Plummer) after defeating him in a sword fight in THE FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE (1964)

At the movies...

Premiere of BEN-HUR (1959) at the Loew's State Theatre in New York city. I tried to colourize the photo but the colours were wildly inaccurate (below).