Mark Forest and Anna Maria Pace in HERCULES AGAINST THE SONS OF THE SUN (1964)
Is a love story important in a PEPLUM movie? Personally, I don't mind it if it actually adds a lot to the story. In most cases, such as this one, it's often just padding. I'm not familiar with Anna Maria Pace. I looked her up at IMDb and according to the film's profile at the website, she only appeared in 4 movies. She was also in BRENNUS - ENEMY OF ROME (1963). I don't think she's awful in it and I actually don't mind the love angle here but this movie, which I love and have watched many times, is filled with padding. It has not one but two major dance scenes, and there's this love story. There's at least 30 minutes of padding. No, I'm not exaggerating. I still love it because it's so colourful and entertaining. It's one of the most original PEPLUM films to come out of the PEPLUM explosion, but I call it as it is. The script spends such an inordinate amount of time on the friendship between Forest and Giuliano Gemma that anything else seems superfluous. In my view, removing the love story in the case wouldn't have made any difference.
