SPFX DEPT.

Scenes from ONE MILLION YEARS B.C. (1966)

This movie is known for two things: Raquel Welch in a fur bikini and the dinosaurs effects by Ray Harryhausen. But the movie also has one of the best disaster endings ever: a volcano erupts and complete mayhem ensues. The destruction is pretty thorough. The volcano shot above is obviously a model thanks to the painted background but the shot below is spectacular. 

Vintage article

Article from REG PARK JOURNAL magazine about 'year of fulfilment' while using a photo of Steve Reeves, Edmund Purdom from ATHENA (1954). I'll post the cover under a MUSCLES Inc. post.

Musings!

Sonia (Ombretta Colli) is about to nurse Atlas (Kirk Morris) back to health in ATLAS AGAINST THE CZAR (1964)

A common plot point in PEPLUM movies: the Hero being nursed back to health, mainly by a woman, but it also happens with a man, usually some elderly man or High Priest. In this, Atlas (or Maciste in the original) was poisoned and Sonia got an antidote from a...shaman-type of man who lives in a cave. So two plot points in one. Of course, Atlas comes back stronger than ever to wreak havoc on those who tried to kill him. I like this movie. To some, the title might be odd but it doesn't matter. It's a colourful and entertaining PEPLUM. 

PEPLUM Movie Poster

 Original Italian poster of SANDOKAN THE GREAT (1963) 

Gorgeous poster. This movie has some amazing posters. Sandokan looks like Steve Reeves alright. In Techniscope.

Stats - week 14 September - 20 September 2025

Views surpassing 100,000 for the first time! 😎

9/14/25 - 14006

9/15/25 - 13406

9/16/25 - 14123

9/17/25 - 12726

9/18/25 - 16886

9/19/25 - 17785

9/20/25 - 17162

Total: 106,094

Daily average: 15156

Image of the week!

Brennus (Gordon Mitchell) tries to force the location of the city's gold/treasure from Roman men in BRENNUS - ENEMY OF ROME (1963)

VHS Covers

VHS covers of SANDOKAN THE GREAT (1963) starring Steve Reeves and Genevieve Grad. Directed by Umberto lenzi. Not a great selection. As far as I can see, it wasn't release on VHS in English.

Original Italian VHS cover. Artwork lifted from MORGAN THE PIRATE

French cover

 

Another French cover. Artwork is from another Sandokan movie.

 

Swedish cover. Photo of Steve is from the sequel, SANDOKAN - PIRATE OF MALAYSIA

Musings!

Tony Di Mitri, Gordon Mitchell and Amedeo Trilli making faces in ALI BABA AND THE SEVEN SARACENS (1964)

I like this movie and I even 'fixed' years ago so nothing but 💕 towards it but it does have unintentionally funny scenes in it, including this one. The three actors are making these funny faces. With the language barrier going on, it's not hard to imagine that they often didn't get what was going on. At one point, Gordon Mitchell stated he had enough of it all and didn't read the lines correctly and simply swore (not specifically for this movie but on other productions...). In the original Italian version, Ali Baba is actually Sinbad. It's an odd Sinbad story in that the story takes place entirely on land. No Seven Seas and such. It's not a major issue but retitling the character Ali Baba makes sense. 

Behind-the-Scenes

Lana Turner keeping warm on the set of THE PRODIGAL (1955)

Clip of the week: SWORD OF DAMASCUS (1964)

Dance number! One of my favourite dances. With Luciana Gilli. The dancers costumes are from THE SON OF SPARTACUS (1962), modified slightly.

 

Blog's 15th anniversary: The Strange Casting of Genghis Khan

In celebration of the blog's 15th anniversary, I'm re-posting old posts. Here's a popular one I wrote back in 2011. Maybe I should do an update. 

Manuel Conde was the first to play Genghis Khan (according to IMDb). Manuel was born in the Philippines which, I guess, is the closest to Mongolia than any other actor.

Marvin Miller in THE GOLDEN HORDE

In possible the strangest casting decision ever, John Wayne played the legendary Mongolian ruler in THE CONQUEROR that bombed at the box office.

Ronaldo Lupi played Genghis Khan in two movies: THE MONGOLS (above) and below, HERCULES AGAINST THE BARBARIANS

Lastly, there's Egyptian actor Omar Sharif in another inaccurate adaptation in GENGHIS KHAN

HD Alert!

Since it's quiet with PEPLUM titles on the HD front, here's one that I didn't write about yet. This Blu-ray release of THE LONG SWIFT SWORD OF SIEGFRIED (1971) was released earlier this year. I'd buy it just for the cover (unfortunately, the movie doesn't look like this...). I have the Something Weird copy which is cut. A raunchy interpretation of the legend of Siegfried.

Not coming soon...

...to a theatre near you!

Posts on incomplete projects 

I, CLAUDIUS (1937) is an unfinished movie produced by Alexander Korda and was directed by Josef von Sternberg. It starred Charles Laughton as Claudius (above). Merle Oberon, Flora Robson and Robert Newton were part of the cast. The production was stopped after Merle Oberon was in a car accident and it would take weeks to recover. It's also said that Charles Laughton was overwhelmed by the role. The director and Laughton clashed over the way the character was to be played. Many say the Oberon's accident was an excuse for the doomed project to be canceled. 

There's actual footage of the unfinished movie. 

Musings!

Rossana Podesta, as Helen of Troy, and Jacques Sernas, as Paris, in HELEN OF TROY (1956)

As I wrote in BY THE GODS! magazine issue number 3, TROJAN TALES, I voted this movie as the best movie on the legend of Troy. But I still had some issues with it. One of the biggest issues is Rossana's hairstyles throughout the movie. Rossana was pretty young woman back then but those goofy hairstyles didn't help her. It's one of those aesthetics things from the past which hasn't stood the test of time, which I'm aware of but it's just too much. Even Jacques' quasi Prince Valiant hairstyle wasn't that flattering but it was the same hair throughout the movie. Rossana's hair would change in different style, even in a matter of minutes, one worse than the other. Great movie. Awful hairstyles. They are the movie's Achilles heels. 

PEPLUM Movie Poster

Spanish poster of DAVID AND GOLIATH (1960) 

I like it. Goliath looks totally different in the movie during the confrontation. 

Stats week 7 September - 13 September 2025

Views are maintaining in the 80k mark.

9/07/25 - 7727

9/08/25 - 18167

9/09/25 - 15238

9/10/25 - 11324

9/11/25 - 12591

9/12/25 - 8561

9/13/25 - 9380

Total: 82988

Average: 11855

AI PEPLUMTV

CIRCLE OF FORCE

Image of the week!

Nero (Alberto Sordi) performs one of his 'colourful' songs in NERO'S WEEKEND (1956)

PEPLUM Movie Quotes

Sylvia Lopez and Willi Colombini

From HERCULES UNCHAINED (1959)

Omphale: 'I want to try this on! Pearls must have contact with the flesh before they take their best sheen. Tomorrow, this necklace will be much more beautiful!' 

Musings!

Hercules (Lou Ferrigno) tries to remove a massive stone while Circe (Mirella D'Angelo) watches on in HERCULES (1983)

For a generation, this was their first introduction to Hercules. They weren't born when the Reeves' version was released or even re-released. Some might have seen the Reeves movie on TV and they might have seen THE MIGHTY HERCULES cartoon show but for the most part, few youngsters back in 1983 had a clue until the Lou Ferrigno movies. It is entertaining and Lou certainly fits the role but it is, at moments, unintentionally funny, like the time Hercules tosses a bear into deep space. 

Like many muscular heroes, his strength is not consistent. He can throw a bear into space but has some difficulty with this stone. Luigi Cozzi, the director also directed the fun sci-fi STARCRASH (1979) and he conceived his Hercules movie in the same mold: it's a 'spacey' Hercules, with multicoloured stars and sets, monsters with deadly lasers, etc. Even the poster makes it look like an outer space adventure. As for Mirella, she was in many Eurocult movies during the same period, including TENEBRAE (1982), directed by Dario Argento. She's in what's probably the best scene in it. The sequel is THE ADVENTURES OF HERCULES (1985) or HERCULES II. Released by Cannon group! So many memories. 😂

Behind-the-Scenes

Steve Reeves talking to an unidentified crew member on the set of THE SON OF SPARTACUS (1962)

Clip of the week: HERCULES AND THE CAPTIVE WOMEN (1961)

Hercules (Reg Park) against a ship! With Ettore Manni and Salvatore Furnari

Portraits

Susan Hayward as Bathsheba in DAVID AND BATHSHEBA (1951)

SPFX DEPT.

Scenes from ATLAS IN THE LAND OF THE CYCLOPS (1961) 

In this scene, to give the illusion that the Cyclops is a giant, they used a short man or a kid for Gordon Mitchell. It's a clever way of playing with perspective. They did the same thing in MACISTE IN HELL (1962). Aldo Pedinotti played the Cyclops. Aldo was 6'10" so it wasn't too difficult for him to appear tall. I think the scene works very well.

 

Aldo Pedinotti in makeup.

Nude statues in PEPLUM movies

As I wrote back in June, 'Interesting' Mural Art in PEPLUM movies,': Even if actors wore very little to the point of being almost nude, nudity or anything overtly sexual was taboo in movies of the past.

One of the creative ways of going about this was using statues, of nude men or women, in the background or even included in the story itself. 

In GODDESS OF LOVE (1957), the story was about Praxiteles, a famous sculptor who sculpted, among other subjects, beautiful women. Massimo Girotti played Praxiteles and Belinda Lee was his favourite subject. Nude statues abound.

This shot from ALEXANDER THE GREAT (1956) with Fredric March and Richard Burton, is pretty much centered on the subject. 

In the family friendly ANDROCLES AND THE LION (1954), nude statues are seen everywhere. Male statues had fig leaves covering their stuff. With Alan Young.

I don't think many people would complain in seeing Steve Reeves in the nude but this was the 1950s so they settled with almost nude with the actor and nude statues in THE GIANT OF MARATHON (1959), with fig leaves, to represent the full athletic form.

In APHRODITE - GODDESS OF LOVE (1958), Anthony Steffen played a sculptor. His studio is filled with nudes figures, including the one he's working on which is the subject of the title. The woman modelling for him is played by Irène Tunc (below) who discovers the real interest of the sculptor and it's not her.