Musings!

Ruth Roman and Arnoldo Foà in THE SINNER (1957) 

This is one of the most wanted films on my list. It's basically impossible to find. Not even a trailer or anything. The movie is an Italian - US co-production and was the last film released by RKO under the silly title DESERT DESPERADOES, which makes it sound like a Western. The movie was released in Italy in 1957 but in the USA it was in 1959. The original Italian poster says it's in FerraniaColor but since there's not actual trailer or clips, it's hard to say since all the material available is in B&W. The Italian title is LA PECCATRICE DEL DESERTO, which translates as THE SINNER OF THE DESERT. A 16mm print was available for sale 15 years ago, and someone bought it, but nothing came out of it. I translated the French fotonovela and you can read it at this link. It's a rough translation so don't come after me. I like Ruth. She made Jungle movies or serials early in her career, but I believe this is her only PEPLUM movie. From the fotonovela, it looks like it mainly consists of desert scenes and inside tents. 

PEPLUM Movie Poster

Japanese poster of KNIGHT OF 100 FACES (1960)

A simple photo montage. I like it but something is wrong about the colours of this very colourful film, as seen in the HD Alert! post of last week.

Last Week's Views!

Views are maintained in and around 15k to 24k a day. Amazing!

AI PEPLUMTV

SPARTA, GO!

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!

Roccia (Dan Vadis) hangs for dear life in SPARTACUS AND THE TEN GLADIATORS (1964)

Lobby Cards Set: SANDOKAN - PIRATE OF MALAYSIA (1964)

Original Italian lobby cards set (fotobusta) of SANDOKAN - PIRATE OF MALAYSIA (1964) starring Steve Reeves and Mimmo Palmara. Also known as Pirates of Malaysia. Great set. Very colourful. Steve is in all of them. I like it. I'm currently analyzing this movie at the Lascivious Look permanent page.

Musings!

Mark Forest, as Kindar, and Rosalba Neri in KINDAR THE INVULNERABLE (1965)

I give this movie a 9 out 10. The first time I saw it was 'meh' but then there were things which drew me back to it, like the stunning locations. Mind you, this was the old public domain print, which is almost unwatchable. When I saw it in its original widescreen, colourful format, I realized my first impression was really incorrect and now it's one of my favourites PEPLUM movies ever. Mark Forest's films are very solid, even the goofy GOLIATH AND THE DRAGON (1960) but this one is extra good. There's so much going for it. One of the best things about it is having Mark and Rosalba together. Well, they're not love interests. The role played by Dea Flowers is Kindar's love interest. Rosalba pines for Kindar but she's a bad girl so of course she can't have him. But their chemistry in this movie really works. The also worked together in THE LION OF THEBES (1964) but there were no sparks between the two. In my opinion, the casting of this pair in this film is almost as good as Steve Reeves as Hercules and Sylva Koscina as Iole in HERCULES (1958). Oddly enough, since Rosalba is a bad girl, she's also paired with Mimmo Palmara, who's the villain, and their pairing also works. There is a HD print in my collection but it's not full HD. 

Behind-the-Scenes

Nadia Sanders in her Queen Gaia costume on the set of THE GIANTS OF THESSALY (1960). Below: Nadia with Roland Carey as seen in the movie.
 

Clip of the week: HERO OF BABYLON (1963)

Wrestling brings out the worst in Nippur (Gordon Scott). With Piero Lulli and Moira Orfei.

Portraits

Steve Reeves, as Hercules, in HERCULES UNCHAINED (1959)

HD Alert!

Lex Barker in KNIGHT OF 100 FACES (1960)

I just got a new HD print of this movie and it's a beautiful print. The colours are gorgeous and vibrant! Some scenes just pop out and I said 'Wow!' This is only available in streaming in Spain. I have a German, Spanish, French, English (VHS) prints and a nice Fan Dub print in English and this one blows them away! Thanks to my source in Europe.

Liana Orfei!

 

Beautiful colours!

Then & Now: Alice Krige

Alice Krige in KING DAVID (1985); a recent photo of the actress.

Musings!

Wandisa Guida and Gordon Scott in GLADIATOR OF ROME (1962) 

I've written extensively about this movie. I like it but it does have flaws. They're not enough for me not to like the movie but they're there and they are sorta annoying. One of the annoying things is the fact that Wandisa is not the love interest of Gordon Scott's character. I don't know if it's an Italian thing but the two here spend almost all the time together but Wandisa's character is with someone else and the same with Scott's character. This is not the only movie that does this. Wandisa is also in HERCULES AGAINST ROME (1964) with Alan Steel as Hercules and they spend loads of time together, he aves her, etc. But she ends up with Mimmo Palmara. I'm like huh? I understand that PEPLUM movies love to portray Heroes unattached and on a solo journey sans wife and children but this is, certainly with this movie, odd. The romance stuff can be fun, to a certain point, but it can also hinder a movie (see COLOSSUS OF RHODES and Rory Calhoun romancing...which stops the movie dead in its tracks). Maybe this is the case but usually when the Hero saves the lady, he ends up with her. 

There's also the fact that kids hate romantic stuff. But these kind of 'the Hero not interested in the ladies' further fuelled the idea of gay subtext about the genre, which I'm covering at THE LASCIVIOUS LOOK permanent page.

PEPLUM Movie Poster

Pakistani poster of GOLIATH AND THE BARBARIANS (1959) 

To me, it looks more like a poster from the 1970s or 80s but the seller says it's from 1959. Pretty cool poster even if the lady below, behind Steve Reeves, is not in the movie. I believe this is my first Pakistani poster.

Last Week's Views

I didn't monitor the views on a daily basis last week since I was so busy but the stats are around 130,000! 

Side note: Views on March 5 were over 40,000 when I was on break. 😂

AI PEPLUMTV

SPEAR & SHIELD

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!

Spartacus (Massimo Girotti) saves Amitys (Ludmilla Tchérina) in the arena in SPARTACUS - SINS OF ROME (1953)

MUSCLES Inc.

PEPLUM Star Steve Reeves on the cover of the Spanish edition of Mr Universe magazine.

Musings!

Kirk Morris, as Maciste, uproots a haunted tree to access Hell in MACISTE IN HELL (1962)

In my opinion, this is the best Maciste film of the 1960s revival. Directed by Riccardo Freda, it creates an incredible tapestry of moments, images and a world rarely seen in movies. Not to my surprise, a lot of people hate it. I've come across many comments about it and a lot of it is negative. The US public domain print might be a reason, under the title THE WITCH'S CURSE, but I've also seen such comments from people in Europe. Regardless of what people think, it's a solid, unique film that seen in original widescreen format is something else. The film is replete with symbolism so that might be another reason why some hate it. In this scene, Maciste has access to Hell from a haunted/cursed tree that, among other things, stood next to where a witch was burned. Remarkably enough, there's a legend in Rome of a church cursed by a walnut tree filled with demons. Nero was buried there. It's the Santa Maria Del Popolo church. 

"As the story goes, after his suicide Nero was buried in the mausoleum of his paternal family, the Domitii Ahenobarbi, at the foot of the Pincian Hill. The sepulchre was later buried under a landslide and on its ruins grew a huge walnut tree that "was so tall and sublime that no other plant exceeded it in any ways." The tree soon became the haunt for a multitude of vicious demons harassing the inhabitants of the area and also the travelers arriving in the city from the north through Porta Flaminia: "some were being frightened, possessed, cruelly beaten and injured, others almost strangled, or miserably killed." Source.

There's more to this story, including an exorcism. I think this scene was definitely inspired by the Santa Maria Del Popolo legend. I'll have more on Maciste in a future article on the many Maciste movies. 

Behind-the-Scenes

Director King Vidor chats with Tyrone Power and Gina Lollobrigida on the set of SOLOMON AND SHEBA (1959). Tyrone eventually died on the set of the movie and was replaced by Yul Brynner.

Clip of the week: MARY MAGDALENE (1958)

Dance number from movie. With Yvonne de Carlo, as Mary, and Jorge Mistral. So many people had no idea this movie existed (on Facebook anyway...) that I needed to upload a clip.

Funnies!

Jayne Mansfield in THE LOVES OF HERCULES (1960)

SPFX DEPT.

Scenes from THE QUEEN OF BABYLON (1954) 

This is the big scene in the movie, which has an excellent matte painting. The crowd and part of the doorway and surrounding design are part of a real set while the rest is a great painting. The artist is uncredited. A side note: within the doorway we see a design of a building that extends well beyond it. The image in the doorway is not a matte painting but a mural. In the image at the bottom, you can see light reflecting on the big mural. Oops. With Rhonda Fleming in the image below.