What movie?

Can you identify the film from this screenshot?

Photo of the Day

Annie Gorassini is Venus in VULCAN ~ SON OF JUPITER

Nothing much to say except that this shot does what it's exactly supposed to do. Arf. 

Behind-the-Scenes

Kirk Douglas, Silvana Mangano and director Mario Camerini look over the script during a cigarette break

Photo of the Day

Louis Jordan discovers that a soldier is a female, Sylvia Syms, in AMAZONS OF ROME

One of the many PEPLUM films which suffers from a lack of recognition because it doesn't have a good title. AMAZONS OF ROME is confusing to many (Youtubers kept asking where are the Amazons...). There are no Amazons in this film. The word "Amazons" in the title is used symbolically. And the original title, LE VERGINI DI ROMA, translates into VIRGINS OF ROME, is also not really good. What would be a better title for this great film?

Oh and the main male character discovering that a boy/man is actually a girl/woman is a popular PEPLUM cliché.

Lobby Cards set: REVENGE OF THE GLADIATORS

US lobby card set for REVENGE OF THE GLADIATORS (also known as Revenge of Spartacus). Very generic set. Almost no stand-out card. The best cards are no 1, the only card with Scilla Gabel, and no 5. Cards 2, 4, 6, 7 and 8 are cards from the same scene. Not enough variety.

Was it ever released in theatres?

Because I wasn't born when the PEPLUM explosion occurred between 1958 up until 1965 I often wonder if some titles from the hundreds made back then ever made it on the big silver screen. With TV gaining popularity for entertainment in the 1960s several titles, like PERSEUS THE INVINCIBLE or MACISTE VS THE MOLE MEN, never made it to theatres and were sold directly to the US TV market (and eventually fell into the public domain) while other seemingly more obscure titles, like THE SECRET SEVEN, made it to theatres. Personally, I would rather see PERSEUS THE INVINCIBLE on the big screen than a generic action film like THE SECRET SEVEN.

So looking at this page from THE SECRET SEVEN pressbook, this tells me that this specific title is NOT in public domain. MGM distributed it and today TCM owns it (link). Big Hollywood studios back then were late in acquiring trendy titles from Italian or European studios. After the phenomenal success of the two HERCULES films in the late 1950s, made by Pietro Francisci, big studios started looking at the genre as possible source for easy profit. THE GIANT OF MARATHON is a good early example of a seemingly Hollywood-made PEPLUM film but was, in actuality, still pretty much a totally European co-production. MGM distributed MARATHON in North America and eventually released the copyright for it which is why MARATHON is in the public domain in the US/Canada.

Riding on the success of his HERCULES films, Pietro Francisci's last 3 1960s PEPLUM films were co-financed by Hollywood studios: Paramount with SIEGE OF SYRACUSE; Columbia with SAPPHO - VENUS OF LESBOS and MGM with HERCULES, SAMSON & ULYSSES.  This was very rare back then for Hollywood to specifically finance an Italian filmmaker's productions. Heck, even early Sergio Leone or Fellini productions didn't get this treatment. All 3 were released in theatres back then and all 3 are not in the public domain. And only the last title has finally made it to DVD. SIEGE and SAPPHO are in perpetual limbo.

By the time THE SECRET SEVEN was released, in 1964, the genre was all but dead and, looking at the pressbook, it's odd to see such a minor title released by a studio when the genre was on its last legs compared to when the genre was hot and few of the big genre titles were released/financed by any major. Today, THE SECRET SEVEN is all but forgotten, except for some PEPLUM fans out there.  Because it's forgotten (very little outcry for it to be release) and it's NOT in the public domain, the chances of this film becoming available for the home market in North America are very slim, even with the Warner Archive process. But when you think about it, if major studios had been quick in co-financing films early on during the PEPLUM explosion one can only think of how cool it would have been if MACISTE VS THE MOLE MEN had been released by a major studio instead of late comers like THE SECRET SEVEN. Oh well...

Photo of the Day

Rebecca (Elizabeth Taylor) tends to a wounded Ivanhoe (Robert Taylor) in IVANHOE

An incredibly well mounted Medieval film, with gorgeous cast, sets and costumes. It's all around great except for some much needed passion. It's a bit on the aloof side.

Caesar Knife set

Caesar Knife set concept designed by Uderzo, cartoonist of ASTERIX & OBELIX. Brilliant.

After they were PEPLUM stars

Image from THE 3 SUPERMEN IN TOKYO starring Willy Colombini, George Martin and Salvatore Borghese. Willy and Salvatore were PEPLUM stars (with George appeared in one film) and all 3 moved on to different genres after the Sword & Sandal genre died, certainly with Willy (from the Reeves HERCULES films) and Salvatore (from the TEN GLADIATORS films). You can view the trailer here.

The 3 Supermen in every day clothes: George (left), Salvatore and Willy. 

Photo of the Day

Iole (Sylva Koscina, in pink dress on the right) and other young girls and an old man are captive and about to meet their fate in HERCULES UNCHAINED

I always find what happens to them quite disturbing. Generally, HERCULES UNCHAINED would be almost a G-rated film but after this scene, it's a definite PG-13. The bluntness and the way it's done is very effective.

Behind-the-Scenes

Nothing much to say but a B-T-S shot of Reg in his star chair.

Time Traveling PEPLUM stories

For some reason, PEPLUM films with stories starting in contemporary times only to end up in the Greco-Roman era were popular. Having modern comedians in fish-out-of-water situations set in Antiquity were filled with potential laughter (they're always comedies) but it's debatable if they really succeeded in creating laughter. The weakest part of these stories were the ways the modern folks ended up in the past. Either by dreams (ROMAN SCANDALS) or actual time traveling machines (3 STOOGES MEETS HERCULES and MACISTE VS HERCULES IN THE VALLE OF WOE) or simply by falling off a cliff (TIBERIUS), few of them were convincing. There were a few other titles using this familiar plot-line but here are 4 of such films.

In ROMAN SCANDALS, a dreaming Eddie Cantor travels back to decadent Roman times and meets Gloria Stuart. This musical, a  very politically incorrect musical, is probably the first "travel back to Greco-Roman times" comedies.

From the top photo, Ugo Tognazzi and Walter Chiari are modern Italian men who fall off a cliff (!) and end up in Ancient Roman times, frolicking with a bunch of babes in TIBERIUS.

THE 3 STOOGES MEET HERCULES starts with a wacky time traveling story, set in the US, and thanks to a wonky time machine they all accidentally end up in Greece, where Hercules (Samson Burke) rules.

Mario Carotenuto and Raimondo Vianello hijack a time machine and end up in Antiquity, meeting, amongst others, Maciste played by Kirk Morris. From MACISTE VS HERCULES IN THE VALLE OF WOE.

Photo of the Day

Kira (Rosalba Neri) tries to heal a wound on Seymuth (Mimmo Palmara) with hot iron in KINDAR THE INVULNERABLE. 

I love this scene. This is when Seymuth gets an epiphany and discovers the secret of Kindar's weakeness, the red rose. Mimmo plays the father of Mark Forest which is a bit of a stretch as both were around the same age.  Rosalba wears one of the most fetching dresses in any PEPLUM. I need a beautiful widescreen clear copy of this film.

PEPLUM Amusement park

This is the entrance to the "Tonnerre de Zeus" rollercoaster ride at the Parc Asterix amusement park in France. Not bad at all but he's on the scary looking side.

I still wished there was a real full fledge PEPLUM amusement park somewhere in the world. Parc Asterix looks cute but I want something colossal!

Vintage French Bodybuilding magazines

Here are a couple of vintage French bodybuilding magazines with Steve Reeves as the cover boy.

Photo of the Day

Landa (Chelo Alonso) and Emiliano (Steve Reeves) are star-crossed lovers in GOLIATH & THE BARBARIANS.

Nice photo.

I always wondered who made Emiliano's furry garb. Nicely tailored for the time. Kidding aside, this is a classic PEPLUM with Chelo and Steve at their best.

Movie Poster Mondays

Spanish poster for 2 NIGHTS WITH CLEOPATRA

Great artwork. Really eye popping. 

Photo of the Day

Samarra  (Lana Turner) and Nahreeb (Louis Calhern) prepare for a human sacrifice (stuntman George Robotham) in THE PRODIGAL

I never understood why they sacrificed a man for this scene. It was played with cult-like proceedings with one of its members to be sacrifice for the greater good but sacrificing healthy men in their prime doesn't seem much of a sacrifice when most of them would die on some battlefield anyway...or so that's how they, as a society, were supposed to think.

BTW, the colors in this image are totally off: Lana's and the man's skimpy clothes are not yellow in the film but white. And the walls and columns are supposed to be red.

Mae West - the PEPLUM connection

Even though Mae West never made a PEPLUM kind of film during her illustrious career she did help future (and former) stars of the genre during their careers. In the photo above, Mae is straddled by none other than Ed Fury (URSUS and many others) and Reg Lewis (from COLOSSUS OF THE STONE AGE aka Fire monsters against the Son of Hercules). Mae also worked with Gordon Mitchell and Mark Forest (aka Lou Degni).

Mark Forest, aka Lou Degni, is on the far right

From SEXTETTE, Mae with Reg Lewis (bottom right)

Trompe L'oeil

This scene is actually with Tyrone Power 

Here's a cinematic Trompe L'oeil (French for trick of the eye). As most of you probably know, Tyrone Power shot almost 50% of SOLOMON & SHEBA before he died of a heart attack on the set, during a sword fight with George Sanders. Here's the scene. What few people know is the long shot seen in the screenshot above is actually Tyrone Power, not Yul Brynner. The following shot is a tighter shot of the two men and you can clearly see it's different. The give away is the short sleeves from Solomon's uniform. In the one with Tyrone, the short sleeves are white. The sleeves from Yul's costume are grey.

I hope the 50% that Tyrone shot was preserved. One day someone should edit it together.

Photo of the Day

Diocletian (Carlo Tamberlani; right) says goodbye to Livia (Christine Kaufmann) when Constantine (Cornel Wilde) orders her to follow him outside of the dungeon in CONSTANTINE & THE CROSS

Beautiful photo. Big film, by Italian standards, that critics didn't like much. It's virtually forgotten today. It's long and like HANNIBAL, it's one of those films which other PEPLUM productions repeatedly used footage from.

New HERCULES film confirmed

Paramount Producing Brett Ratner's 'Hercules' With MGM

Paramount Pictures is joining Brett Ratner's Hercules adaptation as a producer alongside MGM, the studio announced Wednesday. The film will star Dwayne Johnson in the titular role. Hercules will begin production in early 2013.

The ensemble action film will be based on Radical Studio’s graphic novel Hercules: The Thracian Wars -- a revisionist take on the classic Greek myth. In The Thracian Wars, the supernatural does not exist.

Link

Photo of the Day

A scene from the spectacle in the arena in SIGN OF THE CROSS

I doubt this kind of sensational scene would make it in a Christian film or even any type of film today. That naughty Cecil B. DeMille.

Lobby cards with spoilers

A lot of people critique currents trailers for showing too much. How many have you heard someone say "If you saw the trailer you saw the film." Well in the past, trailers were sometimes like today's crop but there's an additional thing which would sometimes also spoil a moviegoer's expectation of a film: lobby cards. I'm always amazed to see big spoilers on lobby cards. Here's a couple of examples. Of course, if you don't want to films to be spoiled don't read the text.

From THE LAST DAYS OF POMPEII (1959). Yes, the final climactic volcano eruption is pretty much expected with this story but showing a photo with specific actors lying dead during the destruction of Pompeii sorta spoils it. That's Barbara Carroll and Ángel Aranda.

Though it might not look like a spoiler this one for THE MIGHTY CRUSADERS is one of the worst, in more ways than one. That's Sylva Koscina and Francisco Rabal. In the film, Rabal fights with this soldier whom he believes to be a man but after mortally wounding the soldier he discovers it's Sylva. So two spoilers with this one.

Well this one for THE TEN GLADIATORS really doesn't need any explanation. How could they print this?

Technical goof!

From SOLOMON & SHEBA: you can see the painted background moving. Oops.