Image of the week!

Honoria (Sophia Loren) opens her heart to Aetius (Henri Vidal) in ATTILA (1954)

At the movies...

BEN-HUR (1959) playing at the Loew's State Theatre in New Your city. 

Musings!

Hercules (Steve Reeves) and Ulysses (Gabriele Antonini) watch Iphitus (Mimmo Palmara) compete in a round of discus in HERCULES (1958)

Someone posted a message at my other blog, BY THE GODS!, on the condition of the HERCULES film. Artus Films, of France, recently tried to release this movie and HERCULES UNCHAINED (1959) to Blu-ray but the state of the prints they got were so bad that they had to suspend the project. I hope this is not true. This might mean the movies will never get a proper HD release. I hope there are better prints out there. 

Behind-the-Scenes

Lang Jeffries and Rhonda Fleming on the set of REVOLT OF THE SLAVES (1960). Notice the name FABIOLA in the background. 

Clip of the week: THE QUEEN OF THE TARTARS (1960)

Jacques Sernas vs Mario Petri. With Chelo Alonso as the Queen.

SPFX DEPT.

Scenes from THE QUEEN OF THE TARTARS (1960)

This overlooked film has some impressive matte paintings. These are the very end of the movie and they're spectacular. The ending to this movie is sorta unexpected. I can't find who's responsible for these matte paintings.

Goddess with Upraised Arms in ATLAS IN THE LAND OF THE CYCLOPS

I love making this blog. Yesterday I posted a screengrab from ATLAS IN THE LAND OF THE CYCLOPS and I learned, from a follower on Twitter, that the statue in the background is the Goddess with Upraised Arms/hands. The post sorta went viral. The story is set on the island of Crete and the location of Polyphemus the cyclops' cave is supposed to be in Crete. So, the movie makers knew their stuff and the prop is historically accurate. The things I learn from doing this blog. 
 

Gordon Mitchell and Aldo Bufi Landi in ATLAS IN THE LAND OF THE CYCLOPS (1961) with the Goddess with Upraised Arms statue.

Musings!

Atlas (Gordon Mitchell; Maciste in original) and Capys (Chelo Alonso) in ATLAS IN THE LAND OF THE CYCLOPS (1961)

This was Gordon's first leading role and first PEPLUM role in an Italian production. He had already appeared as an extra in THE TEN COMMANDMENTS (1956) and in SPARTACUS (1960) so this is not his first role in a PEPLUM movie. Considering this was his first lead role, I think he did a pretty good job there. Chelo had already done a dozen or so PEPLUM productions so she was a veteran by then. I like this movie. I have so many different copies of this movie, including a pretty nice one from a Spanish DVD (screengrab from it) but I'm still patiently waiting for a clear HD copy of this. 

PEPLUM Movie Poster

Original Italian poster of MACISTE - AVENGER OF THE MAYANS (1965)

Nice poster. Does he look like Kirk Morris? Not really but the artwork is fine nonetheless. 

Image of the week!

Messalina (Susan Hayward) joins her husband Claudius, who is now Caesar after Caligula was killed, while her lover, Demetrius (Victor Mature) watches on in DEMETRIUS AND THE GLADIATORS (1954)

More on the mystery of HERCULES (1953)

Two weeks ago I posted about a Filipino movie called HERCULES and released in 1953. There's very little information on this but IMDb lists it. Someone wrote at a blog that the movie itself is not real but another title. But upon further investigation, mainly thanks to Paul, the movie seems to be real but it is considered a lost film. As the image above shows, at the bottom right, it's part of list of 'Lost Filipino Films.'

But...there's a website that claims they have it. I personally don't trust those kind of websites and I won't register to find out but I highly doubt they have it. Anyway, if someone wants to try it go ahead. 

I can accept the fact that the movie is lost but I find it hard that all publicity material and photos of the movie are also lost. If there were a couple of photos or another poster artwork I would believe it but for now I'm not 100% convinced of it being real, mainly because the poster artwork looks more 1960s than early 1950s. 

Musings!

A scene from ASTERIX & OBELIX: THE MIDDLE KINGDOM (2023) 

This movie was released in February of this year. The reception in France and elsewhere has been lukewarm if not indifferent. The movie cost over $70 million and has only made $42 million up to now. This is the 5th live action Asterix and Obelix movie. As the previous productions, it's non-stop CGI effects. It has a 4.9 rating (out of 10) at IMDb. Looks like a flop. These Asterix & Obelix films have been wildly uneven. It's also the first story not based on a previously published book. The movie was made specifically for the Chinese market in mind but the movie hasn't been released in China yet. The director and French president Emmanuel Macron went to China to pitch the movie!

Behind-the-Scenes

 Elizabeth Taylor and Eddie Fisher relaxing on the set of CLEOPATRA (1963)

Clip of the week: TRIUMPH OF THE TEN GLADIATORS (1964)

Roccia (Dan Vadis) with his gladiators (too numerous to mention) revolt against Queen Moluya (Helga Liné)

HD Alert!

When it rains it pours. A batch of new Blu-ray releases of PEPLUM titles from Germany has been announced. The problem with all of this is the price. It will be quite costly to get a hand on all of these titles. Above is a screenshot found at Amazon of THE LION OF ST MARK. The image is quite dark. Some titles are already available while others with be available in the following weeks. English audio is only available on THE LION OF ST MARK (!) and THE SON OF SPARTACUS. 


 

THE MONGOLS (1961) starring Anita Ekberg and Jack Palance - In German and Italian only


 

THE LION OF ST MARK (1963) starring Gordon Scott and Gianna Maria Canale - In German and English


 

CONSTANTINE AND THE CROSS (1961) starring Cornel Wilde and Belinda Lee - In German and Italian only!


 

THE SON OF SPARTACUS (1962; aka The Slave) starring Steve Reeves - In German, Italian and English!


 

THE GOLDEN FALCON (1955) starring Frank Latimore - In German only

There's a limited edition version of this film (Blu-ray and DVD). The limited edition comes in two different covers as well.

And there's also HANNIBAL (1959) which I've already posted about.

There are other titles which I'll post in the future.

Then & Now: Helen Mirren

 Helen in CALIGULA (1979); a recent photo of the actress.

Musings!

A gladiator (Marco Tullio Cau) celebrates a victory in the presence of Berenice (Sybil Danning) and Clodius (Donald Pleasance) in WARRIOR QUEEN (1987)

Another PEPLUM movie of the 1980s that combines sex, violence and stock footage from movies of the Golden Era to create something odd. Is is a porn movie? The 79 minutes version doesn't include explicit sex scenes but it has loads of nudity and an extended orgy scene. There's a purported 92 minutes version with added sex scenes. I already had this in my collection but it was a 4:3 version. I just got a HD copy of this and it's surprisingly good looking even though the quality of the movie remains the same. Produced by Joe D'Amato. Marco Tullio Cau is impressive on screen. There are some good fight scenes in it.

PEPLUM Movie Poster

Original Italian poster of SAMSON AGAINST THE SHEIK (1962) 

Colourful poster with a great rendition of the recently deceased Ed Fury. 

Image of the week!

The assassination of Julius Caesar (Rex Harrison) in CLEOPATRA (1963)

Beware the Ides of March!

VHS Covers

Two VHS covers of HERO OF BABYLON (1963) starring Gordon Scott and Moira Orfei. Above, the Spanish version and below is the German one. Same movie, quite a difference in style and art. Both are great. They're quite accurate to the movie, unlike many VHS covers.

Musings!

Hercules (Gordon Scott) stands next to a sea monster he just played in HERCULES AND THE PRINCESS OF TROY (1965)

This is one of the best monster creations made for a film or TV show and yet it's virtually unknown. The first time I saw this and saw the monster in action I was "Why haven't I heard of this before?" I'm aware that this is a failed TV pilot and has fallen into obscurity but still...the detailing on it is incredible. Monster created by Carlo Rambaldi.

Behind-the-Scenes

Arnold Schwazzeneger and Sven-Ole Thorsen goofing around on the set of CONAN THE BARBARIAN (1982). Sven and Arnold were friends and Sven worked on other film projects together.

Clip of the week: TRIUMPH OF MACISTE (1961)

Antea (Cathia Caro) revives Maciste (Kirk Morris) and he proceeds to go on a rampage.

SPFX DEPT.

Scenes from HERCULES, SAMSON AND ULYSSES (1963)

Hercules (Kirk Morris) and Samson (Iloosh Khoshabe) bring down a temple during the movie's climax. I like this scene. Even though one can see the temple is a model, the way it falls apart and tumbles is well made. I also like the fact that they shot this outside and not income studio. They could have added some dusts to make it look old and dusty but aside from that it looks good.

 

Colin Farrell: ALEXANDER nearly destroyed my career...

The media went over Colin Farrell's career with the Oscar buzz for his critically acclaimed movie, THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN.

The one thing Colin admitted was that his starring role in the 2004 epic ALEXANDER nearly destroyed his career. He was so devastated by the response from critics and moviegoers that he nearly quit acting altogether. 

I reviewed this movie and stated how much I didn't like it, to say the least. I wasn't alone on this. The production had some interesting aspects to it but the casting, the pacing, the script made this movie almost unwatchable. The TELEGRAPH article is behind a paywall so I won't link it here. Here are two other articles on this. It's not the first time a PEPLUM movie nearly destroyed an actor's career.


Devastated Colin Farrell almost quit acting after notorious flop 'I thought I was sh**e'


The Historical Drama That Almost Ruined Colin Farrell's Career