Great PEPLUM Casts!

Big ensemble casts in Sword & Sandal films are de rigueur, certainly for Hollywood epics. Big casts have always existed since they started making films set in Antiquity. I won't name all of the films with amazing casts now (maybe more in a future post) but here are some of my favorite ensemble casts.

The January banner for the blog, for THEODORA - SLAVE EMPRESS, as an amazing cast but I didn't include a picture in this post as the banner says everything about it.

The cast (and part of the top crew) of QUO VADIS. Except for Peter, everyone looked like they had fun that day. Great cast.

JULIUS CAESAR had a stellar cast. Based on a play by Shakespeare, the film NEEDED a good cast of actors. Though his photo is not shown, this was Edmund Purdom's first PEPLUM film.

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Probabbly my personal favorite ensemble cast. With Rita Hayworth, Stewart Granger, Charles Laughton, Judith Anderson, Cedric Hardwick, Alan Badel and Rex Reason and more, the cast for SALOME really clicked together. The screenplay might not have been to the level of the cast's talent but it's quite an ensemble.

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The cast of SPARTACUS (1960) is quite amazing as well. Charles Laughton looks really tired in the photo below.

The cast of SODOM & GOMORRAH was filled with Italian actors known for their work in PEPLUM films. This credit shows almost all of them. Add Mimmo Palmara and Rossana Podestà, who are in the film but their names appear in separate credits, to the list and you have one of the most complete ensemble of Italian actors under one film. It's a shame the screenplay didn't have much for them to do.

Huh?

This DVD is being sold at Amazon. Scratching head.

I know there's technology to render a 2D film into 3D but I doubt the high tech stuff was used for this. Usually, this type of thing would be under CINEMATIC CONFUSION post but it's so whack that I could only go "huh?" It would be cool to see Steve Reeves in 3D though!!!!

Photo of the Day

Moira Orfei at her most beautiful in MACISTE THE STRONGEST MAN IN THE WORLD

Moira played the Evil Queen to perfection. Gloria Hendy is Tulac, her favorite slave.

I finished a Fan Dub of this film, along with THE MIGHTY URSUS starring Ed Fury, and CONQUEROR OF ATLANTIS starring Kirk Morris. I've also fixed one of my first Fan Dubs, A QUEEN FOR CAESAR starring Pascale Petit, and it's much better now. I'll play these new Fan Dubs on PEPLUM TV.

Movie Poster Mondays

Spanish poster for HERCULES UNCHAINED

Nice poster but doesn't really capture spirit of film. Wrestler Primo Carnera, who has a small role, is billed higher than other actors who had bigger roles.

Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters

Gemma Arterton and Jeremy Renner are HANSEL & GRETEL and they're ready to KICK ASS!

Film was to be released in 2012 but date was pushed back to January 2013

Darn I was so looking forward to seeing this (sarcasm)

Photo of the Day

Rena the Eye-patched Amazon (yes that's the character's name played by Eva León) in GOLDEN TEMPLE AMAZONS, a film that's thoroughly wretched. It can be considered a Jungle Adventure but there's a lot of PEPLUM elements in it, including wrestling Amazon warriors, whipping subjects in some sort of bizarre death trap, mining for gold, etc. Not that different than MACISTE IN KING SOLOMON'S MINES starring Reg Park except that film is a thousand times better. I played this on PEPLUM TV last night and it was quite fun watching this spectacle with others. The viewers mostly agreed on one thing: the breast, eh, best thing about this film are the bouncing breasts.

KOUKOU!!!

PEPLUM Anachronism - conveyor belts (updated)

I just completed a Fan Dub of MACISTE THE STRONGEST MAN IN THE WORLD (aka Mole Men vs Son of Hercules) and seeing the film again reminded me of the purely anachronistic aspect of having conveyor belts in Ancient times. Conveyor belts were invented in the 19th century. Then again, these are mostly fantasies so theere's a degree of suspension of disbelief going on here.

Here's Mark Forest on a conveyor belt from MACISTE STRONGEST MAN IN THE WORLD

Joe Robinson from TAUR THE MIGHTY. Both films were written/directed by the same person.

Still vs Film

Same scene, from THE AVENGER (War of the Trojans) starring Steve Reeves, totally different outlook between still and what we see in the film. When I saw the image above at Pasquale's Facebook page I went "Hmm...what film is this? From WAR OF THE TROJANS but I don't remember the belt and costumes..." So I checked the actual film and was surprised by the amount of information that's in the still versus what we see in the film. This always makes me irate as why put so much effort in the details but then shoot everything in a long shot? It probably looked bigger on a cinema screen and could see more things but even so the amount of info in the B&W still is superior to the completed film.

Photo of the Day

Adam (Michael parks) emerges from the ground/dust in THE BIBLE : IN THE BEGINNING...

I already posted a picture from this film this week but with the ADAM & EVE theme today, a grab of this scene was necessary as it's one of the best in the much maligned Adam & Eve films.

THE SIN OF ADAM & EVE (1956) poster art

ADAM & EVE at the Movies!

Christiane Martel and Carlos Baena in the Mexican made THE SIN OF ADAM AND EVE (1956). Mexicans really love the Adam & Eve story. French actress Christiane became famous in Mexico, decided to live there, married a politician who then banned all of her films from being shown in theatres or on TV including this one.

Mamie Van Doren as Eve (!!!) and Martin Milner as Adam in THE PRIVATE LIVES OF ADAM AND EVE. Clearly a serious in-depth portrayal. Arf.

Michael Parks and Ulla Bergryd in THE BIBLE: In The Beginning...

Definitely more serious that the Mamie version but still not really profound except for the creation of Adam scene.

And for the piece de resistance ultra beefy Jorge Rivero and one-hit-wonder Candy Wilson in the Mexican made THE SIN OF ADAM AND EVE (1969). I recently played this film on PEPLUM TV and got the BEST ratings the channel ever had. It's pure eye candy re: Jorge and Candy but with big plastic flowers and the actors walking backwards or holding sheep to avoid full frontal nudity, it's entertaining because of the display of flesh but also because it's unintentionally funny from beginning to end.

Photo of the Day

Marilù Tolo is about to become minced meat in TRIUMPH OF HERCULES

One of those wacky over-the-top torture devices that can only be found in PEPLUM films.

Before they were PEPLUM stars: Steve Reeves

This photo of Steve was taken in 1948, the year he was supposed to have been cast in SAMSON & DELILAH but lucked out. His first film, JAIL BAIT, was 6 years after this and his first PEP film, HERCULES, was 10 years after this photo.

Uploaded to the HEROES & BEEFCAKE page

Mark Forest Birthday

It's Mark Forest's birthday today so happy birthday Mark! Keep tossing those bears around!

Photo of the Day

Stephen Boyd, in makeup, plays Nimrod in THE BIBLE - IN THE BEGINNING...

A film that goes out of its way to be murky. One wonders why it was made. Except for a few scenes or shots, the film is almost forgettable. For example, the scenes with Cain and Abel, with Richard Harris and Franco Nero in those respective roles, are remarkably inconsequential and filmed boringly. I had a difficult time noticing the handsome Franco. Directed by John Huston, starring John Huston and narrated indifferently by John Huston, it's an ego project of sorts. Not a disaster by any means but it's sorta falls flat.

Then & Now: Mark Damon

Left: Mark Damon from SON OF CLEOPATRA; Right: Mark today

Photo of the Day

Raquel Welch and company in ONE MILLION YEARS B.C.

Should films set in prehistoric time be included in the PEPLUM genre? Whenever someone asks me what's a PEPLUM film, I always answer: it's a story, mostly action, that takes place in Antiquity/Medieval times. Well, prehistory is Antiquity in the extreme. You can't get more further back in time than that. But I've always excluded them even if they share a lot of cliches and stuff like skimpy wardrobe and some PEPLUM films are hybrids, like COLOSSUS OF THE STONE AGE. As much as I would love to include Raquel in the crowded pantheon of the PEP genre, I still think they're too different. Not enough mythology, structure/politics and such. They belong more in the Jungle Adventures genre than PEPLUM.

PEPLUM Fascination: Kids and big Heroes

The huge success of PEPLUM films in the 1950s and 60s was due in part to how young kids, mostly young boys, were impressed by the muscly action going on on the big screen. One can measure a film's "success" by what I term the "fascination" aspects within the stories, which made kids flock to theatres to see more and more. The producers of these European films KNEW about this (unlike today's films) and they intentionally tried to milk it for all its worth, even having a kid hang around  in one scene to gawk at the big Hero.

IMO, this is what makes these films so great and fun, and unique. Today's action films have none of this fascination aspect and I'm rarely impressed by any Hero or stories. The PEPLUM films from the Golden Era knew how to bring out the little kid in all of us.

Uploaded to the Special Features page

From HERCULES UNCHAINED. The kid is not acting there. He's mightily impressed by Steve.

Mark Forest is impressing a boy in HERCULES AGAINST THE MONGOLS

Aeneas (Steve Reeves) and his son (Charles Band) in THE AVENGER (War of the Trojans)

Little kid looking up to Henri Vidal in FABIOLA

Boy watches Harry Baird and Joe Robinson arm wrestling in THOR AND THE AMAZON WOMEN

A boy tries to help Ursus (Samson Burke) in VENGEANCE OF URSUS

Gordon Scott and his son in CORIOLANUS : HERO WITHOUT A COUNTRY

WOLF - Hail Caesar

Music video that uses footage from HERCULES UNCHAINED. There's no Caesar in the Steve Reeves film, as it takes place in Ancient Greece, but what the heck.

Photo of the Day

Deja Vu!  Here's Mark Forest, this time as Hercules, getting the point again, with the help of Harold Bradley, in HERCULES AGAINST THE BARBARIANS.

PEPLUM Recycling

I was watching SALOME (1953) on PEPLUM TV the other night and bam! there's Rex Reason wearing the same Roman tunic Robert Taylor wore in QUO VADIS (1951; below).

Cesare Danova also wore the same costume for his screen test for BEN-HUR

Photo of the Day

Mark Forest gets the point in GOLIATH AND THE SINS OF BABYLON

I've created a new permanent page MINI FOTONOVELAS and this image is taken from a mini fotonovela uploaded there

Movie Poster Mondays

Italian poster for SLAVE QUEEN OF BABYLON (also known as I AM SEMIRAMIS)

Cool poster on an overlooked film. Yvonne is great in it.

Jack the Giant Killer Trailer

Directed by Bryan Singer...a combo of JACK & THE BEANSTALK and JACK THE GIANT KILLER.