JULIUS CAESAR AGAINST THE PIRATES
THE RAPE OF THE SABINE WOMEN
ROMULUS & THE SABINES
Saturday, March 9, 2013
The more women on screen the less the hair quality...
In PEPLUM films, when there were many women per square inch on screen, the more the wig selection suffered. Women's hair/wigs/extensions were/are costly and because there were often big scenes with throngs of beautiful women in many of these films, the quality of wigs suffered exponentially. Here are a few examples. Some films didn't suffer from this affliction. Case in point: SAPPHO THE VENUS OF LESBOS.
Friday, March 8, 2013
Photo(s) of the Day
Don Diego (Marcello Mastroianni) woes Almadena (Silvana Pampanini) in THE ISLAND PRINCESS (1954; original Italian title: La principessa delle Canarie)
A super rare film that looks interesting on several levels. The first is Marcello Mastroianni, who's always a plus. This was made well before he became a superstar. The second thing is the story: the Spanish conquest of the Canary islands and the native people living on the islands. Original. And last and by no means least: the action scenes were directed by my favorite PEPLUM genre director, Pietro Francisci, which makes this rare film a definite must see.
Lobby Cards set: ALEXANDER THE GREAT (German)
German lobby cards set for ALEXANDER THE GREAT. Excellent set with almost no weak cards. If I'd seen this in a lobby of a movie theatre back in the day this set would entice me to see it. The only issue I have with this set are garish colours, so typical of the printing process of the 1950s. Cards 4, 5 and 8 are the best cards.
Vin Diesel's HANNIBAL THE CONQUEROR
Vin Diesel's HANNIBAL THE CONQUEROR project has been in limbo for years but it seems it might finally get off the ground. Vin left a cryptic message on his popular Facebook page (39 million likes!!!) that insinuated the Hannibal project was picked up by a studio with some big financing and it will be a trilogy. It's not much to go on but it's more than anything else from the past. I'm actually looking forward to this. It sounds cool.
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Photo of the Day
Don't pay attention to the near nude fellow in the room. Kidding aside, this film rocks. This shot shows the beautiful composition of the camera/direction which was all lost with the cropped 4:3 cut version seen in North America.
PEPLUM Recycling
The artwork for the German poster of TRIUMPH OF HERCULES is not only confusing (link) but it also
Fantabulous Inc. starring Richard Harrison
Continuing with all things Richard Harrison, here's a Youtube channel with some Richard Harrison films, including a few PEPLUM ones and some of his other films including this crime story. A must see for fans of Richard. The channel is John Dulaney's who acted in Italian films back in the day and he's also good friends with Richard.
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Photo of the Day
9 of the 10 gladiators plot something with Glaucus Marcus (Stelio Candelli; white tunic) in TRIUMPH OF THE TEN GLADIATORS
Dan Vadis, the tenth and missing gladiator, is not in this shot. I won't list all the actors here (you can see them here). I love how director Nick Nostro attempted on many occasions to include all the gladiators in the entire frame and make it look natural. It's no mean feat.
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Photo of the Day
Help is on the way for Andromeda (Anna Ranalli) in PERSEUS THE INVINCIBLE (aka Medusa vs Son of Hercules)
This shot is great. It just pops out when you watch it in widescreen. A beautiful location filmed just at the right moment of the day.
What's going on during this scene is Perseus (Richard Harrison) is fighting with Galenore (Leo Anchóriz) while Andromeda watches on helplessly. Now depending on which versions you watch (there's 3 different versions) the scene right after this beautiful shot shows a man on horseback (Italian and US version) but in the Spanish version we see Richard wrestling with Anchóriz and there's a reason why it was cut from the other versions. It's quite revealing, on Richard's part. That's all I'm going to say.
Behind-the-Scenes
Then & Now: Lisa Gastoni
Monday, March 4, 2013
Photo of the Day
The strength of Hercules (Dan Vadis) is tested in HERCULES THE INVINCIBLE
Cool photo. The colors here look better than the actual film.
Movie Poster Mondays
Original Italian poster for POPPEA: A PROSTITUTE IN SERVICE OF THE EMPEROR
A typical raunchy 1970s PEPLUM comedy starring the then popular Don Backy.
Dale Robertson RIP
Dale Robertson died last week, on Febrary 26, at the age of 89. Mainly known as a Western star, Dale did appear in the (infamous) SON OF SINBAD.I already posted about Dale a few times here at the blog, including here and here. Even though SON OF SINBAD is not considered great art (Vincent Price said it's one of the worst films he's ever made) I still have a special fondness for it. RIP Dale.
Sunday, March 3, 2013
Photo of the Day
Plauzia (Abbe Lane) is hit by Hamar (Gordon Mitchell) in JULIUS CAESAR AGAINST THE PIRATES
Saturday, March 2, 2013
Photo of the Day
What can I say about this scene? The film is resplendent with pageantry, amazing sets and costumes and it seems to be a serious take on Messalina but this scene crosses over into the supernatural as Cinzia tames the lions with the power of prayers. It's sorta out of place in a an otherwise straight forward drama. Some say the film is boring but how can anyone find this film boring? One might not like the story but visually it's not boring. Just look at the details in the background wall sculpture. The two living people look like they are part of the artwork.
I'm not too familiar with Delia's career (looking at IMDb and it seems she made few PEPLUM films) but Erno was a regular actor of the genre. He made dozens of films. One of his most memorable roles was the baddy in CLEOPATRA'S DAUGHTER.
The Deadly Tank
Not a full blown cliché but it's one of those things you almost only see in PEPLUM films and wonder how practical it would have been to have such a thing.
Raf Baldassarre is thrown into a tank filled with acid in HERCULES & THE CAPTIVE WOMEN. In the following shot we see a skeleton in the liquid.
In THE SON OF SPARTACUS, a rebel is tossed into a tank filled with deadly fishes (Moray?) which results in the following scene captured below.
Raf Baldassarre is thrown into a tank filled with acid in HERCULES & THE CAPTIVE WOMEN. In the following shot we see a skeleton in the liquid.
In THE SON OF SPARTACUS, a rebel is tossed into a tank filled with deadly fishes (Moray?) which results in the following scene captured below.
Friday, March 1, 2013
Photo of the Day
A chariot race from...BEN-HUR? No it's from MESSALINA (1924) via NERO AND THE BURNING OF ROME (1953)
This image is from a lobby card for NERO & THE BURNING OF ROME but the chariot race is from MESSALINA (1924). I need to see this rare film to confirm.
The Warrior's Husband
Katharine Hepburn, as Antiope, and Colin Keith-Johnston, as Theseus, in THE WARRIOR'S HUSBAND. Even though this was a successful vehicle for Hepburn on the stage when the movie version was greenlighted Hepburn opted out. Has anyone seen the film version? It's extremely rare.
Sleep of Ages - PEPLUM
Industrial Noise band Sleep of Ages created an album inspired by the PEPLUM genre. It's definitely not for everyone but it's interesting nonetheless. The music is free to download here.