With the failure of this film and the failure of the last HERCULES film with Kellan Lutz it seems the new wave of PEPLUM films are not capturing the audience's imagination.
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
POMPEII : disastrous on all fronts
With the failure of this film and the failure of the last HERCULES film with Kellan Lutz it seems the new wave of PEPLUM films are not capturing the audience's imagination.
Monday, February 24, 2014
Photo of the Day
A captured Ed Fury delights the female captors in WILD WOMEN OF WONGO
A little cinematic 'Made in the USA' gem.
Friday, February 14, 2014
Photo of the Day
The CGI-free setting of Rome from THE FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE
Such an eye-filling spectacle.
I'm off for a while.
Steve Reeves as Superman
From looking at these two photoshoped images of Steve as Supes there's no doubt that he would have made an amazing SUPERMAN
The image above was colorized (not by me) and photoshoped into SUPERMAN from the image below.
Oops...
Continuity goof seen in 7 SLAVES AGAINST ROME: the good guys (Pietro Ceccarelli, Nello Pazzafini, Mario Novelli (behind)) are about to blow the villain away. His clothes don't match in any shot: in the first shot above, the stripped colours are brown and taupe; when we see a shot of him from the front, his clothes are now green and in the last shot when he's blown away, it's now blue and grey. And the actor has a goatee. Considering the super fast editing of this entire moment (I uploaded it at Youtube) it's surprising there weren't more mistakes.
Thursday, February 13, 2014
Photo of the Day
Chelo doesn't dance in this film, which, oddly enough, is a nice change since she's supposed to be a leader and leader don't usually dance but it still would have been fun if she did dance.
Vintage article
Conan art
Cover art by George Barr
Here are two comic book artwork that were not inspired by Boris Vallejo or Frazetta. Both were made in the late 1960s.
Cover art by Bernie Wrightson
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Photo of the Day
Travis Fimmel, as Ragnar Lothbrok, in VIKINGS
Travis used to be a model for Calvin Klein. The show is can be seen the History Channel and it's apparently a success. I don't have the History Channel so I guess I have to download it from somewhere (just joking). A show on Vikings makes sense as their history is quite colourful but many say this show is mostly historically inaccurate.
PEPLUM documentary idea
Two weeks ago I floated the idea of a Kickstarter campaign for a PEPLUM documentary. Even though the poll was positive the response was a bit underwhelming. I'm working on the pitch right now (for Kickstarter or a production company), which should include a video. Anyway it's not a done deal by any means but BY THE GODS! would be the title. Now don't steal it.
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
Photo of the Day
Jim Dale is pampered by some Roman beauties in CARRY ON CLEO
This is a veritable PEPLUM cliché. Ridley Scott said that when he decided to make GLADIATOR he wanted to avoid cliched scenes like this one.
Old PEPLUM film in new Italian film
A film called IL FUTURO was released last year; the story is about an actor (Rutger Hauer) who used to appear in PEPLUM films and is now a recluse, living in his mansion a la SUNSET BOULEVARD. Some young criminals (pictured above, watching FURY OF HERCULES) want to rob the former actor. The one girl in the group tries to seduce 'Maciste' and that's the basis of the drama. They use clips from FURY OF HERCULES starring Brad Harris as a young Rutger Hauer. How does one go from Brad to Rutger, who simply do not look alike, is a mystery to me.
It's an Italian/Chilean/German/Spanish co-production.
Monday, February 10, 2014
Photo of the Day
I like Marisa in this film, more so than Harrison's love interest, Michèle Mercier. She sports some deep tanner to make her look black or mulatto which some might object to but as long as the character she plays is not a stupid cliché I don't see a problem with it. Her character is underwritten but she's still captures one's attention whenever she's on screen.
Friday, February 7, 2014
Photo of the Day
This film is interesting for many reasons. First, it's directed by Vittorio Cottafavi, one of the best directors who worked in the genre. It's fast paced, the action is fluid and everything clicks. Second, the cast is truly amazing: Ettore Manni, Gianna Maria Canale, Marchal, etc. Third, the locations are excellent.
It was made the same year as HERCULES (1958) so it came out at the right time. It's also one of those pre-1960s PEPLUM which sorta changed and became more violent, at times more cartoony. The big liabilities are the editing (it's a bit sloppy) and the peculiar storyline which is difficult to summarize. But it's definitely worth watching, in widescreen.
My one question about this scene: what kind of footwear is Marchal wearing? They're not sandals. Hmm...
Back on Monday!
Cinematic Confusion
I'd like to see the film portrayed in the artwork of this poster. It's for THE TEN GLADIATORS and honestly it doesn't look like anything in the film. José Greci is a blonde in the film. Confusing.
Lobby cards set : SAPPHO THE VENUS OF LESBOS
Thursday, February 6, 2014
Photo of the Day
Gorgeous film, amazing cast, fun film filled with colorful moments. Not an laugh-out-loud comedy but amusing nonetheless. They filmed two endings for this. One of the best pre-HERCULES PEPLUM films. Also known as NERO'S MISTRESS.
The Musketeers BBC TV series
New BBC series based on the Alexandre Dumas novel with loads of action, explosions, etc. You'd think that after the tepid box office results of the THE THREE MUSKETEERS movie made in 2011 and directed by Paul W.S. Anderson would have discouraged anyone to adapt that often filmed story again but no. It's looks action packed for sure.
New book on the PEPLUM genre
It's in Italian but it's good to see that people are still writing about the genre. Below is the front and back cover. The poster art on the back cover is interesting with some Cinematic Confusion (Maciste with artwork from HERCULES UNCHAINED?). You can see the authors at this link.
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
Photo of the Day
Jacques Herlin and Pascale Petit in THE SWEET SINS OF SEXY SUSAN (1967)
A period sex comedy which spawned a couple of films. I've never seen either them. Pascale doesn't play the titular role of Susan but she could have. I wanted to post this picture simply because Pascale is beautiful here.
Black actresses in PEPLUM films
PEPLUM films were surprisingly inclusive when it came to black actors. They might have had roles as slaves or handmaidens but they were often more visible than in Hollywood films. Here's a list of female actors in genre films. I'll post on black male actors sometimes soon.
Above and Below: Dolores Francine in REVOLT OF THE SLAVES who had one of the biggest roles for a black woman in PEPLA. Below: Serge Gainsbourg with Dolores.
Janine Hendy in MACISTE VS THE MOLE MEN; Janine had major roles in several PEPLUM films, including the THOR/TAUR films with Joe Robinson. Janine also danced in a couple of PEPs.
Edith Peters in CARTHAGE IN FLAMMES; Edith also appeared in other titles including FURY OF ACHILLES and the completely crazy ROBIN HOOD AND THE PIRATES in which she dances and sings. Loopy fun film.
A dancer from HERCULES AGAINST THE SONS OF THE SUN; the only female dancer credited at IMDb is Audrey Anderson so I assume that's her name.
The following are dancers and slaves played by unidentified actresses:
Dancer from ALONE AGAINST ROME. She's also in another film which eludes me right now. She had a very distinctive body.
Above and Below: Dolores Francine in REVOLT OF THE SLAVES who had one of the biggest roles for a black woman in PEPLA. Below: Serge Gainsbourg with Dolores.
Gloria Hendy as Tulac in MACISTE VS THE MOLE MEN
Pam Grier in THE ARENA
Beryl Cunningham (right) is a slave for sale in ANTHAR THE INVINCIBLE
The following are dancers and slaves played by unidentified actresses:
Dancer from THE LAST ROMAN
Dancer from KERIM SON OF THE SHEIK