Photo of the Day

Plauzia (Abbe Lane) and Hamar (Gordon Mitchell) are passionate lovers in JULIUS CAESAR AGAINST THE PIRATES

A little JULIUS CAESAR AGAINST THE PIRATES festival for today.

The two have a tempestuous love-hate relationship throughout the film which makes it unique among PEPLUM films. I love watching these two go at each other.

Some people don't like this film but I think it's a cool film, so different from the other stuff made back then. And how can someone not like a story with Julius Caesar (wonderfully played by Gustavo Rojo) and pirates? I mean, seriously.

Movie Poster Mondays

Italian poster for JULIUS CAESAR AGAINST THE PIRATES

There are a lot of ships in this film and big chunk of the story happens on sea but it's never this dramatic. Nice art.

Photo of the Day

Zuleima (Mara Berni), Maciste (Samson in English version, Ed Fury) and Antonio (Massimo Carocci) in MACISTE AGAINST THE SHEIK

I have to do a Fan Dub of this film. I have a nice Italian copy (screeshot above) but the English version is pretty poor. So I need to add the English track to this copy. From what I saw of the film, it looks like a fun film but with some sloppy editing here and there.

Back on Monday!

THE AFFAIRS OF MESSALINA pressbook

This is proof it was released for the US market so where's the English version which is impossible to find?

PEPLUM Gif animation test

I'm testing GIF animation files here at the blog. I like them but they are sometimes too big. This file is nearly 8 megs, much larger than the actual video file. Is this file loading up fast or slow? I love this scene and Steve's 'don't mess with me' expression.

GIF animated images are possible at the Tumblr blog but the files cannot be larger than 1 meg. Do you want me to add more GIF animation scenes here at the blog?

ADDENDUM : With 18 Facebook likes I'd take that as a yes.

Photo of the Day

Steve Reeves as Karim in THIEF OF BAGHDAD

Great photo of his perfect profile.

Same book, different covers

Thanks Louis for these!

Sexy Jesus

The new SON OF GOD film is making some folks nervous (CNN) as they believe the portrayal of Jesus is too sexy. In that film Jesus is played by Portuguese actor Diogo Morgado. Is Diogo too 'sexy' or too good looking to play Jesus?

Too good looking for Jesus?

Photo of the Day

Bangor (Paul Wynter) serves up breakfast in MACISTE VS THE MOLE MEN

Won the Mr Universe title twice. He should have had his own leading role in a PEPLUM film.

Classic Greek fashion

Yesterday I posted photos of Penélope Cruz wearing a Grecian dress at the Oscars ®. Here are two real Greek sculptures of a wind goddess (400 B.C.) and a figurine of a peplos (mid-5th century B.C., below)

Then & Now : Ángel Aranda

Ángel from THE LAST DAYS OF POMPEII; a recent photo of the Spanish actor

Photo of the Day

Rodrigo Santoro as Xerxes in 300 : RISE OF AN EMPIRE

Rodrigo reprises his role he made famous 8 years ago in 300 (2006). The release date is this upcoming Friday. Now this is the third PEPLUM film released this year and if it bombs badly at the box office it'll surely signal the end of the genre. It might open at no 1 but we'll have to wait and see the b.o. results.

PEPLUM influence at the Oscars ®

Penélope Cruz wore a Grecian Goddess dress at the Oscars ® last Sunday. She looked great.

Behind-the-Scenes

Cool photo of 4 stars of European cinema and PEPLUM films.

Claudine Auger (KALI YUG - GODDESS OF VENGEANCE), Virna Lisi (DUEL OF THE TITANS), Ursula Andress (SHE), Marisa Mell (DIABOLIK)

Photo of the Day

Two tavern whores fight over Hercules (Alan Steel) in HERCULES AGAINST ROME

I always love these scenes in 'family' films. It's understandable that the women fought over him: he could be rich and he's decent looking too. Ah!

Movie Poster Mondays

Belgian poster for SAMSON AND THE 7 MIRACLES OF THE WORLD

Great artwork.

Photo of the Day

Hercules (Reg Park) battles one form of Proteus in HERCULES AND THE CAPTIVE WOMEN

Cool photo.

Back on Monday!

Lobby Cards Set: REVOLT OF THE SLAVES

US lobby cards set for REVOLT OF THE SLAVE: I already posted this set years ago but this set is in better quality. Pretty much covers everything from the film except there are no close-ups of Rhonda Fleming, Lang Jeffries and Serge Gainsbourg, which would have made these cards even better.

Location : The Roman Walls of Lugo

From Wikipedia:

"Lugo, Spain, is the only city in the world to be surrounded by completely intact Roman walls, which reach a height of 10 to 15 metres along a 2117 m circuit ringed with 71 towers."

Interesting stuff. The Youtube video below is a stop-motion clip but it gives you a good idea how it looks like walking on it.

Photo of the Day

Yvonne Furneaux is Semiramis in SLAVE QUEEN OF BABYLON

Great photo!

Tragic Stars: Soledad Miranda

Soledad Miranda made a couple of PEPLUM films including THE MIGHTY URSUS (1961, above). She was 18 years old when she made that film. By the time she was 27, with over 35 films to her credits, Soledad died in a car accident on a highway in Portugal in 1970. The Spanish actress was becoming a star in  Eurocult films such as SHE KILLED IN ECSTASY and VAMPYROS LESBOS. Today she has a fervent cult following amongst fans of that genre.

Posted at the TRAGIC STARS page.

Photo of the Day

Sophia Loren in AIDA

Some say this production is totally misguided. It is a curio alright (Lois Maxwell is also in it!) but I still enjoy watching it. Sophia's voice was dubbed. The thing that always makes me wonder is why they didn't hire Gina Lollobrigida who can actually sing, as seen here. Gina's singing is simply beautiful.

When PEPLUM goes porno

German poster for URSUS AND THE TERROR OF THE KIRGHIZ (aka Hercules - Prisoner of Evil).

That film starring Reg Park was reedited with some added sex scenes for LA VIE EROTIQUE D'URSUS or THE EROTIQUE LIFE OF URSUS released in 1973. Very obscure. No one as apparently seen it.

Then & Now : John Ericson

John in SLAVE QUEEN OF BABYLON; the only recent photo of John I could find on the internet

Photo of the Day

A sultry Chelo Alonso in TERROR OF THE RED MASK

One of her best dance numbers.