By the Gods!

The 'Apocalyptic' ending in THE FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE

One of the (many) things which disappointed me about this film is the fact that the truly amazing sets were so underused in the film. We see a lot of the sets during big crowd scenes such as this one but I always thought they would have been more stunning if the main characters could be seen just walking about them during other parts of the story, not just the climax. Oh well...

Movie Poster Mondays

 Belgian poster of SLAVE OF CARTHAGE (aka The Sword and the Cross)

In Cinetotalscope and Ferraniacolor! 

By the Gods!

Geoffrey Horne plays the dual roles in LIONS OF CORSICA (1961)

One of many versions of this famous story. It's not bad but feels sorta lifeless. As of this writing it's not available in English. Part of the Seeing Double cliché at the PEPLUM Clichés page.

Christoper Lee RIP

Christopher Lee as King Lico in HERCULES IN THE HAUNTED WORLD

Legendary actor Christopher Lee died yesterday. He was 93 years old. Chris made TONS of films, many bad, many classics. He's been an enduring presence in movies and TV since the 1950s. He'll be mostly remembered for his turn as Dracula in the many Hammer films he made co-starring Peter Cushing. He'll also be remembered for LORD OF THE RINGS and those STAR WARS films of the 1990s. Christopher appeared in a couple of PEPLUM films in Italy including HERCULES IN THE HAUNTED WORLD along with Reg Park (first 4 photos). He was quite effective in RASPUTIN THE MAD MONK. He was one of a kind. RIP.

Reg Park was Hercules in HERCULES IN THE HAUNTED WORLD. Two tall fellows.

Chris with Leonora Ruffo

Chris with Raf Baldassarre

Chris in THE WHIP AND THE FLESH co-starring Daliah Lavi

Above and below : THE PIRATES OF BLOOD RIVER, co-starring Kerwin Mathews

THE DEVIL-SHIP PIRATES

 RASPUTIN : THE MAD MONK

Chris in JULIUS CAESAR (1970)

ARABIAN ADVENTURE (1979)

By the Gods!

Robert Blood (Sean Flynn) is held by two shipmates while Abby (Alessandra Panaro) tries to protect him from more flogging in SON OF CAPTAIN BLOOD

One of three PEPLUM films Sean made in Europe. He also made other films before dying tragically in 1971. This was supposed to have been a big break for Sean and it was released by Paramount but critics destroyed the film upon its release and well Sean's acting career was limited. Alessandra, a PEPLUM regular, has a sizeable role in this.

Behind-the-Scenes

Chelo Alonso waits for the crew to set up a shot while filming TERROR OF THE RED MASK

The Spartan Gladiators

PEPLUM X Tuesdays

Pietro Capanna - Howard Ross (Renato Rossini)

The Bacchantes

PEPLUM X Tuesdays

Alessandra Panaro - Raf Mattioli

300 : Rise of an Empire - Rodrigo Santoro

PEPLUM X Tuesdays

Sign of the Gladiator - Anita Ekberg

PEPLUM X Tuesdays

Game of War - Kate Upton

PEPLUM X Tuesdays

2020 Texas Gladiators

PEPLUM X Tuesdays

Al Cliver - Harrison Muller Jr. - Daniel Stephen

Ursus in the Land of Fire

PEPLUM X Tuesdays

Pietro Ceccarelli - Adriano Micantoni

By the Gods!

Samson (Kirk Morris) meets up with the bad guys, Tullio Altamura and Daniele Vargas from SAMSON & THE SEA BEAST

How many times has Kirk, or any other PEPLUM hero, appeared before baddies, usually in chains, and vowed to destroy them. A veritable PEPLUM cliché. I'll have to do a compilation of these scenes.

Movie Poster Mondays

Italian poster of COLUMNA

Nice evocative poster, a bit too 'romance novel' like when you consider the movie but the likenesses are on point.

By the Gods!

 John Payne, as Barbarossa, and Donna Reed in RAIDERS OF THE SEVEN SEAS

The first time I saw this film I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. A United Artist film so this "B-movie" has higher than expected production values. No one today watches these films except for fans like me and retired people. Aha! Payne is unrecognizable in this film but still excellent. And Donna is, well, Donna Reed. She was also star of GREEN DOLPHIN STREET in which she has one of the most amazing scenes I've ever seen so by the time she made this the beautiful gal was familiar with the genre. 

PEPLUM GIF Animation : THE MINOTAUR

Dance number from THE MINOTAUR starring Rosanna Schiaffino and Alberto Lupo as the non-dancers. The costumes also showed up in THE 300 SPARTANS

By the Gods!

Leonardo Severini and Hélène Chanel watch some spectacle in SAMSON & THE 7 MIRACLES OF THE WORLD

This scene is cut from the US edition. A good 10 to 15 minutes were cut from the original version directed by Riccardo Freda. The changes are not that earth-shattering to the story...it simply sets up the world the story takes place in. The beautiful Hélène Chanel doesn't make a convincing Chinese woman. Hélène appeared in many classic PEPLUM films and she's one of the underrated Queens of the genre.

Behind-the-Scenes

Director Vittorio Cottafavi helps Reg Park setting up a scene with a big snake in a behind-the-scenes photo from the filming of HERCULES AND THE CAPTIVE WOMEN

Morgan the Pirate

PEPLUM X Tuesdays

Steve Reeves - Armand Mestral

Goliath and the Sins of Babylon

PEPLUM X Tuesdays

Extras as gladiators

Thief of Baghdad - Edy Vessel

PEPLUM X Tuesdays

Aphrodite - Goddess of Love - Irene Tunc

PEPLUM X Tuesdays

Carry On Cleo

PEPLUM X Tuesdays

Amanda Barrie - Sidney James

Hercules against Moloch - Gordon Scott

PEPLUM X Tuesdays