Retro Friday : PEPLUM Cliché: Cast of Thousands

Retro Friday : Old posts updated (originally posted on June 29, 2011)

PEPLUM movies often promised a "cast of thousands" but usually had a cast of hundreds.

From LAND OF THE PHARAOHS. The crowd scenes were huge in this film.

Gordon Scott in GOLIATH & THE VAMPIRES

From SINS OF POMPEII

Both photos above and below, from QUO VADIS(1951). Filmed in Italy after WWII, MGM were able to get huge crowds for a cheap price for QUO VADIS because of the poor post-war economy.

By the Gods!

H.B. Warner, as Jesus, in KING OF KINGS (1927)

The past weekend was the ascension of Jesus. After he was resurrected, Jesus remained 40 days with the apostles before going to heaven for good. This part of the story has rarely or never been filmed (I haven't seen JESUS OF NAZARETH in a long time so I don't know if the Zefferelli mini-series showed this). I think the post-resurection moments in the bible are as interesting as the ones beforehand. There are so many moments rarely shown, including the apostles spreading the Holy spirit around the world, Jesus going to hell, etc, that the whole picture in pop culture is incomplete. 

As for the Cecil B DeMille film. It's well mounted and at times spectacular but it also has its fair share of quirks. For example, Joseph is nowhere to be seen in it. The silent film uses actually bible scriptures for inter titles. Part of the film was shot in early version of Technicolor, which is fascinating. When Jesus is crucified, the film becomes a disaster film with earthquakes, destructive lightning bolts and hurricane strength winds. Almost all other versions of the story of Jesus skipped this part. The film ends with an image of Jesus looking over a then modern day city. The film has been uploaded on Youtube (not by me). If you haven't seen it check it out.

PEPLUM GIF animation : THE GIANT OF MARATHON

Action scene from the spectacular climax starring Steve Reeves

By the Gods!

William Russell and Sean Connery, as Alexander the Great, in ADVENTURE STORY

Alexander with a Scottish accent. This is a TV movie. A very rare production based on a play by Terence Rattigan. There are some clips on Youtube. It's interesting to watch even if Connery tends to chew a lot of the scenery.

Behind-the-Scenes

Director William Wyler and Charlton Heston goof with a camel while filming BEN-HUR

By the Gods!

Mark Antony (Marlon Brando) gives a speech to the public in JULIUS CAESAR (1953)

Great scene, certainly considering Brando is acting on his own for several minutes but John Gielgud disliked it (he's also in the film). In the book, Letters to a Young Actor, Gielgud is quoted of saying "Marlon looks like he's searching for a baseball bat to bash his brains with." Ouch. I still it's great but I get what Gielgud meant. One of the few Hollywood PEPLUM films shot in black & white.

Then & Now : Peter Lupus

Peter Lupus as Hercules in HERCULES & THE TYRANTS OF BABYLON ; a recent photo of Peter

He's one of the few actors left who played Hercules back in da day

By the Gods!

A scene from NIGHT LIFE OF THE GODS (1935)

The actors are Alan Mowbray, Florine McKinney, George Hassell, Robert Warwick, Pat DiCicco and Paul Kay. I don't know any of them. What's interesting about this very old and seldom seen film is the fact that Greek mythology is featured front and centre, which is something Hollywood has rarely done, back then or since. Aside from ALEXANDER THE GREAT, HELEN OF TROY, JASON & THE ARGONAUTS and CLASH OF THE TITANS (the original, not the remake), few Hollywood films have been set in Ancient Greece and even less about Greek mythology, which has always been a head scratcher to me. I don't know if it's a cultural blind spot of the people working in Hollywood, but if there's a rich and endless set of fantastic stories and characters, it's surely Greek mythology. Modern day Hollywood has attempted to fix this oversight with several projects, including TROY, 300, IMMORTALS, HERCULES, etc, but few of them are genuine to actual Greek mythos. Oh well...

Movie Poster Mondays

French poster for SANDOKAN THE GREAT

Colorful poster that captures the pulpy quality of the film

By the Gods!

Steve Reeves, as Hercules, tries to survive in a pit with tigers in HERCULES UNCHAINED

Hercules the dentist? Anyway, no real tigers were harm in this scene since the animal was a prop. Steve was really jacked in this film.

Retro Friday : Will the real CAPTAIN HENRI MORGAN please stand up...

Retro Friday : Old posts updated (originally posted on March 17, 2011)

Big and rotund or chiseled and buff?

Laird Cregar in THE BLACK SWAN

Torin Thatcher in BLACKBEARD, THE PIRATE

Steve Reeves in MORGAN THE PIRATE

By the Gods!

Roger Moore greets Lana Turner in DIANE

I like this film. In terms of Hollywood, this MGM film seems modest (but not as 'modest' as a Columbia Picture production) but I think it's very entertaining, regardless of its limitations. I'm not a big fan of Turner's style of acting but in this film, her usual mannerisms are not present. It's hard to believe Roger Moore made films in the mid-1950s and he's still alive.

By the Gods!

Theseus (Jacques Dacqmine) and Phaedra (Marie Bell) in PHAEDRA (or Phèdre ; 1968)

This is a French film based on a play. Though it was shown in New York city I don't think it was dubbed in English. I like it. But most people won't like it. It's too theatrical, too much dialogue, etc. Marie Bell was 68 years old when she made this. The film is on Youtube. 

Behind-the-Scenes

Super panoramic photo of a set for the silent version of KING OF KINGS (1927)

If you want to see a bigger version of photo, just click on it. Very impressive.

By the Gods!

Haya Harareet is Antinea in JOURNEY BENEATH THE DESERT

To be blunt, this film is terrible. Yes, the quality of the only available English copy is not good but I doubt a better print would alleviate its main problem : all the characters are annoying. It's one of those stories set in contemporary times, a bunch of prospectors / adventurers, who discover the long lost city of Atlantis beneath the desert. And then they bitch for 90 minutes. The story was filmed many times before, and like the previous attempts, this one wasn't good. HERCULES & THE CAPTIVE WOMEN (below) was also about Antinea and Atlantis but that movie is fun and colourful. Shot in super expensive Technirama (70mm). Haya Harareet, who just appeared in the stupendous BEN-HUR, only made 3 other films after this one. 

Hercules & the Captive Women soundtrack

Here's part of the HERCULES & THE CAPTIVE WOMEN soundtrack by Gino Marinuzzi Jr.

The original soundtrack wasn't used in its entirety for the US edition, which re-edited it and added music from other sources including THE CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON.

By the Gods!

Marco polo (Rory Calhoun) greets Grand Khan (Camillo Pilotto), his daughter, Princess Amurroy (Yôko Tani), and the evil henchman Mongka (Claudio Undari) in MARCO POLO (1962)

Colorful adventure of the often filmed but rarely successful adaptation of Marco Polo's travels into China. Production values remind me of SAMSON & THE 7 MIRACLES OF THE WORLD. I have a gorgeous copy in Italalian and a muddy copy in English. I'd love to do a Fan Dub of this but the audio track of the English copy is poor. Rory looks better in this than in COLOSSUS OF RHODES.

Movie Poster Mondays

Italian poster for ULYSSES

Colorful, picturesque artwork. Looks almost like a comic book. I like this film but it's not even close to being as good as HERCULES, which was made 4 years after this. The same boat was used in both films.

By the Gods!

Armand Mestral and Edmund Purdom in WHITE SLAVE SHIP

This is an extremely rare film, in English anyway. Mestral starred in MORGAN THE PIRATE. Purdom was a PEPLUM star and eventually lived in Rome until his death. A great looking film which takes place entirely on the boat. I recently got hold of two copies, in French and Italian, but I haven't watched either of them in full, just scanned parts of it, and it looks good.

BEN-HUR statue at Cinecittà

Retro Friday : Old posts updated (originally posted on April 6, 2011)

One of the modified BEN-HUR statues still resides at Cinecittà.

By the Gods!

Howard Ross (Renato Rossini) and Ken Clark try to coax Gloria Milland in HERCULES AGAINST THE BARBARIANS

I like these three actors.  Gloria's character is difficult to describe. She bad and good. This film is crowded with villains but not as crowded as HERCULES AGAINST THE MONGOLS, in which Howard Ross and Ken Clark re-appeared together (not the same roles). I like HERCULES AGAINST THE BARBARIANS but I prefer MONGOLS over this one. But it's still very entertaining.

PEPLUM GIF Animation : THE TROJAN HORSE

It's the beginning of an extended fight between Steve Reeves and the cool Benito Stefanelli. Great scene.

By the Gods!

Edmund Purdom and Liana Orfei in NEFERTITI - QUEEN OF THE NILE

The relationship between Purdom and Orfei is much better than the one between Purdom and Jeanne Crain (Nefertiti). I hate it when this happens in movies : the secondary love affair is more interesting than the main one. QUO VADIS suffers from the same fate : the relationship between Deborah Kerr and Robert Taylor pales in comparison to the one between Marina Berti and Leo Genn. Good film though.

Behind-the-Scenes

Steve Reeves in a publicity photo (in Rome?) at the airport promoting one of his films

By the Gods!

Elaine Stewart is pampered by her handmaidens in THE ADVENTURES OF HAJJI BABA

There's plenty of cheesecake in this old 20th Century Fox Arabian adventure. Out of 10, it would probably rate an 8 for cheesecake. If my memory is correct, this is the first such Arabian adventure  filmed in CinemaScope. The first European-made Arabian adventure filmed in CinemaScope was DESERT WARRIOR.