PEPLUM GIF Animation : THE LION OF ST-MARK

Gordon Scott and Gianna Maria Canale meet in  THE LION OF ST-MARK. Fun film.

By the Gods!

Cleopatra (Virginia Mayo) poisons her brother (Bart Mattson) in THE STORY OF MANKIND

Virginia really camps it up as Cleopatra. Was this her attempt (and the filmmaker's attempt) to make fun of THE TEN COMMANDMENTS? The cast for this kookie film is insane. Written and directed by Irwin Allen.

Behind-the-Scenes

Sylva Koscina watches as Steve Reeves has fun with a crew member

By the Gods!

Roger Browne, Mario Novelli and Mimmo Palmara are the 3 SWORDS FOR ROME

They just punched their way into the bar (noticed the unconscious men behind) and the three are about to punch their way out of the bar.  This probably one of the longest brawl scene in a PEPLUM (and that's no mean feat). All three men are in top form, certainly Mimmo. This was release just as the PEPLUM genre died and like so many Italian films released at that specific time (see yesterday's By the Gods! post),  there's no English dubbing available. Fun film.

Nero exhibition

Photo : Carole Raddato

There's a Nero exhibition at the Rhineland Museum, in Trier, Germany. The fun thing about this exhibition is that it includes movie posters of PEPLUM films which has Nero or Nero-like characters in them (photo below). I recognize many of the film. There should be a PEPLUM museum somewhere in the world.

Link to the museum web page : NERO - EMPEROR, ARTIST AND BULLY

Thanks to Alan Robert and Carole Raddato for the info and photo. You can see more photos by Carole @ Flickr. 

StadtmuseumSimeonstift Trier © Simon Kürten

By the Gods!

Claudie Lange is about to be stoned to death in GLI AMORI DI ANGELICA

Interesting film, made just as the PEPLUM genre died. There's no official English title for this. The literal translation is THE LOVES OF ANGELICA. The Spanish title (it's an Italian / Spanish co-production) LA MUJER DEL DESIERTO translates as DESERT WOMAN. Good location filming and sexy cast. Claudia made a couple of PEPLUM genre films, including THE INVINCIBLE BROTHERS MACISTE.

Movie Poster Mondays

German poster for MORGAN THE PIRATE

More action packed than other posters made at the time

By the Gods!

Lex Johnson inspects his new wife (Tere Velázquez) in THE RAPE OF THE SABINE WOMEN

A rare PEPLUM film from Mexico. Today, would it be possible to show this film anywhere? Though there's nothing graphic about it the concept of men kidnapping (and subsequently raping) women and it ends happily ever after for all would be politically incorrect. It's interesting to compare this film with the European one starring Roger Moore. Lex Johnson's acting career went nowhere even if he looked like he belong in PEPLUM films. As for Tere, she looked like a soap star. A real curio.

Retro Friday : Cinematic Confusion

(originally posted on June 3, 2011)

One of the most deceptive posters ever conceived by AIP (American International Pictures). By looking at this poster would you know that:

1 - there's Zorro in it?

2 - the story doesn't take place in Ancient Roman/Greek period?

3 - the hero even closely resembles Alan Steel?

4 - the movie doesn't have an evil Queen with a whip?

5 - there's no actual slave queen in it

The poster is so unlike the film that it's incredibly brilliant.

Alan Steel and Pierre Brice in SAMSON & THE SLAVE QUEEN aka ZORRO AGAINST MACISTE

By the Gods!

Theseus (Bob Mathias) faces the minotaur in THE MINOTAUR

Today, the special effects for the minotaur looks sorta corny but for 1960, this was pretty good. But the design itself looks more like a horned gorilla than man-bull. I like this film. It's pretty solid : good cast, good production, good score, etc. A faithful version of the story of Theseus versus the minotaur has yet to be done though.

By the Gods!

Bad guy Warkalla (Serge Gainsbourg) is about to get his comeuppance from Samson (Brad Harris) in SAMSON

It aways seems odd to me that Serge Gainsbourg, the ne plus ultra hip of French singers began his career in the PEPLUM genre. It's one of the many cool aspects of the genre few people know about. Harris makes a very good hero.

Behind-the-Scenes

Jeff Chandler and Rita Gam goof around while filming SIGN OF THE PAGAN. They were probably just practicing the scene when Chandler tosses Gam in a pool.

By the Gods!

Semiramis (Yvonne Furneaux) is prepared to be the Queen of Babylon in SLAVE QUEEN OF BABYLON

A favourite of mine. I just got hold of a cool copy of this with nearly full English track and it's wonderful. I don't know if this is a Fan Dub but since I already made a Fan Dub of it myself but with a truncated English version which left big gaps of the film with Italian dialogue, I wonder where or who got hold of the full English track? It's a mystery. Anyway, I'll scrap my old Fan Dub and watch this one with joy. That's Umberto Silvestri on the left.

Addendum : I just scanned the film and I've noticed it was missing some bits which my Fan Dub has so I guess I have to do a so-called Fan Fix on this one.

Then & Now : Brett Halsey

Brett in THE MAGNIFICENT ADVENTURER (Burning of Rome) ; a recent photo of Brett

By the Gods!

Robin Hood (Richard Greene) tries to woo Maid Marian (Sarah Branch) in SWORD OF SHERWOOD FOREST

I always liked Greene as Robin Hood in the TV series and he did several action packed Swashbucklers prior to this, and always looked like a hero, but in this film Greene looks a bit tired and old. He was 42 years old when he filmed this, which is not that old but when the leading lady has more sturdy shoulders than the leading man, something is not quite right. Ha! It's good looking production and many from this cast went on to appear in JASON & THE ARGONAUTS. As for Sarah, she only made a handful of films and a few appearances in TV shows.

Movie Poster Mondays

Italian poster for REVENGE OF THE BARBARIANS

One of my favourite films. Daniela Rocca (wth one L) is great in this. Poster sorta captures the film's spirit even if it's not as action-packed as the artist's representation.

By the Gods!

The tempestuous relationship between Lex Barker and Chelo Alonso in THE PIRATE & THE SLAVE GIRL

Yesterday, I uploaded two clips from this film at my PEPLUM TV Youtube channel. As I was creating these videos I quickly noticed the sequences / editing of the English version differed from the German version. In some parts, the audio didn't match with the image of the German copy. This is one of the films that desperately needs a Fan Dub. The audio of the English version is good but the image is terrible, but since the English version might not match with the picture of the German copy, it might be difficult to create a Fan Dub. I'll do more tests. I like this film. Both Lex and Chelo play anti-heroes of sorts and it's refreshing to see 'bad' guys being the leads. Ironically, the good guy in this film is Massimo Serato, who always plays bad guys in PEPLUM films. This alone makes it worth watching.

Retro Friday : AKA Iloosh Khoshabe

(originally posted on July 11, 2011)

Iloosh Khoshabe has more aliases than any other PEPLUM star. 

He's credited as:

Rod Flash

Rod Flash Ilush

Ilush

Ilush Khoshabe

Richard Lloyd

As Rod Flash Ilush :

As Rod Flash :

As Richard Lloyd :

By the Gods!

Scilla Gabel meets the KNIGHTS OF TERROR

Interesting concept : disfigured knights roaming the land. The idea of someone terrorizing the countryside is nothing new. Steve Reeves did this in GOLIATH & THE BARBARIANS. There are countless of other PEPLUM films with this story angle. I have two copies of this film, one in German (screenshot above taken from it) and one in French. If I get an English copy, I'll do a Fan Dub of this even though I'm not too crazy about quality of the German copy. 

By the Gods!

Holophernes (Massimo Girotti) falls for Judith (Isabelle Corey) in HEAD OF A TYRANT

In other countries, the title was JUDITH & HOLOPHERNES. I like this film. It's basically a morbid love story. You can't go wrong with Massimo who was a veteran of the PEPLUM genre and could act out anyone around him. Isabelle also appeared in a couple of big PEPLUM titles and then disappeared from the face of the earth. She stood her ground against Massimo and the two are credible in their difficult roles. A Fan Dub of this is in order.

Behind-the-Scenes

Behind-the-scenes photo of Arnold Schwarzenegger as Conan during the Hall of Mirrors scene

By the Gods!

Kerwin Mathews is JACK THE GIANT KILLER

Kerwin was a PEPLUM star. He appeared in THE 7TH VOYAGE OF SINBAD, SAPPHO - THE VENUS OF LESBOS, THE 3 WORLDS OF GULLIVER and this film. It's a fun film but it's no 7TH VOYAGE OF SINBAD. Kerwin will always be remembered for that film, and in my case, SAPPHO, which is one of my faves.

BEN-HUR remake flops hard

The new remake of BEN-HUR is officially the biggest box office flop of 2016. Is anyone surprised by this? It's current worldwide b.o. tally : $53 million. The budget of the film was well over $100 million. The film was badly conceived from the get go. It tried to do a FAST & FURIOUS style film with this classic story. Oy! That's just one of the many ill-conceived aspects of this modern remake. Don't expect a major PEPLUM film from Hollywood in the near future. The genre is dead. 

By the Gods!

Edy Vessel offers a drink laced with a special potion to Steve Reeves in THIEF OF BAGHDAD (1961)

This screenshot is actually taken from the documentary KOLOSSAL - I MAGNIFICO MACISTI. It's a doc that tries to cover the PEPLUM genre with behind-the-scenes footage and a confusing collection of clips. It's not really good. It was released in 1977. A better documentary of the PEPLUM genre would be cool to see (or to do by moi). This one is not it.

Movie Poster Mondays

US poster for THE SIN OF ADAM & EVE

One of the few PEPLUM films from Mexico.