By the Gods!

Steve Reeves, as Aeneas, with Benito Stefanelli directly behind him, in WAR OF THE TROJANS (1962)

The image above is fuzzy because it's a screenshot taken from a poor French copy I recently found on them interwebs. I took a screenshot of this because it has Benito Stefanelli and Steve in the same frame. For PEPLUM fans, Benito was in THE TROJAN HORSE (1961). He was one of Aeneas' nemesis and they have a cool confrontation (clip below). In this sequel, Benito plays another character and he's a good guy.

After I took the above screenshot, I left it on my computer desktop, to be posted later. When I decided to post it today, I tried to search for a clearer shot of this in the 5 different copies I have and I couldn't find it. And then I realized that this scene is cut from the US, British, Italian and Spanish versions. It's only available in the fuzzy French version I just found! Eureka! Sometimes I feel like I'm an archeologist.

By the Gods!

Gustavo Rojo and Silvana Pampanini in THE ISLAND PRINCESS (1954)

Gustavo died recently and I didn't include this film with his profile. This is the story of Spain conquering the Canary islands. Interesting history we seldom see this side of the Atlantic. Gustavo made this film after ALEXANDER THE GREAT (1953). It also stars Marcello Mastroianni in a rare PEPLUM role. The big battle at the end was directed by PEPLUM maestro Pietro Francisci. Colourful film even if it's not historically accurate. The bulk of Silvana's roles took place in 1950s. She did some films in the 1960s but sporadically and then retired from the screen. 

Behind-the-Scenes

Producer Dino De Laurentiis, the recently deceased Michael Parks and director John Huston take a publicity photo for THE BIBLE : IN THE BEGINNING...(1966)

By the Gods!

Pharaoh Khufu (Jack Hawkins) celebrates the dead with 'thousands' of his people in LAND OF THE PHARAOHS (1955)

One of the best scenes in this film. In fact, it's one of the best scenes in any PEPLUM film made by Hollywood. It looks and sounds great even 60+ years later. The film's starkness seen at the start eventually gives way to more typical Hollywood drama (mainly provided with the introduction of Joan Collins). Had the film maintained the same approach throughout the film, it would have been a masterpiece. The film wasn't a success and Howard Hawks eventually disowned it, leaving it out from future retrospectives of his career, which, imo, was ridiculous. This was the director's first and last 'epic' film and it does stand out from his other films, which is most likely the real reason why he dismissed it.

IMPERIUM (2012) TV series

A Spanish 6 part TV miniseries made in 2012. It looks good. It's a bit odd to watch a story set in Italy en Español. From the same team that made HISPANIA - LA LEYENDA series. Not to be confused with another short lived TV miniseries called EMPIRE (2005). The entire series is available on Youtube. I don't think it was dubbed in English.

IMPERIUM @ IMDb

By the Gods!

The beautiful Alessandra Panaro and the handsome Sean Flynn in SON OF CAPTAIN BLOOD (1962)

Panaro and Flynn make a good looking screen couple. Flynn, of course, is the son of Errol Flynn. Sean had a short film career mainly in the PEPLUM / Swashbuckling genre before dying of tragic events. Panaro was a regular star in the genre and has appeared in 3 of my favourite films : ULYSSES VS HERCULES, THE BACCHANTES and HERCULES AGAINST MOLOCH. Love her! She quit full time acting in 1966. She still looks good today. 

The film itself is okay. Production is good but the story lacked focus and the natural disaster during the climax is a quick way of ending a film. It's still fun to watch but don't expect a masterpiece. 

Movie Poster Mondays

US poster for THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME (1956)

Typical low quality poster from Allied Artists. The film is a gorgeous one and this poster certainly doesn't do it justice.

By the Gods!

Maciste (Kirk Morris) meets Fania (Hélène Chanel) in MACISTE IN HELL (1962)

This great film was one of 4 films Kirk and Hélène made together. This is, obviously, their best. Directed by Riccardo Freda. Many people saw a butchered version of this as THE WITCH'S CURSE. Don't watch that version. Watch the complete version, in widescreen, to see how good it is. Kirk is one of the best Maciste. He's perfectly cast in this production. Helene strikes the right note of sinister and sadness. She made several PEPLUM films but never really got the acclaim she deserved. 

Trivia : when Maciste views past events in the pool of fire, they used different clips from different Maciste films. One of them is from SAMSON & THE SEVEN MIRACLES OF THE WORLD, which Hélène also starred. That film was also directed by Freda. 

Retro Friday : The Money in Muscles

(originally posted October 2012)

Click on the article to read them. Good stuff. It's basically what I've been saying since day 1.

By the Gods!

Hercules (Ahnuld Schwarzenegger) pleads to his father, Zeus (Ernest Graves) to go back down to earth in HERCULES IN NEW YORK (1970)

I wonder where this scene was shot. Obviously it was in NY city but where exactly. A 'Then & Now' would be fun to do. I mean, those bricks didn't exist back in Ancient Greek. That's Tanny McDonald as Juno in the top left and Erica Fitz, as Venus, in the foreground. Ernest Graves is actually not bad as Zeus. Ahnuld's acting though is well...it was his first film!

By the Gods!

Michael Parks as Adam in THE BIBLE : THE BEGINNING... (1966)

Michael died on May 10 at the age of 77. His first and biggest role of the PEPLUM genre was playing the one and only Adam, you know the first man created by God. This wasn't the first cinematic representation of Adam and Eve but it's one of the best. When Adam comes to life, from the dust of the earth, the scene is quite good. Ella Bergryd played Eve (below). This was difficult role in more ways than one and IMO it's the best part of this huge film directed by John Huston. RIP.

Behind-the-Scenes

Steve Reeves and Sylva Koscina have fun during a break from filming HERCULES (1958)

By the Gods!

 The spectacular setting of the chariot race in BEN-HUR (1959)

This shot is a combination set and matte painting. Everything in the middle, including the people in the foreground, are real. The rest is an elaborate matte painting. The big statues in the centre were real. Some of them still exist and can be found somewhere at Cinecittà. The entire scene, from pre-production to the time before they shot it took over a year to prepare. They had to find and train the the horses, the riders, etc. They had to excavate a quarry for the race track. And this is before they actually started filming. The filming of the scene itself took several weeks spread over several months. They were able to find thousands of extras because the economy in Italy was so bad and many people were willing to work for some extra cash. It's one of the most elaborate and complex scenes ever filmed.

Trailers for BAAHUBALI films

Something amazing happened at box office during the past two weeks : a South Indian film made it in the top ten! It's the sequel to BAAHUBALI : THE BEGINNING, called, well, BAAHUBALI 2 : THE CONCLUSION. The first film was released 2 years ago and the trailer (above) is quite amazing and it contains almost every type of cliche found in PEPLUM films. I love it! Now the sequel (the conclusion to the story) is a hit in North America. It even outperformed Tom Hanks' latest film, with a fraction of cinemas.

Indian films and the world of PEPLUM cinema have a long history. Back in the 1960s, when the genre was hot, even India made films inspired by the myth of Hercules or Samson, starring the legendary wrestler Dara Singh.

Note : don't call these 'Bollywood' films.

A scene from BAAHUBALI : THE BEGINNING (2015)

By the Gods!

 Christopher Lee torments Daliah Lavi in THE WHIP & THE FLESH (1963)

Daliah died May 3 at the age of 76. She made few PEPLUM genre films, with this Mario Bava directed gem being her most famous one, and also CYRANO & D'ARTAGNAN (1964). The beautiful star made tons of spy spoofs and even appeared in a James Bond film, CASINO ROYALE (1967). RIP.

Movie Poster Mondays

Italian poster of CORIOLANUS : HERO WITHOUT A COUNTRY (1964)

Heroic artwork. Good poster for a good film.

By the Gods!

Harry Hamlin, as Perseus, and Tim Pigott-Smith are on a quest in CLASH OF THE TITANS (1981)

Tim Pigott-Smith died last month at the age of 70. His other PEPLUM films include ALEXANDER (2004), a TV production of ANTONY & CLEOPATRA (1974), among other productions. To me, he'll always be remembered as Thallo in CLASH OF THE TITANS.

By the Gods!

Themistokles (Sullivan Stapleton) and Queen Gorgo (Lena Headey) discuss strategies amidst a pastoral setting of Sparta in 300 : RISE OF AN EMPIRE (2014)

The entire film was shot in 'green screen,' meaning everything (sets, exteriors, even sometimes costumes) were added later via CGI. I'm not a fan of this at all. It feels like the actors are never physically present anywhere. They're just standing there, in emptiness, with the camera basically remaining static and motion provided by the added computer generated imagery all around them, usually in slow motion. Some of the imagery is beautiful but most of it looks like a computer game. The Spartan landscape in the image above is hopelessly fake looking. Things aren't helped much with cringe dialogue. Stapleton lacks the gravitas Butler had in 300 (2006). Headey reprises her role as Queen Gorgo. Women are shown as equality strong as the much taller and muscular men, which always makes me laugh. But the film does continue with the old tradition started back in the Golden Era of the PEPLUM genre : the accent is on muscular heroes. BTW, the film is 90 minutes long but the end credit is 10 minutes in length!!!

Behind-the-Scenes

Chelo Alonso visits Steve Reeves on the set of HERCULES UNCHAINED (1959). Both Steve and Chelo starred together in GOLIATH & THE BARBARIANS (1959)

By the Gods!

A rare glimpse of the Colossus in COLOSSUS OF RHODES (1961)

The famous statue used in this film never actually existed. They never fully erected a complete statue even if in this scene it looks like they did. They built parts of it and filmed it from different angles. This is the only shot in the film when you see what looks like a full scale statue. In this scene, Rory Calhoun walks in the foreground, passing by the statue in the background. It's a clever special effect trick. From what I know, only the legs were actually there. The top of Rory's head passes by just below the upper part. This tells me that the top part was a matte painting or a forced perspective model.

RIP : Gustavo Rojo

Uruguayan-born actor Gustavo Rojo died on April 22. He was 93 years old. Though his acting resume is long and extensive, beginning in he 1930s and lasting up to last year, Rojo made just a handful of PEPLUM films, including a supporting role in ALEXANDER THE GREAT (1953). The charismatic handsome actor was a natural in the genre. He should have made more PEPLUM films.


ALEXANDER THE GREAT (1953)

Gustavo co-starred with Richard Burton in a small but pivotal role.

JULIUS CAESAR AGAINST THE PIRATES (1962)

Gustavo made an impressive Caesar in this Sergio Grieco directed epic. He co-starred with Gordon Mitchell (above) and Massimo Carocci (below).

IL CAPITANO DI FERRO (1962)

Gustavo and Barbara Steele. I have yet to see this rare film.

GENGHIS KHAN (1965)

Gustavo had a small role in GENGHIS KHAN

A 'Then & Now' I posted 3 years ago

By the Gods!

Lang Jeffries is captured in REVOLT OF THE SLAVES (1960)

I finally got a beautiful copy of this film in widescreen, as it was meant to be seen. This film is one of the best looking films of the PEPLUM genre. Top quality. Canadian Lang Jeffries was good but his acting style was stiff, even by genre standards. This film is often dismissed as a poor man's version of QUO VADIS but it's not. It's more like an updated version of FABIOLA (1949). That's Van Aikens in the foreground.

Movie Poster Mondays

Italian poster for THE TEN GLADIATORS (1963)

Different style of artwork than the usual stuff. I like this one, even if the quality of the photo itself is not good. The poster features two supporting characters, played by Mimmo Palmara and José Greci.

By the Gods!

Daniela Rocca threatens to kill Ed Fury, to Dorian Gray's dismay, in COLOSSUS & THE AMAZON QUEEN (1960)

A PEPLUM comedy of the sexes, or a PEPLUM sex comedy. Men vs Women. The first time I saw this I didn't like it but today I really like it. There were a couple of reasons why my original opinion was skewed : the copy was horrendous. It simply didn't do the film justice. In its widescreen version, it's beautifully shot. Also, one has to be a fan of the PEPLUM genre to get it. At first, when I started my crash course in the genre, I knew very little of it. Now today, this film tickles my 'vast' knowledge. Great cast, great production, sexy. What more can you ask for?

Retro Fridays : Mount Olympus at the Movies

(originally posted January 2012)

Above and below: from VULCAN ~ SON OF JUPITER (1962)

Above and below: From JASON & THE ARGONAUTS (1963)

From HERCULES IN NEW YORK (1970)

The original CLASH OF THE TITANS (1981)

HERCULES (1983)

From THE ADVENTURES OF HERCULES (1985)

Above & below : from Disney's HERCULES (1997)

From the CLASH OF THE TITANS (2010)

Above and below : From PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS: THE LIGHTNING THIEF (2010)

Above & below : from IMMORTALS (2011)