PEPLUM Banners

Here's an overview of the previous banners for the blog since I started it back in 2010. Which one is your favourite?

Official blog page

Steve Reeves - HERCULES (1958)

Hedy Lamarr - SAMSON & DELILAH (1949)

Alan Steel - SAMSON & THE SLAVE QUEEN

Reg Park - HERCULES IN HAUNTED WORLD

COLOSSUS OF RHODES

Kirk Morris - TERROR OF THE STEPPES

Mark Forest - LION OF THEBES

Steve Reeves - MORGAN THE PIRATE

Mark Forest - HERCULES AGAINST THE BARBARIANS

APHRODITE - GODDESS OF LOVE

Steve Reeves - SON OF SPARTACUS

Moira Orfei - HERO OF BABYLON

Pietro Torrisi (far left) - THE TRIUMPH OF HERCULES

Kabir Bedi - THE BLACK CORSAIR

THEODORA - SLAVE EMPRESS

Mikey Hargitay & Jayne Mansfield - THE LOVES OF HERCULES

Sylva Koscina - THE LAST ROMAN

MACISTE VS THE MOLE MEN

Gordon Scott - GLADIATOR OF ROME

THE GIANTS OF THESSALY

 HERCULES IN HAUNTED WORLD

Gianna Maria Canale - HERCULES (1958)

Alan Steele - HERCULES VS THE BLACK PIRATES

Dan Vadis - SPARTACUS & THE TEN GLADIATORS

Annie Gorassini, Iloosh Khoshabe and Bella Cortez - VULCAN - SON OF JUPITER

Fulvio Carrara, Steve Reeves, Willi Colombini - HERCULES (1958)

QUO VADIS

Fredric March & Claudette Colbert - SIGN OF THE CROSS

THE EGYPTIAN

Alan Steel - HERCULES AGAINST THE MOON MEN

Sylva Koscina and Steve Reeves - HERCULES (1958)

Tina Louise - SIEGE OF SYRACUSE

Reg Park and Mimmo Palmara - HERCULES & THE CAPTIVE WOMEN

JASON & THE ARGONAUTS

Dan Vadis - HERCULES THE INVINCIBLE (aka Hercules in the Land of Darkness)

Massimo Girotti and Isabelle Corey - HEAD OF A TYRANT

Genevieve Grade and Gordon Mitchell - CONQUEROR OF CORINTH

Nancy Kovack - JASON & THE ARGONAUTS

The cast of SEVEN REBEL SLAVES

Steve Reeves - HERCULES (1958)

Richard Harrison & cast - REVOLT OF THE PRAETORIANS

Gian Paolo Rosmino and Gina Rovere - HERCULES (1958)

PEPLUM TV Youtube Banner

Google+ banner : Steve Reeves and Sylvia Lopez - HERCULES UNCHAINED

Twitter banner : Dan Vadis - HERCULES THE INVINCIBLE (aka Hercules in the Land of Darkness)

By the Gods!

Gordon Scott in HERCULES AGAINST MOLOCH (1963)

This film is one of those PEPLUM 'Frankenfilms' : big chunks of it were taken from two movies and re-edited with new scenes. Fortunately, the scenes re-used from both films, THE BACCHANTES and THE TROJAN HORSE, both released in 1961, were also directed by the director of HERCULES AGAINST MOLOCH, Giorgio Ferroni. Ferroni is one of the best directors of the genre and I love all his films, including this Frankenfilm. Aside from Gordon Scott, who's in top form here, this movie is one of those rare films which hits all the right PEPLUM notes. It's a virtual PEPLUM buffet. I finally got a nice widescreen copy (thanks Alan) and this screenshot is from this copy (I already had one in English and widescreen but it was from a fuzzy VHS source). Will I make a FanDub with this? We'll see. 

By the Gods!

Cleopatra (Vivien Leigh) and Rufio (Basil Sydney) await the departure of Caesar (Claude Rains) in CAESAR & CLEOPATRA (1945)

As noted in the post below, Roger Moore is supposed to be in this film. There are some scenes with Roman soldiers and I scanned them. Is that Roger behind Vivien? It's like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Roger might have worked on the film as an extra but it doesn't mean he appears on screen.

As I've said many times before here at the blog, I like this film. In fact, this was the film that made me love the genre before learning all about Italian PEPLUM films. I know it's not perfect by any means but I still enjoy it, mainly for its opulent production values.

RIP : Roger Moore

Roger Moore died on Monday, May 23. He was 89. Though he'll be remembered for playing James Bond in 7 films and also having the lead role in the THE SAINT TV series, Roger wasn't a stranger to the PEPLUM genre. In fact, his very first role was appearing as an extra playing a Roman soldier in CAESAR & CLEOPATRA (1945). It's amazing that he was still Bond in the 1980s 40 years after his first film.

DIANE (1955)

A fresh-faced Roger is entangled in a love affair with Lana Turner. Good film!

THE KING'S THIEF (1955)

Roger co-starred with PEPLUM star Edmund Purdom (left)

ROMULUS & THE SABINES (1961)

Roger was Romulus in this comedy set during the first days of Rome. Scilla Gabel was one of his love interests (above). Roger looked the part but the PEPLUM genre wasn't his calling.

By the Gods!

Brad Harris and Mara Lane in THE OLD TESTAMENT (1962)

Director Gianfranco Parolini directed this somewhat overlooked film. Parolini often worked with Brad Harris. This includes the KOMMISSAR X Eurospy series they made together. Aside from FURY OF HERCULES, which his least 'stunning' looking film, almost all of his PEPLUM productions are beautifully shot, such as this one and his masterpiece, 79 AD : THE DESTRUCTION OF HERCULANEUM. His films looked like tableaux. Parolini is still alive today.

Different titles : WAR GODS OF BABYLON

Here's a quick overview of the titles for WAR GODS OF BABYLON (1962). The interesting about this title is how it the English title differs from the Italian and French. WAR GODS seems to be selling someone big and war-like when it fact it's just a threesome of two brothers of a royal family fighting over a woman. It's seems 'thunderbolt' wasn't a strong enough selling point for US distributors.

Original Italian title ;  THE SEVEN THUNDERBOLTS OF ASSUR

English title

French title ; THUNDERBOLTS ON BABYLON

By the Gods!

Kirk Morris and Rosalba Neri in DESERT RAIDERS (1964)

A sometimes hard to find film in its original format. I have it and created a 'FanSub.' It's not as fun as Kirk's other desert adventure, MACISTE IN THE VALLEY OF THE THUNDERING ECHOES (aka Hercules of the Desert) but it's good. Coming soon to PEPLUM TV.

Movie Poster Mondays

German poster of THE OLD TESTAMENT (1962)

Eye popping poster with a good rendition of Brad Harris. This is another good looking overlooked PEPLUM from director Gianfranco Parolini.