Vintage Article

A small profile on Steve Reeves, and his female co-stars, including Christine Kaufmann and Mylène Demongeot.

Musings!

Rossana Podesta as Helen of Troy in HELEN OF TROY (1956) 

This screenshot is from the new Blu-ray release. I know I wrote last week that I was waiting to see to buy this and LAND OF THE PHARAOHS but I finally got this one. I compared some of the few screenshots I found online to the DVD I have and saw the differences so I decided to get it. The Blu-ray is a definite improvement of the dreary DVD, which is colourless, cropped and the wrong aspect ratio. The Blu-ray is much more colourful and vibrant. There are still some odd discrepancies, like the soft focus, blurriness, shifting colours, annoying halation, or distortions here and there but I think it's more the way the movie was filmed than anything else. Robert Wise is one of my favourite directors so it's nice how to view the film as it sorta was intended. I'll get LAND OF THE PHARAOHS most likely in the fall. I'll have a review of this in a future soon-to-be published BY THE GODS! magazine and a comparison here on the blog.

PEPLUM Movie Poster

German poster of THE LAST DAYS OF POMPEII (1959) 

This is the poster of the movie when it was re-issued in 1966, with Sergio Leone is big letters. The image of Steve Reeves was 'inspired' by HERCULES (1958). Identical to the spectacular Italian poster minus Anne Marie Baumann.

Image of the week!

Concepción (Chelo Alonso) only has eyes for Captain Morgan (Steve Reeves) even if Morgan has eyes for someone else in MORGAN, THE PIRATE (1960)

MUSCLES Inc.

Lou Ferrigno as Hercules on the cover of MUSCLE & FITNESS, promoting the then upcoming HERCULES (1983) movie.

Musings!

Linda Cristal as Cleopatra in LEGIONS OF THE NILE (1959) 

When you think of actresses who portrayed Cleopatra on the big screen, Elizabeth Taylor or Claudette Colbert come to mind but Cleopatra was also played by other actresses, like Lina or Rhonda Fleming in SERPENT OF THE NILE or Pascale Petit in A QUEEN FOR CAESAR. I like Linda's performance here but the script and sometimes the choice of costumes are a bit erratic (like the movie itself) which undermines her acting. The crown she has in this screenshot is the same crown she wears in THE PHARAOHS' WOMAN, which is also set in Egypt. Linda made a handful of PEPLUM movies but she's more famous for other genres, including Westerns. She died 3 years ago, pretty much in seclusion. The movie itself was released on DVD a couple of times, which are OOP. But no HD version yet. 

Behind-the-Scenes

Laurence Olivier, as Zeus, is given some tea by a crew member on the set of CLASH OF THE TITANS (1981)

Clip of the week: LAND OF THE PHARAOHS (1955)

Enters Princess Nellifer (Joan Collins), causing mischief. With Jack Hawkins as Pharaoh Khufu.

HD Alert!

A scene from LAND OF THE PHARAOHS (1955)

I still haven't bought the LAND OF THE PHARAOHS or HELEN OF TROY Blu-rays. I've been waiting for online reviews to shed some light on these Warner Archive releases which, from personal experiences, have been hit or miss, mostly miss. The DVD releases of THE SON OF SPARTACUS and HERCULES, SAMSON AND ULYSSES made me weary of any future releases from Warner Archive. Unfortunately, there are few reviews. Of those few, it seems LAND OF THE PHARAOHS has the best transfer (the screenshot above is from that release). People appear to be disappointed by the transfer for HELEN OF TROY. I've seen many screenshots of PHARAOHS and though many of them are beautiful, many of them, mostly the darker scenes, are not that impressive. There are few screenshots of HELEN OF TROY and none worth posting. I'll wait a bit again, maybe a new review will finally pop-up but for now there not vital to my collection. 

Then & Now: Kevin Sorbo

Kevin in KULL THE CONQUEROR (1997); a recent photo of the actor

Musings!

Tom Burlinson and Jennifer Jason Leigh in FLESH + BLOOD (1985) 

Has anyone seen this? It was barely released at movie theatres back in the day. Directed by Paul Verhoeven, aka SHOWGIRLS (1995), this movie revels in the gruesomeness of the sordid storyline. Here the two are sitting down where people have been hung. They eventually make love beneath the rotting corpses. And that's just one of the many 'shocking' aspects of this bleak movie. I already reviewed the movie here at the blog so I won't go into details. For those who have seen it, what do you think about it?

PEPLUM Movie Poster

Original Italian poster of THE GIANTS OF THESSALY (1960)

Great poster. I wish the image was better though.

Image of the week!

Jason (Roland Carey) climbs a giant statue to retrieve the Golden Fleece at the top in THE GIANTS OF THESSALY (1960)

Lobby Cards Set: EL CID (1961)

US lobby cards set of EL CID (1961) starring Charlton Heston and Sophia Loren. Great set but the emphasis is on big crowds. I like it but a bi repetitive. Only one card with Sophia.

Musings!

Henri Vidal and Michèle Morgan in FABIOLA (1949) 

This image sorta sums up the entire epic movie. It's quite big and long. For its theatrical release in the USA, the 164 minutes epic was whittled down to 97 minutes. Quite a feet. Presumably, the original cut doesn't have an English dub unless there's an International English Dub version that was never used. The movie was one that re-ignited the PEPLUM genre, along with SAMSON AND DELILAH (1949). The movie itself and the influence it had of the genre are often overlooked. It's not a 'fun' movie even though there are several spectacular scenes in it. The movie is in the public domain in North America but I can't upload it to Youtube.

Behind-the-Scenes

Gordon Scott and Diana Hyland have fun on the set of HERCULES AND THE PRINCESS OF TROY (1965)

Clip of the week: HERCULES AGAINST THE BARBARIANS (1964)

Hercules (Mark Forest) falls into a snake pit. With Howard Ross. From a Fan Dub I made.

 

SPFX DEPT.

Scenes from THE INVINCIBLE GLADIATOR (1961)

Just to note, there are no good quality prints of this movie anywhere so the images are murky at best. Any, the movie has multiple matte paintings in it. They were made by Emilio Ruiz del Río, a now familiar name since he worked on many movies which I've already posted about. Above is a view of the city and a big crowd. The matte painting below is very subtle: it's that building and trees on the far left. And the third one, with the least clear image, is a matte painting of a building. In two copies I have, this image is totally dark. Hopefully this movie will be available in a clear HD print.

Blog Notes

I usually posts THEN & NOW or Vintage Articles on Tuesdays but for today, I'll make an exception.


First, blog views!

I don't know what's going on right now but the views of the blog have skyrocketed to levels never seen in the 13 years of its existence. The views reached between 9000 to 10,000 for 3 days! Prior to that, it had reached 8000 views a day. Nearly 50,000 views in one week!

I'm trying to find the source of this increase and I know one source though that doesn't explain all of it.

Anyway, for the thousands new visitors to the blog, welcome! I've been doing this since 2010 and I love it. And I really appreciate the views. I wish the engagement was better but we can't have everything.

I don't know if this is going to last but I'm enjoying it for the time being.


Second note: BY THE GODS! Magazine

I completed the first edition of BY THE GODS! magazine, after years of delays. It was completed last week and used an online service which prints magazines and publications on demand. It says it can take up to three weeks to get it delivered. Well, that's slow. Anyway, I should receive it before the end of August and after inspecting it and hopefully there won't be any corrections, it should be available for sale afterwards! I could show you the cover and all but I want to show the printed copy first for the reveal which should be at BY THE GODS! website. 

Musings!

Tony Russel and Paola Pitti in THE SPARTAN GLADIATORS (1964) 

This movie is very entertaining even if the story is somewhat convoluted. Tony Russel is good in all of his films even though I often wonder why he made PEPLUM movies. He's hardly the Steve Reeves type. While doing some research I discovered that after the success of HERCULES (1958), Steve Reeves was linked to a dozen or more projects, many of which he never starred in. The roles went to other actors. Was this movie also one of those? Scripts were written fast after HERCULES became a hit and Reeves couldn't appear in all of the projects which were green lighted with the prospect of Reeves in the lead. This gave opportunities to other actors who could appear in it instead. This is why so many PEPLUM movies have a Reeves feel to them even though someone else had the lead role. This movie and THE SECRET SEVEN, a Twin Production with THE SPARTAN GLADIATORS, most likely were started this way. I could see Reeves in this. Regardless, it's fun and colourful film.

PEPLUM Movie Poster

Original Italian poster of ATOR - THE FIGHTING EAGLE (or ATOR 1; 1982)

Very colourful and dynamic comic book style poster. I like it.

Image of the week!

 A revived Talos goes after the Argonauts in JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS (1963)

VHS Covers

VHS covers of ATOR 2 aka THE BLADE MASTER (1983) starring Miles O'Keefe. A good selection of covers but major Cinematic Confusion as both ATOR 1 and ATOR 2 share the same title in different countries, for its cinematic or video releases, mainly ATOR THE INVINCIBLE. To differentiate, ATOR 1 stars Laura Gemser but not ATOR 2. And the US title is also the title for another movie.

US edition was titled as THE BLADE MASTER. Not to be confused with the Pietro Torrisi movie released at the same time.

 

UK release.

 

Australian release.

 

German release.

 

VHS cover from Finland.

 

Korean release with a cover by Boris.

Musings!

Attila (Anthony Quinn) has a discussion with Honoria (Sophia Loren) in ATTILA (1954)

Directed by Pietro Francisci, this colourful retelling of the story of Attila has everything: great cast, excellent production, good pace, etc. The only liability is the length of the movie. At 80 minutes, it's one of the shortest 'major' PEPLUM movies ever made. The movie was too brief to cover so much so we basically see just a fraction of the bloody history of Attila. The script/story needed to be fleshed out a bit more to be truly epic. Had it been more detailed the movie would have been one of the best. It is very entertaining, like all Francisci movies. Loren hated the experience though. Something to do with Quinn eating a greasy pork sandwich and a kiss. The movie was released in the US in 1958, when both actors, certainly Sophia, became superstars. Anyway, the elaborate necklace Sophia has in the photo above was reused in future PEPLUM productions. 

Behind-the-Scenes

Director Pietro Francisci tries to out-muscle Steve Reeves on the set of HERCULES (1958)