Behind-the-Scenes

Steve Reeves riding the winged horse on the blue-screen set of THE THIEF OF BAGHDAD (1961)

Clip of the week: SAMSON AND THE SEA BEAST (1963)

Samson (Kirk Morris) is put to the test in this incredible Feat of Strength. With Daniele Vargas.

SPFX DEPT.

The Three Stooges (Joe DeRita, Moe Howard, Larry Fine) and Schuyler 'Hercules' Davis (Quinn K. Redeker) are unaware of the Siamese Cyclops (Marlin and Mike McKeever) in THE THREE STOOGES MEET HERCULES (1962)

The effects here is makeup for the Siamese Cyclops and the impression of height was created with rear projection (including the bottom screenshot). Fun stuff.
 

 

Curly Joe (Joe DeRita) is about to trigger a sneezing fit on the Siamese Cyclops (Marlin and Mike McKeever). Special effects via rear projection.

Vintage Article

Yet another old article on the career of Steve Reeves, as a bodybuilder and his movies, including ATHENA (1954; bottom left), HERCULES (1958) and HERCULES UNCHAINED (1959).

 

Musings!

Eddie Cantor in ROMAN SCANDALS (1933) 

This notorious pre-code musical comedy is available to be viewed in HD on Amazon Prime in the US but for now it hasn't been released on Blu-ray. It had a DVD release from Warner Archive. Maybe a BD from another distributor? I like parts of it. It's one of those comedies which starts in modern times and the character played by Cantor ends in in Ancient Rome via dreaming. The production is excellent (sets, costumes, music, cast, etc) but the story, imo, is lacking. One of the few PEPLUM movies of the 1930s. 

PEPLUM Movie Poster

British poster of THE AVENGER (1962)

I like WAR OF THE TROJANS as a title. I prefer it to the bland THE AVENGER. Nice poster. Steve Reeves and Liana Orfei on the poster.

PEPLUM Break!

I love doing this blog but it takes a lot of my time. I take a break roughly every two months so this is that time again.

So stay tuned!

I'll leave you now with King Leonidas (Richard Egan) from THE 300 SPARTANS (1962), saying "From this wall, we do not retreat!"

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The BY THE GODS! magazine should be finalized after the break (during which I'll be working!). More on it soon!

Image of the week!

Sandokan (Steve Reeves) and Mary Ann (Geneviève Grad) try to survive the perils of the jungle in SANDOKAN THE GREAT (1963)

VHS Covers

VHS covers of SAMSON (1961) starring Brad Harris, Alan Steel and others. A good selection. The Spanish one is funny. I tried to find the SOMETHING WEIRD one but couldn't find it. 

 

Cover for the US market. Fairly standard cover of Brad Harris in action.

 

Spanish cover with Gordon Scott. Another Cinematic Confusion. 

 

German VHS cover. The German release of SAMSON was retitled HERCULES and FURY OF HERCULES starring Brad Harris was retitled SAMSON. Go figure.
 

The artwork on the French VHS cover is the artwork for the French poster when the movie was released. In France, the title SAMSON became SAMSON AGAINST HERCULES.

Musings!

Theodora (Gianna Maria Canale) is helped by handmaidens after a bath in THEODORA - SLAVE EMPRESS (1954)

What's a PEPLUM movie without a bathing scene? This one is quite luxurious with a big crew helping her with her bath. Taking a bath in the past was quite the task for the important people. If there's one star that's passed away and would like to interview it would be Gianna. I'm sure she would have tons of tales to tell. She was dubbed the Queen of Cinecittà. Whether this is fact or not, she was the most prolific actress of the PEPLUM genre. It lasted almost 2 decades but it was quite the career. Like so many other PEPLUM star, she retired early and disappeared from the face of the earth. This movie needs a real HD transfer. I have one in HD but the image is too soft and blurry to be a true HD transfer. It's such an over-the-top production. I love it.

Behind-the-Scenes

An unknown crew member reacts while Steve Reeves and director Pietro Francisci watch while on the set of HERCULES. Steve was insanely cut here.

Clip of the week: GLADIATOR OF ROME (1962)

Gordon Scott on a St Andrew's cross. With Wandisa Guida and others. 

HD Alert!

Scenes from HELEN OF TROY (1956)

I usually make comparisons between copies of a title I have in my collection in a separate post but since I only had the DVD as reference, I decided to do it now with HD Alert. The Blu-ray is much better than the sad DVD transfer. I'm a fan of this movie and the director, Robert Wise, but I always thought the movie looked murky from the DVD. Well, no more. Here's a short list of improvements. I didn't retouch these screenshots.

- The image with the Trojan horse. Above is from the Blu-ray. Below is from the DVD. So much better on the Blu-ray.

- Corrected aspect ratio. If you look at the rectangular shape of the screenshot from the Blu-ray and compare it to the one from the DVD, you'll see that the rectangular is much wider. Warner basically squished the film, in order to fit better on most widescreen TVs but by doing this the image is distorted. 

- The colours are beautiful and pop, compared to the greyish image of the DVD. Flesh tones are beautiful on the Blu-ray.

- The depth of field work in the cinematography is also greater. You really have a better sense of space and depth on the Blu-ray than the DVD. There's no comparison.

- The audio is also better on the Blu-ray release.

 

- Squished image of the DVD (below) makes the actors look taller and thin. The corrected one above is more true to life. The colours are more vivid. And the image above is also not cropped. Compare the tree line in the distance between the two screenshot. So the image on the DVD was not only squished but also cropped. The Blu-ray fixed this. This alone makes it worth buying. With Jacques Sernas.
 

 

The colours and clarity of the image is much greater on the Blu-ray (above) than the old DVD (below). The image was drab on the DVD. With Brigitte Bardot and Rossana Podesta.
 

So, yeah, the Blu-ray is really worth getting!

Then & Now: Urbano Barberini

 Urbano in GOR (1987); a recent photo of the actor.

Musings!

A mad King Herod (Edmund Purdom) during the ending of HEROD THE GREAT (1959)

You know that PEPLUM movies made in Italy are often disregarded simply because they're Italian productions. This movie is a great example. Great cast, excellent performance, solid production (sets, costumes, fx...) and story. If this had been made in the UK or Hollywood, with the same production, the movie would be remembered fondly but today it's almost totally forgotten. It's a sad thing since this one is so good. British bad boy Edmund Purdom gives a solid performance: you can see how evil Herod is and yet one doesn't despise him in a cartoonish way. One witnesses his evil ways. 

PEPLUM Movie Poster

British poster of THEODORA - SLAVE EMPRESS (1954) 

Nice artwork. That looks like Gianna Maria Canale and yet it also doesn't look like her. Her forehead is too large? 

Image of the week!

Messalina (Maria Felix) is seduced by Caius Silvius (Georges Marchal) in THE AFFAIRS OF MESSALINA (1951)

Blog Notes

The cover of BY THE GODS! magazine. I designed and wrote the whole magazine.

BY THE GODS!

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As stated a few days ago, I got HELEN OF TROY Blu-ray. I also got the book HOLLYWOOD AND THE BIBLE by Gary Smith, which I'll be reviewing later. I should get the LAND OF THE PHARAOHS Blu-ray this fall. I will also get ANCIENT ROME ON THE SILVER SCREEN eventually.

 

With the publication of the magazine, there will be reviews of books and Blu-rays and stuff in it. If you have any suggestions, please leave a comment.

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I'm currently reading THE ROBE by Lloyd C. Douglas. I'm enjoying it. The edition is an old one and it's illustrated (below). The cover fell apart but the book itself is in solid condition. 

 

If you have any worthwhile recommendations for reading material of the PEPLUM genre, novels or not, leave a comment.

Musings!

Alan Steel as Hercules in SAMSON AND THE MIGHTY CHALLENGE (1964) 

This is a fun movie with a colourful cast and production. It is a comedy so people making fun of it...uh the movie made fun of itself. Anyway, I love this movie even though it's nowhere near being perfect. There are some boring scenes, certainly to do with the daughter and her boyfriend, which goes on longer than it needed to be. A slightly tighter edit and this action comedy would be a classic. Steel always excelled as Hercules. Steve Reeves is my favourite and Alan Steel is second. The one thing I'm critical is Alan's tunic here strapped from the left shoulder. I think it would better from the right shoulder. Or not strap at all. 😁

Behind-the-Scenes

Nadia Sanders in her Queen Gaia costume on the set of THE GIANTS OF THESSALY (1960)

Clip of the week: URSUS IN THE VALLEY OF THE LIONS (1961)

Ed Fury, as Ursus, is in a tight situation. With Alberto Lupo and Moira Orfei.

SPFX DEPT.

Scenes from HELEN OF TROY (1956)

I was curious to see how well the special effects from HELEN OF TROY would hold up with the new Blu-ray. They hold up beautifully. The scene in the first screenshot is spectacular. There's a lot of effects in this movie. Director Robert Wise loved using the whole gamut of techniques and tricks to accomplish the look of his films and this movie is a great example. There's so much more but for now I'll focus on matte paintings. 

 

That strange halation around the ship is more visible in HD but the overall effect is still excellent.

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.