At the movies...

 THE ROBE (1953) playing at the Olympic theater in Watertown , NY.

Musings!

Maciste (Mark Forest) is put to a test of strength in MACISTE - THE STRONGEST MAN IN THE WORLD (1961; also known as Maciste against the Mole Men)

That's Paul Wynter and Roberto Miali below the spears. I've already posted about this at the blog. It's one of the best Feat of Strength scenes in PEPLUM cinema. The thing is, trying to get the entire set-up in one photo is difficult since the movie, shot in widescreen, only shows the bottom half or top half. And if the whole scene is shown in one shot, it's filmed from far away. So, I finally came across a photo that captures the entire crazy set-up. Who designed this? They need an award!

Behind-the-Scenes

Steve Reeves and Mylène Demongeot, still in costume, are at some party during the production of THE GIANT OF MARATHON (1959)

Clip of the week: SEVEN SLAVES AGAINST ROME (1964)

Roger Browne vs Pietro Marascalchi. With Gordon Mitchell and all.

This is the Italian version, which I have and forgot to note it in yesterday's post. 

HD Alert!

Screenshots from a HD version of SEVEN SLAVES AGAINST ROME (or Seven Slaves Against the World; 1964) starring Roger Browne and Scilla Gabel.

This Michele Lupo movie looks stunning in HD. This was from a Spanish streaming service (note the logo). So, it's in Spanish. I also have it in Italian. The English dub has been missing forever! No Blu-ray available anywhere.

Gladiatorial action looks great!

Gordon Mitchell and Pietro Marascalchi, who is still not credited at IMDb.

Then & Now: John Terlesky

 John in DEATHSTALKER 2; A recent photo of the actor turned director.

Musings!

José Greci and Lang Jeffries in SWORD OF THE EMPIRE (1964)

I like this film. It's not perfect by any means but it is entertaining with a good leads and good production. The one thing I dislike about it is the casting of the Emperor. Not very convincing. The other thing is: did José and Lang got along? The relationship seems on the frosty side in the movie. But aside from that, it's a PEPLUM that delivers. The title is great! At one point this movie was nearly impossible to get in English. I need a beautiful copy of this. Oh, that's Howard Ross in the background. 

PEPLUM Movie Poster

Original Italian poster of RAGE OF THE BUCCANEERS (1961)

Nice poster. Fun movie. It's also known as GORDON - THE BLACK PIRATE.

Image of the week!

Delilah (Liana Orfei) and Hercules (Kirk Morris) are attracted to each other, in happier times, in HERCULES, SAMSON AND ULYSSES (1963)   

Lobby Cards Set: THE SARACENS (1963)

Original Italian lobby cards set, or fotobusta, of THE SARACENS (1963) starring Richard Harrison. Nice set. Very colourful. It's missing one card but even so overall, it nice showcases the scenes from this movie. Nice photos of Richard. 

Musings!

Spectacular location and set from ULYSSES AGAINST HERCULES (1962) 

The location is the Canary Islands. It's one of the best locations in a PEPLUM movie. And they use to great advantage. This shot is a good example. I wonder if they built the staircase or it was already there. Either way, it's beautiful. Mike Lane (Hercules) and Raffaella Carra are running across it. One of my favourite PEPLUM movies.

Behind-the-Scenes

Fredric March, in costume, looking at a big set being built for the movie he's working on, SIGN OF THE CROSS (1932)

Clip of the week: SIGN OF THE GLADIATOR (1959)

Marcus Valerius (Georges Marchal) romances Queen Zenobia (Anita Ekberg)

 

SPFX DEPT.

Noah (John Huston) working on the Ark in THE BIBLE: IN THE BEGINNING...(1966)

Amazing shot there. They built a full size replica of the Ark and this shot is a combo of the set and matte painting. The effects were outsourced to a special effects studio.

A model was used for the flood scenes. The effects in this movie still look great by today's standards.

QUO VADIS? film event in Rome

In the summer of 2022, there was a film event right next to the Colosseum in Rome which showed PEPLUM movies for the general public. Titles included the silent version of QUO VADIS? (1913), CLEOPATRA (1963), SPARTACUS (1960) and TOTO AND CLEOPATRA (1963)! That's my kind of event.

Link

Musings!

Fariza (Wandisa Guida) has a special gift of flowers for Maciste (Reg Park) in MACISTE IN KING SOLOMON'S MINES (1964)

One of the better Reg Park PEPLUM movies. As good as it is you sorta can see how bored Reg was of acting. He's phoning it in. He only comes alive during the many Feats of Strengths. On the other hand, Wandisa is having the time of her life playing a villainess. The flowers will knock him out. I should do a list of all the ways Heroes are rendered weak. This one is original. I definitely need a HD version of this. It is colourful and fun, and filled with over-the-top Feats of Strengths. 

PEPLUM Movie Poster

French poster of HERCULES AGAINST THE SONS OF THE SUN (1964)

Colourful and action-packed but more comic book style the the regular poster. Good likeness of Mark. 

Image of the week!

Hercules (Mickey Hargitay) meets Hippolyta (Jayne Mansfield) for the first time and is shocked to see that she looks exactly like Deianira (also played by Jayne Mansfield) in THE LOVES OF HERCULES (1960). 

MUSCLES Inc

A special edition of TOMORROW'S MAN magazine with Steve Reeves and his career. Photos from his PEPLUM movies. That's a young Steve on the cover. 35c!

Musings!

Steve Reeves, as Hadji Murad, and Scilla Gabel in THE WHITE WARRIOR (1959) 

Directed by Riccardo Freda, THE WHITE WARRIOR is Steve's most 'serious' movie of his career. It has some fun pulpy action here and there, but the overall tone is more on drama than action. Freda also edited the movie and Mario Bava was the cinematographer. Quite the talent behind the camera. Personally, I like it but I feel there were many missed opportunities with it. First, Steve is at his biggest in this movie. He looks like a beast. Unfortunately, for us fans of Reeves, he kept his clothes on for most of the movie. That one wrestling scene where his takes his shirt off shows how massive he was. I have many versions of this film. Few of them are alright. Since the beautiful cinematography is by Bava, I feel the movie should be saturated with colours but most prints are muted. The old DVD from VCI is, imo, the most accurate when it comes to colour (the image quality itself of the transfer is not that good though...). Nice vivid colours. Hopefully, when a HD print of this surfaces, it will retain the beautiful colours.

Behind-the-Scenes

Costume designer Irene Sharaff makes some adjustments to the dazzling and ornate costume worn by Elizabeth Taylor on the set of CLEOPATRA (1963)

Clip of the week: GLADIATORS 7 (1962)

Richard Harrison vs barbarians/Vikings 

HD Alert!

Yvonne Furneaux as Semiramis in SLAVE QUEEN OF BABYLON (1963)

These screenshots are from a HD copy. It's not from the recent Blu-ray release. The image is excellent, for the most part. I have no complaints. There are scenes were the image is not as crystal clear, such as the one at 43:40, but I think this is more due to lighting or the film process than the transfer itself. Exterior scenes during the day, as seen below (with John Ericson), are beautiful. Interior scenes are also nice (above), depending on the lighting. Night scenes, inside or outside, are sometimes so so. It was originally shot in CinemaScope. No English version in HD. 

Compared to most of the transfer, this scene is murky. Note that there's no detail in her hair. Looks like DVD quality. But I think it's more due to the film process than transfer.

The art of José Luis Salinas

While searching for stuff on eBay, I came across examples of the art by José Luis Salinas. I was impressed by his work. He's a comic artist and worked on Westerns but also did other topics, including portraits of people from Antiquity. What a nice accidental find. 

 

 

Musings!

Sylva Koscina as Iole in HERCULES (1958)

Maybe not the most flattering photo of this lovely lady but this scene, of Iole grieving the death of her brother, is always effective. Thanks to good direction by Pietro Francisci and Sylva's acting. With that being said, many have noted and wrote to me about the artwork in the background. What is going on there? Yes, people have mentioned this to me in the past, even if I noticed it myself beforehand.