BY THE GODS! excerpt

Gordon Scott and Jacques Sernas in GOLIATH AND THE VAMPIRES (1961)

I will posts excerpts of BY THE GODS! magazine from time to time, as a preview of sorts. Here, I wrote about this movie and even this part of the movie to explain how a movie can have more than one genre. Sernas' character looks like he's straight out of a FLASH GORDON comic book. This movie is a mash-up of different elements to create a fun and action packed movie.

You can buy BY THE GODS! Spring 2024 issue at this link.

 

Same posts, different websites

I posted this article back on April 17, 2919.

Who wore it best?

Usually it's a showdown between two celebs but this time it's four (there's actually another one but they altered the necklace too much to be included):

1 - Sophia Loren in ATTILA (1954)

2 - Irène Tunc - APHRODITE - GODDESS OF LOVE (1958)

3 - Anouk Aimée in SODOM & GOMORRAH (1962)

4 - Linda Cristal in THE PHARAOHS' WOMAN (1960)

So who wore that necklace the best?

Anyway, someone took this post and uploaded to their website and instagram. I came upon this totally by accident.

They gave credit to this website at their website but they didn't link it directly to the post, which makes the credit pointless. I won't link this to their website. 

While they didn't give any credit on their Instagram post which got over 11,000 likes (and most likely more views). Here's a screenshot of their instagram post.

 

So many steal stuff from my blog. Not cool.

Musings!

Ricardo Montalban and Carmen Sevilla in DESERT WARRIOR (1957)

This movie is always under the radar. I don't know why since the production, the cast, the widescreen cinematography, the stunning locations, the fast pace, all make for one entertaining film. It's one of the first big European adventures shot in widescreen. Everything about is top of the line and yet no one knows about it. I'm probably the only one who repeatedly wrote about it. I even made the first Fan Dub of it. Oh we'll...I need this in HD. It will be stunning!

PEPLUM Movie Poster

Spanish poster of SPARTACUS - SINS OF ROME (1953) 

Beautiful poster.

Image of the week!

Hercules (Steve Reeves) starts hearing voices after drinking from the Waters of Forgetfulness in HERCULES UNCHAINED (1959)

VHS Covers: TWO NIGHTS WITH CLEOPATRA (1954)

VHS covers of TWO NIGHTS WITH CLEOPATRA (1954)) starring Sophia Loren and others. Good selection but with average covers. No Cinematic Confusion. The US yellow one is funny. 

 

US VHS cover with racy image of Sophia taken for movie.

 

Another US VHS cover. The front cover is funny but at least the photos on the back are from the movie. 

 

Italian VHS package.

 

German VHS cover. Title is different than theatrical release.

 

VHS cover from FRANCE. 

Musings!

Spartacus (Massimo Girotti) saves Amytis (Ludmilla Tchérina) in SPARTACUS - SINS OF ROME (1953)

There are Fan Dubs (fan adding audio to film) and there are Fan Subs (fan adding subtitles). And now there are Fan Colour: someone adding colour to a Black & White movie. This rxcellent movie is in Black & White and someone decided to colourize it. The screenshot above is taken from it. You can find it on Youtube. The image is murky and mostly messed up but it's nice to see some scenes in colour. I personally dislike colourization because most of them are terrible but when it's done right, like the one for THE LAST DAYS OF POMPEII (1935), it's nice to see. I posted screenshots of it here on the blog.

Behind-the-Scenes

Gianna Maria Canale and Georges Marchal have a chat on the set of THEODORA - SLAVE EMPRESS (1954). This is the massive chariot race set. I posted this photo at a *new* X account dedicated to actresses of the PEPLUM genre. Click here to view and please follow the account. 

Clip of the week: THE THRONE OF FIRE (1983)

Siegfried (Pietro Torrisi) shows up in the chamber of Princess Valkari (Sabrina Siani) while mega villain Morak (Harrison Muller) listens on.

 

SPFX DEPT.

A scene from GOLIATH AND THE DRAGON (1960)

This movie has a lot of different special effects, of different quality and style. In this case, it's about one scene with this is one big matte painting. The scene starts from the screenshot above. It then pans to the left, to the image below, and we see the vista in one extended shot. It's pretty cool. 
 

Then & Now: Helga Liné

Helga in HERCULES AND THE TYRANTS OF BABYLON (1964); a recent photo of Helga.

Musings!

Belinda Lee is Messalina in MESSALINA (1960) 

I like this movie. Production is excellent. Cast is excellent. Cinematography is excellent, etc. The one thing that I truly find odd about it is the tone. It's almost entirely this super serious dram but halfway through there's this long scene that's straight out of slapstick. It's so jarring. This is not unusual since the director is Vittorio Cottafavi. His style is unique and often shifts gears throughout a movie. Belinda Lee is excellent in her role. It's definitely her best PEPLUM role. Belinda would die a year later in a car accident in California. There are a couple of Blu-rays out there so this is good but the movie always had nice prints. 

PEPLUM Movie Poster

Belgian poster of REVAK THE REBEL (1960) 

Posters from Belgium are always colourful and this one is no exception. On the right are the main actors but the fellow swinging the chains is Alan Steel with a pose of Steve Reeves from the poster artwork of THE SON OF SPARTACUS (1962). This means the movie was released in Belgium in 1962.

Happy Easter!

 From KING OF KINGS (1961)

BY THE GODS! Spring 2024 magazine

BY THE GODS! Spring 2024 issue can now be purchased.

Get it while it's hot!

BY THE GODS! Spring 2024 edition

By JS Davidson

52 pages, published 3/7/2024

Magazine on the PEPLUM genre! For those who love movies with stories set in the past, such as Biblical, Epic or the Greco-Roman kind, this magazine covers it all.

Image of the week!

 Hercules (Reg Park) battles Proteus in HERCULES AND THE CAPTIVE WOMEN (1961)

Lobby Cards Set: THE LOVES OF HERCULES (1960)

Italian lobby cards set (fotobusta) of THE LOVES OF HERCULES starring Jayne Mansfield, Mickey Hargitay and others. This is a colourful movie and the set reflects this. I like it. I'm a bit confused on the LE QUATTRO FATICHE DI ERCOLE part. I mean, the original title is there, GLI AMORE DI ERCOLE, so what's up with the additional title? Cinematic Confusion! Good set.

Musings!

Champion gladiator (Pietro Ceccarelli) is about to fight with Revak (Jack Palance) in REVAK THE REBEL (1960)

This is an odd PEPLUM movie within the genre itself. It's feels like a TV production. The aspect ratio is not widescreen but shot in Academy aspect ratio (with a faux widescreen during projection in cinemas...?), perfect for TVs back then. The posters say it's in Eastmancolor while others say Technicolor. The movie has several different poster artwork with a lot of them directly copying the artwork of posters for other movies. They actually use the English audio of the English speaking cast, which is very odd for an Italian production. The entire 'modest' production itself is odd. The dialogue is often unintentionally hilarious. Some of the costumes are the worst I've seen in any PEPLUM movie. It's stands out from the rest of the pack...but not necessarily in a good way. It's still entertaining but...it's an odd one alright.

Behind-the-Scenes

Photographer Ken Whitmore taking a portrait of Charlton Heston as Moses on the exterior set of THE TEN COMMANDMENTS (1956).

Clip of the week: THE MIGHTY URSUS (1961)

Ursus (Ed Fury) is with his long lost wife to be, Attea (Moira Orfei). They're both interrupted by the evil Setas (Luis Prendes) who reveals the truth...

HD Alert!

Scenes from GOLIATH AND THE SINS OF BABYLON (1963)

HD copy of this fun PEPLUM movie. Again, this is from a streaming service in Europe. It's not available anywhere on Blu-ray, which is annoying since the movie looks spectacular in HD. Mark Forest and José Greci are in the image above.

Note: because of the lack of PEPLUM movies released on Blu-ray, HD Alert! will be appear once a month.

Giuliano Gemma and José Greci.

Vintage Article

A rare article on Gordon Mitchell. From a French magazine. I posted this years ago at BY THE GODS! blog. They described Mitchell as frightening. Images are from FURY OF ACHILLES (main image) and ATLAS IN THE LAND OF THE CYCLOPS (smaller image).

Musings!

Daniela Rocca in COLOSSUS AND THE AMAZON QUEEN (1960)

Daniela plays a leader of Amazons. According to myth, Amazons were one-breasted women. Removing one breast is kinda gruesome but in this movie, thanks to some clever costumes, the Amazons have one breast hanging out while the other is camouflaged, giving the illusion of being one-breasted. I really like this. Quite ingenious. This movie is fun to watch, for many reasons. The excellent sets are from SIEGE OF SYRACUSE (1960). Like almost all Amazon movies, it's a 'Battle of the Sexes' story as I wrote in the latest issue of BY THE GODS!

PEPLUM Movie Poster

Japanese re-release poster of CLEOPATRA (1963) 

This is from the 1977 revival. I love Japanese posters.

BY THE GODS! Spring 2024 magazine

BY THE GODS! Spring 2024 issue can now be purchased.

Get it while it's hot!

BY THE GODS! Spring 2024 edition

By JS Davidson

52 pages, published 3/7/2024

Magazine on the PEPLUM genre! For those who love movies with stories set in the past, such as Biblical, Epic or the Greco-Roman kind, this magazine covers it all.