Musings!

Mucius (Gordon Scott) gets new bandages for his wounded hand/arm in COLOSSUS OF ROME (1964; aka Hero of Rome)

I like this film. It's one solid movie starring Gordon Scott. The movie misses just one or two extra scenes to make it a Wow! but still, it's pretty good. It's directed by Giorgio Ferroni, who worked with Scott in other equally solid movies. The only decent copy out there is the German DVD with Spartacus in the title. It's good but not great. Hopefully, it's will be available soon in HD!

Behind-the-Scene

Tina Louise on the set of SAPPHO - THE VENUS OF LESBOS (1960)

Clip of the week: KERIM - SON OF THE SHEIK (1962)

They try to break Kerim (Gordon Scott)...

Portraits

Steve Reeves as Phillipides in THE GIANT OF MARATHON (1959)

SPFX DEPT.

Evil Antarus (Massimo Serato) getting eaten by a man-eating creature/plant in MARS - GOD OF WAR (1962)

This movie is totally different than the majority of PEPLUM movies, in tone and style. One of the biggest surprises watching it for the first time was the quite elaborate creature at the end. I like it. I think it's cool. I certainly didn't expect anything like this from it. The good copies I have are a bit too dark but you can see how detailed the creature is. No info on who created it.

BY THE GODS! magazine...yes, it's coming!

Nothing much to say except, yes, it's coming. Because of personal issues during the past months, everything has been delayed but it's coming. I can't say when specifically but it's in the works. Here's the cover! 

Musings!

Lady Iolanthe Rogliano (Betta St. John) introduces Pietro Donati (Ricardo Montalban) to Elaine of Siniscola (Carolyn Jones) in THE SARACEN BLADE (1954)

This is a fun small movie directed by William Castle. The script is surprisingly fun.  I wish there was a clear, uncut version of this, in HD, of course. This old 'B movies' from Columbia Pictures often get a bad treatment, even with such a good cast and a known director. The movie did have some obvious budget shortcomings. The big battle scenes are stock footage. But overall, I like this one. It's entertaining. I have it uploaded to one of my Youtube channels. 

PEPLUM Movie Poster

Spanish poster of REVOLT OF THE SLAVES (1960) 

Nice poster. The Rhonda on the poster looks different than the real one.

Clip of the week: MESSALINA (1960)

Assassination attempt on essa lina (Belinda Lee). Would be assassin is Giuliano Gemma.

 

New PEPLUM Art!

New feature here at the blog. PEPLUM inspired art. 

With a few prompts, new PEPLUM art by AI. 

From MEN OF PULP @ X 

THE DESTINY OF ADAM AND EVE 

Blog Note

Richard Harrison and cast from REVOLT OF THE PRAETORIANS (1964) 

I'm taking an impromptu break! I should be back next week. If I find time I might post sporadically this week but for now I need some time off. 

Image of the week!

Sappho (Tina Louise) and Phaon (Kerwin Mathews) seek counsel with the Sybil (Elena Zareschi) in SAPPHO - THE VENUS OF LESBOS (1960; aka The Warrior Empress)

At the movies...

 BEN-HUR (1959) playing at the Gaumont Palace in Paris.

Musings!

Giuliano Gemma and Richard Harrison in TWO GLADIATORS (1964) 

A few things about this movie:

- It's very entertaining. 

- Richard Harrison and Giuliano Gemma also starred in REVOLT OF THE PRAETORIANS, a Twin production with this one 

- Is this a Richard Harrison film with Giuliano or a Giuliano Gemma film with Richard?

- I don't know how or why but Richard was made to look or simply looks old in this movie, compared to PERSEUS THE INVINCIBLE

- Yellow is not a very discreet colour for clothes

- Wasn't it awkward to sit down in those togas, certainly a yellow one

- There are multiple wardrobe malfunctions in this movie (and in Revolt of the Praetorians) 

- The main poster is one of the best of the PEPLUM genre

- It's known as THE TWO GLADIATORS or TWO GLADIATORS. I prefer the latter.

- Not available in HD or blu-ray.

Behind-the-Scenes

 Yul Brynner taking photos while on a break on the set of KINGS OF THE SUN (1963)

Clip of the week: SEVEN FROM THEBES (1964)

Alfio Caltabiano is bad. With Andre Lawrence.

Portraits

Edy Vessel as Kadeejah in THE THIEF OF BAGHDAD (1961) 

HD Alert!

Scenes from ANDROCLES AND THE LION (1954) with Jean Simmons and Alan Young

My friend in Europe provided me with this HD copy of the movie. He doesn't where it came from. Criterion has a DVD release but not a Blu-ray release. It might have shown up on a TV channel like TMC but they usually have logos and this copy doesn't have any logos. So where it came from is a mystery. Needless to say, it's a vast improvement over the regular version.

Victor Mature and John Hoyt 

HERCULES AND THE CAPTIVE WOMEN Blu-ray quick comparison

I recently brought up the controversial Blu-ray release of HERCULES AND THE CAPTIVE WOMEN in the US and how terrible it is, and seemingly a lot of people are actually fine with it. This is quite discouraging. Here's just a quick glance on how bad it is. On top is a compilation of screen captures of the US blu-ray. Below is the screen captures of the Italian DVD. The colours of the DVD are correct. The reds are red, etc. The US Blu-ray is a travesty. 

Musings!

Gordon Scott and Moira Orfei in HERO OF BABYLON (1963) 

I'm still trying to figure out what's my favourite Gordon Scott or Moira Orfei film. For Gordon, this one is at the top. For Moira, sh's very good in it but I would say my favourite would be MACISTE - THE STRONGEST MAN IN THE WORLD or MACISTE VS THE MOVIE MEN. I like the fact that Moira enjoyed playing evil ladies. I really like this film. Yes, it's not very Babylonian but who cares. It's very entertaining. This screenshot is from a DVD release in Europe. Yes, DVD. I have many copies of this film and even though it's not close to being a Blu-ray, it's better than all the copies I have in my collection.

PEPLUM Movie Poster

Original Italian poster of THE FIGHTING COSSACKS (1962) 

Nice artwork...but would this poster make you want to see the movie?

Image of the week!

Captain Morgan (Steve Reeves) fight with Francois L'Olonnais (Armand Mestral) in MORGAN THE PIRATE (1960)

Lobby Cards Set: SHE GODS OF SHARK REEF (1958)

US lobby cards set of SHE GODS OF SHARK REEF starring Bill Cord and Don Durant. Nice set. It pretty much sums up the movie in a 8 photos. Roger Corman said it was one of his favourites films he directed. 

Musings!

A scene from THOSE ABOUT TO DIE (2024)

A new TV series on gladiators. It stars Anthony Hopkins as Vespasian. This is Sara Martins in the image above. I know little about it. Will I watch it? I doubt it. 😂 I don't want to get my hopes too high but I assume it's going to be the typical political correct style of today, which is boring. Reviews at IMDb are mostly not encouraging. I wish there was something cool today like those old movies but alas...great title though.

Behind-the-Scenes

Joseph E Levine and Steve Reeves take a break from filming THIEF OF BAGHDAD (1961)