Musings!

Rosanna Schiaffino, as Ariadne, in THE MINOTAUR (1960) 

I like this movie. I feel like I'm the only one who likes it. The best aspect of this movie is the double role Rosanna plays, as Ariadne, from Greek mythology, and the evil twin sister Phaedra. Without Rosanna's double role, the story would have been less interesting. In this scene, like the Greek myth, Ariadne uses a thread from her clothes to make sure she can find her way out of the Minotaur's lair. In the myth, the Minotaur lived in a labyrinth but in the movie, the setting changes to a cave/cavern, which is disappointing but I don't really mind it. Visually, the labyrinth would have been more interesting though. Overall, the production is solid with a great cast. Olympian Bob Mathias makes a good debut as Theseus but the movie needed a more imposing Hero. The score by Carlo Rustichelli is excellent. A spectacular movie should be made from this story including the labyrinth. There's so much to it.

PEPLUM Movie Poster

Original Italian poster of WITH FIRE AND SWORD (1962) 

Beautiful artwork even if she doesn't really look like Jeanne Crain. And Pierre doesn't look that old in the movie. Great title!

Image of the week!

Nero (Charles Laughton) enjoys the bloody action in the arena as his slave (True Boardman) watches him in THE SIGN OF THE CROSS (1932)

Spotlight: SIGN OF THE GLADIATOR (1959)

For November, a visual spotlight on SIGN OF THE GLADIATOR (1959), directed by Guido Brignone (and Michelangelo Antonioni, Riccardo Freda). Starring Anita Ekberg, Georges Marchal, Lorella De Luca, Jacques Sernas, Gino Cervi, Mimmo Palmara, Chelo Alonso and Folco Lulli.  Original Italian title: Nel segno di Roma.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Musings!

Gigi Bonos, Leo Valeriano, and Robert Malcolm in SINBAD & THE CALIPH OF BAGHDAD (1973)

Pietro Francisci's last movie. Pietro directed HERCULES (1958), among other great PEPLUM films and this is his swan song. I like it even it's very politically incorrect. It's a comedy with some disturbing scenes. Pietro had a knack of finding interesting men for his lead roles and Robert Malcolm is no exception. Malcolm had a short career and disappeared from the face of the earth. I posted something about him on Facebook and his wife, who was on Facebook, replied that he was still alive and very healthy. That was years ago. For a big part of the movie, Malcolm wears barely nothing. It's a different Sinbad. Harryhausen's versions made people expect monsters but the Sinbad of old, with Douglas Fairbanks Jr and such had no monsters. Sinbad was an adventurer of the seven seas and this movie is more adult and raunchy than any previous version. The two actors with him are the most Annoying Sidekicks since the two Annoying Sidekicks in THE THREE AVENGERS (1964). This was released the same year as THE GOLDEN VOYAGE OF SINBAD.

I like the concept of a boat balloon. There's always something creative about Francisci's movies and the entire scene with them finding this contraption is fun, even with the Annoying Sidekicks.

 

Behind-the-Scenes

A crew member working on the big model set of Atlantis in ATLANTIS - THE LOST CONTINENT (1961). This movie is featured in the latest issue of BY THE GODS! magazine 'Disaster Hits.' I love these intricate practical effects.

Clip of the week: WAR GODS OF BABYLON (1962)

Nineveh smashed by giant flood. With Howard Duff and Jackie Lane. 

New PEPLUM Imagery

HERO OF CARTHAGE

MEN OF PULP

HD Alert!

Peter Lupus and cast in CHALLENGE OF THE GLADIATOR (1965)

I already posted about an HD version of this film back in 2021 but this copy is much better and it's now streaming in Italy. The image is so crystal clear it looks like it was shot yesterday. There are some scenes which aren't as clear but this has nothing to do with the transfer but the way the movie was filmed. I like this movie. It's probably Peter's best of his 4 PEPLUM movies. This copy also includes the many scenes cut from the US version. I already covered extensively on this here.

Gloria Milland and Peter Lupus

Vintage Article

Small article from a newspaper in the UK about Steve Reeves in THE GIANT OF MARATHON. I like these.

Musings!

Turhan Bey, as Aesop, and Merle Oberon in NIGHT IN PARADISE (1946) 

The copy of this movie is not the best so I had to use a publicity photo here, which are plenty to chose from. This exotic fable was a financial flop when released which was bad for Universal who spent a lot on this quasi-Maria Montez fantasy. I'm not too familiar with Merle's career. She was born in Sri Lanka and lived in London before heading for Hollywood. I checked her IMDb profile and I haven't seen any of her other movies. While I'm familiar with Turhan Bey. I like him. But to be honest, I don't think I've seen an actor lose their looks as fast as Turhan. He was an exotic Technicolor dreamboat for most of the 1940s. A few years later, he looked like a regular taxi driver. At the start of the movie, Aesop appears as an old man. He disguises himself as such because no one would take wisdom from a young good looking man seriously. It seems life sorta imitated art, in the opposite. Once Turhan lost his looks, his career went nowhere. This movie has a lot, including probably the biggest bathing beauties scene in any movie. I really hope it will be released in a stunning copy even if the story itself is not that compelling. Directed by Arthur Lubin who directed the equally 'exotic' THIEF OF BAGHDAD (1961) starring Steve Reeves.

PEPLUM Movie Poster

French poster of SODOM AND GOMORRHA (1962)

I like this poster. Simple and yet eye catching. This movie is featured in the latest BY THE GODS! issue.

BY THE GODS! issue no 4 with 30% off!

BY THE GODS! number 4 is now available to purchase. And it comes with an incredible sale of 30% off the regular price of $19.75. The price went up because of Perfect Binding. Besides, this is the only issue of 2025.

You can buy any or all BY THE GODS! issues with 30% off. 

Sale ends Dec 1!

New Issue no 4

https://www.magcloud.com/browse/issue/3205057

Issue no 3

https://www.magcloud.com/browse/issue/2963938

Issue no 2

https://www.magcloud.com/browse/issue/2740217

Issue no 1

https://www.magcloud.com/browse/issue/2574706

AI PEPLUMTV

BATTLEPLATED

Image of the week!

 Cleopatra (Claudette Colbert) lounging on her boat in CLEOPATRA (1934)

BY THE GODS! magazine issue 4

There's good news and...good news. 

I got the printed copy of the new issue of BY THE GODS! number 4 right on time. The other good news is I like the Perfect Binding format. The paper quality is basically identical to the Saddle Stitch Binding format. Pages are thick and nice to the touch. So I won't be making any changes to it. I've already started seeing mistakes and I'll be correcting them during the weekend. 

I don't know if future issues will be Perfect Binding. I like this format but I've noticed that it prints much darker (see photo below). The colours with Saddle Stitch are more accurate. The red with Saddle Stitch is the red I want while the red with the Perfect Binding is much darker and not as accurate. You can see how the first issue compares with the new issue. It's not a big deal but I wonder why it's like this. I didn't change the red on the cover. Some of the photos inside are much darker than usual. And the page layout was fine with Saddle Stitch suddenly becomes slightly problematic. Nothing major but stuff I need to correct with Perfect Binding I didn't have to correct with Saddle Stitch. But even with all of this, I have to say that Perfect Binding makes it looks more like a genuine magazine.

The magazine should be ready and for sale on Monday once I've completed all the corrections.

Musings!

Reb Brown and Corinne Cléry in YOR - HUNTER FROM THE FUTURE (1983) 

This 80s movie is a somewhat unofficial remake of GIANT OF METROPOLIS (1961) starring Gordon Mitchell. The 1961 movie didn't have dinosaurs like YOR and it was about Atlantis more than floating city but the base of the story is almost identical: a simple but strong 'cave' man leads people about only to be captured by an advance civilization and they run experiments on his body. This is a post-apocalyptic story in which survivors reverted back to cavemen-like living (which includes dinosaurs!?) It's a cheesy entertaining popcorn movie. It was a miniseries in Italy which means there's tons more fun if the miniseries ever gets released. It's hard to believe it was actually released theatrically in North America. I like it but it's definitely campy and sometimes cringe. Certainly that wig Reb has. Just like many other PEPLUM movies of the 1980s. His necklace holds the future of his existence (like THE SON OF SPARTACUS). Reb was fit and made a fun hero. Cléry was a Bond girl in MOONRAKER (1979). John Steiner is The Overlord. We only see his outline and arm. Sold as science-fiction but there's very little science in it. 

Behind-the-Scenes

Ursula Andress and John Richardson on the set of SHE (1965)

Clip of the week: THE LAST DAYS OF POMPEII (1959)

Mimmo Palmara plays such a slimy villain! With Steve Reeves, Angel Aranda, Barbara Carroll and others. Carroll is one of a handful of actresses who played Nydia, the blind girl in many adaptations of the novel.

Portraits

Chelo Alonso as Landa in GOLIATH AND THE BARBARIANS (1959)