PEPLUM TV

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Sword & Sandal Inspired Art

Art by Boris Vallejo; based on the John Carter of Mars stories by Edgar Rice Burroughs.

OK it might not be a legit "Sword & Sandal" as the story takes place ON Mars but the planet Mars has a lot of sand there. Basically it's an earth story transposed on Mars, or in this case Barsoom. Besides, STAR WARS is really a PEPLUM in space so PEPLUMS and SCI-FI are close cousins.

ARES - Greek God of the Month (week 2)

Rober Browne as ARES in VULCAN SON OF JUPITER.

Roger is the only actor to have played ARES, or MARS, twice.

Roger Browne as Mars in MARS ~ GOD OF WAR. Love the uniform.

The late Kevin Smith played Ares in the TV series XENA WARRIOR PRINCESS.

Quite handsome and menacing but doesn't really look like a Greek God.

Tamer Hassan was Ares in the CLASH OF THE TITANS remake. If you

blinked while watching the film you might have missed him. That's him on

the far right in the photo below. Tamer's costume cost tens of thousands of dollars.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Photo of the Day

Reg Park (as Ursus) is about to drink something from Mireille Granelli that will make him fall asleep

and alter his being in URSUS AND THE TERROR OF THE KIRGHIZ

Don't drink it!!!

PEPLUM Fantasy Casting

Steve Reeves and Giovanni Cianfriglia.

Steve and Giovanni briefly shared the screen together in DUEL OF THE TITANS but an entire movie with the two battling each other would have been fun. Giovanni was Steve's stunt double/stand-in in a few films.

Monday, January 17, 2011

Photo of the Day

Anne Heywood is about to be sacrificed in CARTHAGE IN FLAMES.

Epic PEPLUM film that's overlooked and often misunderstood and criticized for the

wrong reasons. Action fans think it's too dull (there's action alright) and drama/historical

fans think it's too inaccurate or melodramatic. It's basically a grand tragedy with an ending

that's downbeat and beautifully ironic/fatalistic. Great production values, amazing score.

Anne Heywood saves the film with her excellent acting as the Roman woman who's fate

is set at Carthage. I love it. A totally unique Sword & Sandal flick in more ways than one.

I uploaded the entire movie at my PEPLUMz channel. Check it out below.

Movie Poster Mondays

French poster for CARTHAGE IN FLAMES

CARTHAGE IN FLAMES

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Photo of the Day

Tina Louise dancing her heart out in SIEGE OF SYRACUS.

Excellent PEPLUM even if it's a bit episodic but it's directed by Pietro Francisci so it's a real PEPLUM.

youtube

Movie Memorabilia

Beautiful art for QUO VADIS...is this from the pressbook?

Then & Now : Samson Burke

Samson Burke is still alive & kicking. He's got his own website too.

Link

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Photo of the Day

Clive Owen in KING ARTHUR.

When this film was released I didn't bother seeing it even if I'm a fan of Clive Owen because 1) it's produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and 2) the reviews were brutal and 3) whole thing looked like

2 hours of complete anachronisms.

I saw a small part of this film a few years ago but never bothered watching all of it. I recently caught this film on TV, quite by accident, and to my surprise (and dismay) KING ARTHUR is an all out PEPLUM flick with Roman soldiers, big battles, the usual cliches, etc. But then to my dismay because, like my second impression I got of the film when it was released, it's one of the most anachronistically crazy films I've ever seen. What a sad statement when Hollywood takes a great story like King Arthur and invents a totally wonky thingamajig out of it. I admit it had some nice visuals here and there but really what were they thinking?

PEPLUM Behind-the Scenes

Legendary busty couple Mickey and Jayne posing with some dude

Carthage in Flames!

The revolution in Tunisia

I would love to go to Tunisia one day. Along with Italy, Greece, Egypt and Malta.

To think that Carthage was once one of the greatest sea port of ancient times.

Good luck to the people of Tunisia!

Artist representation of what Carthage, the Roman occupation of Carthage, might have looked like.

Friday, January 14, 2011

Photo of the Day

The Colossus from THE COLOSSUS OF RHODES. Love the design of the Colossus, with his big child-like eyes. One of the greatest production designs in any PEPLUM film.

Future PEPLUM star: Tarek Elsetouhi

Tarek Elsetouhi: the next Iloosh Khoshabe(Rod Flash)?

Not only is he physically impressive but handsome too, which is sorta rare

with bodybuilders these days.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Photo of the Day

Aesculapius (Gian Paolo Rosmino) enjoys the company of the Amazons in HERCULES (1958)

PEPLUM Inspired Art: Thomas Baxter

It would be cool to see an animated film in the same style as these drawings; circa 1814

PEPLUM Anachronism: Hair

Hairdos (or hairdonts) are a pretty obvious example of elements in Sword & Sandal films which weren't really thought out for realism but fashion. No big crime but they sure stand-out.

George Ardisson in HERCULES IN HAUNTED WORLD is a pretty good example.

Mylène Demongeot in GOLD FOR THE CAESARS. Cute but definitely not accurate

Cristina Gaioni in FIRE OVER ROME. Oy!

Rory Calhoun in COLOSSUS OF RHODES. The gel look wasn't really the in thing back then.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Photo of the Day

Beautiful boat from HERCULES UNCHAINED with a sleeping Hercules and a mute Ulysses are

brought to Queen Omphale of Lidia. Special effects by Mario Bava.

ARES : Greek God of the Month

Ares is the God of War. Pretty much self explanatory.

Ares (or Mars) appeared in a few Peplum flicks but sadly the definitive

movie on one of the most famous of Greek Gods hasn't been made yet.

Mars is the Roman name for Ares. Mars rocks!

Statue of Ares at the Louvre

Tombstones

Sylvia is buried in Montparnasse cemetery in Paris.

French superstar Dalida is buried in the Montmarte cemetery.

Dalida was Joan Collins' stand-in when they filmed LAND OF THE PHARAOHS

in Egypt in 1954, where Dalida was born. This was just before Dalida moved to Paris

and became one of the world's greatest selling singers of all time.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Photo of the Day

Bruno Piergentili in a precarious situation in MACISTE IN KING SOLOMON'S MINES.

The handsome Bruno (also known as Dan Harrison), who could be a Calvin Klein model today, starred in just a few PEPLUMS before moving on to Spaghetti Westerns only to disappear from the face of the earth. WEHT him?