PEPLUM Break - Blog coming back on Monday

I was offline for a few days as my modem died and had to wait to get a new one. Because of this I'm taking the week off to get things back in order so see ya soon!

Photo of the Day

Ray 'Crash' Corrigan in UNDERSEA KINGDOM

Any story that takes place in Atlantis automatically belongs to the PEPLUM genre, no matter what the actual time the story takes in. There are several PEP films that take place in Atlantis, including CONQUEROR OF ATLANTIS starring Kirk Morris, George Pal's ATLANTIS THE LOST CONTINENT, HERCULES CONQUERS ATLANTIS or more known as HERCULES AND THE CAPTIVE WOMEN, etc.

Speaking of old serials, Italian/European PEPLUM films were the genre between vintage serials and current blockbuster films.

Then & Now: Reg Lewis

Photo of the Day

Chelo Alonso and Bruce Cabot in GOLIATH AND THE BARBARIANS

One of the best PEPLUM productions which hits the right notes from beginning to end

PEPLUM Art

Art by Boris for a Tarzan book cover would be perfect for a PEP film

Doppelganger

Robert Wagner as Prince Valiant; French singer Mireille Mathieu

Photo of the Day

Cleopatra (Monica Bellucci) and Caesar (Alan Chabat) in ASTERIX & OBELIX : MISSION CLEOPATRA

Even though I have these ASTERIX & OBELIX films in my collection I've always been reluctant to watch them. Sorta like the live action version of THE FLINTSTONES, which was the pits, some cartoons simply do not translate well with real actors. 

Dell Comics of movie classics

I have about 2 dozen Dell comics based on old PEP movies which I've found online but I can't seem to find  these titles online. I guess I'm going to have to purchase those comics and scan them.

Photo of the Day

Iloosh Khoshabe (aka Richard Lloyd) enjoys the view in THE INVINCIBLE BROTHERS MACISTE. Claudie Lange, as Queen Thaliade, is the bathing beauty.

Starring Harp

Same harp, different movies

 SLAVE QUEEN OF BABYLON

LION OF THEBES

A QUEEN FOR CAESAR

TOTO VS CLEOPATRA

WAR GODS OF BABYLON

ESTHER AND THE KING

PEPLUM Behind the Scenes

Extras from THE TEN COMMANDMENTS (1956) relax outside, soaking up the sun.

Love this photo! They all look great.

Photo of the Day

A different kind of Photo of the Day. Here's a great photo by J.R. Eyerman taken in 1958 in Utah.

I miss drive-ins.

Great PEPLUM Casts!

Big ensemble casts in Sword & Sandal films are de rigueur, certainly for Hollywood epics. Big casts have always existed since they started making films set in Antiquity. I won't name all of the films with amazing casts now (maybe more in a future post) but here are some of my favorite ensemble casts.

The January banner for the blog, for THEODORA - SLAVE EMPRESS, as an amazing cast but I didn't include a picture in this post as the banner says everything about it.

The cast (and part of the top crew) of QUO VADIS. Except for Peter, everyone looked like they had fun that day. Great cast.

JULIUS CAESAR had a stellar cast. Based on a play by Shakespeare, the film NEEDED a good cast of actors. Though his photo is not shown, this was Edmund Purdom's first PEPLUM film.

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Probabbly my personal favorite ensemble cast. With Rita Hayworth, Stewart Granger, Charles Laughton, Judith Anderson, Cedric Hardwick, Alan Badel and Rex Reason and more, the cast for SALOME really clicked together. The screenplay might not have been to the level of the cast's talent but it's quite an ensemble.

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The cast of SPARTACUS (1960) is quite amazing as well. Charles Laughton looks really tired in the photo below.

The cast of SODOM & GOMORRAH was filled with Italian actors known for their work in PEPLUM films. This credit shows almost all of them. Add Mimmo Palmara and Rossana Podestà, who are in the film but their names appear in separate credits, to the list and you have one of the most complete ensemble of Italian actors under one film. It's a shame the screenplay didn't have much for them to do.

Huh?

This DVD is being sold at Amazon. Scratching head.

I know there's technology to render a 2D film into 3D but I doubt the high tech stuff was used for this. Usually, this type of thing would be under CINEMATIC CONFUSION post but it's so whack that I could only go "huh?" It would be cool to see Steve Reeves in 3D though!!!!

Photo of the Day

Moira Orfei at her most beautiful in MACISTE THE STRONGEST MAN IN THE WORLD

Moira played the Evil Queen to perfection. Gloria Hendy is Tulac, her favorite slave.

I finished a Fan Dub of this film, along with THE MIGHTY URSUS starring Ed Fury, and CONQUEROR OF ATLANTIS starring Kirk Morris. I've also fixed one of my first Fan Dubs, A QUEEN FOR CAESAR starring Pascale Petit, and it's much better now. I'll play these new Fan Dubs on PEPLUM TV.

Movie Poster Mondays

Spanish poster for HERCULES UNCHAINED

Nice poster but doesn't really capture spirit of film. Wrestler Primo Carnera, who has a small role, is billed higher than other actors who had bigger roles.

Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters

Gemma Arterton and Jeremy Renner are HANSEL & GRETEL and they're ready to KICK ASS!

Film was to be released in 2012 but date was pushed back to January 2013

Darn I was so looking forward to seeing this (sarcasm)

Photo of the Day

Rena the Eye-patched Amazon (yes that's the character's name played by Eva León) in GOLDEN TEMPLE AMAZONS, a film that's thoroughly wretched. It can be considered a Jungle Adventure but there's a lot of PEPLUM elements in it, including wrestling Amazon warriors, whipping subjects in some sort of bizarre death trap, mining for gold, etc. Not that different than MACISTE IN KING SOLOMON'S MINES starring Reg Park except that film is a thousand times better. I played this on PEPLUM TV last night and it was quite fun watching this spectacle with others. The viewers mostly agreed on one thing: the breast, eh, best thing about this film are the bouncing breasts.

KOUKOU!!!

PEPLUM Anachronism - conveyor belts (updated)

I just completed a Fan Dub of MACISTE THE STRONGEST MAN IN THE WORLD (aka Mole Men vs Son of Hercules) and seeing the film again reminded me of the purely anachronistic aspect of having conveyor belts in Ancient times. Conveyor belts were invented in the 19th century. Then again, these are mostly fantasies so theere's a degree of suspension of disbelief going on here.

Here's Mark Forest on a conveyor belt from MACISTE STRONGEST MAN IN THE WORLD

Joe Robinson from TAUR THE MIGHTY. Both films were written/directed by the same person.

Still vs Film

Same scene, from THE AVENGER (War of the Trojans) starring Steve Reeves, totally different outlook between still and what we see in the film. When I saw the image above at Pasquale's Facebook page I went "Hmm...what film is this? From WAR OF THE TROJANS but I don't remember the belt and costumes..." So I checked the actual film and was surprised by the amount of information that's in the still versus what we see in the film. This always makes me irate as why put so much effort in the details but then shoot everything in a long shot? It probably looked bigger on a cinema screen and could see more things but even so the amount of info in the B&W still is superior to the completed film.

Photo of the Day

Adam (Michael parks) emerges from the ground/dust in THE BIBLE : IN THE BEGINNING...

I already posted a picture from this film this week but with the ADAM & EVE theme today, a grab of this scene was necessary as it's one of the best in the much maligned Adam & Eve films.

THE SIN OF ADAM & EVE (1956) poster art

ADAM & EVE at the Movies!

Christiane Martel and Carlos Baena in the Mexican made THE SIN OF ADAM AND EVE (1956). Mexicans really love the Adam & Eve story. French actress Christiane became famous in Mexico, decided to live there, married a politician who then banned all of her films from being shown in theatres or on TV including this one.

Mamie Van Doren as Eve (!!!) and Martin Milner as Adam in THE PRIVATE LIVES OF ADAM AND EVE. Clearly a serious in-depth portrayal. Arf.

Michael Parks and Ulla Bergryd in THE BIBLE: In The Beginning...

Definitely more serious that the Mamie version but still not really profound except for the creation of Adam scene.

And for the piece de resistance ultra beefy Jorge Rivero and one-hit-wonder Candy Wilson in the Mexican made THE SIN OF ADAM AND EVE (1969). I recently played this film on PEPLUM TV and got the BEST ratings the channel ever had. It's pure eye candy re: Jorge and Candy but with big plastic flowers and the actors walking backwards or holding sheep to avoid full frontal nudity, it's entertaining because of the display of flesh but also because it's unintentionally funny from beginning to end.