By the Gods!

High Priestess Naja (Maria Montez) oversees the sacrificial offerings ceremony in COBRA WOMAN (1944)

Directed by Robert Siodmak (THE LAST ROMAN 1968), and co-written by Richard Brooks, this short movie (at 71 minutes long) is a little gem which has gained a cult following since its release. There was talent behind it and the final product gained from it. The movie obviously influenced the PEPLUM genre: almost every scene is a PEPLUM cliché.

The story itself is a template of almost every PEPLUM movie: Ramu (Jon Hall) is about to marry Tollea (Maria Montez) on a peaceful Pacific island. Before the marriage takes place she's kidnapped by a mute (Lon Chaney Jr.) and brought to Cobra Island. Ramu and stowaway Kado (Sabu) head for the island to rescue her. Due to chance, Ramu follows a royal procession, headed by a woman who looks like his bride. Ramu jumps into a pool where the woman takes a bath and the two lock lips. Ramu believes it's Tollea but  in fact it's her twin sister Naja (also played by Montez). Hall eventually meets the Queen (Mary Nash), grandmother of Tollea and Naja. She tells Ramu that she had Tollea kidnapped so she could replace evil Naja and stop her evil ways.

The list of clichés is never-ending. And I love it for it. At such a short runtime, the movie never overstays its welcome. Production never looks cheap. It has plenty of cool matte paintings and the score is excellent. The gorgeous production was shot in Technicolor, making one of the most colourful productions of the era. The sacrificial ceremony scene is out of this world. My favourite Montez-Hall-Sabu movie.

COBRA WOMAN was recently released on Blu-ray and I took these screenshots from that edition.

Ramu (Jon Hall) sees a royal procession on Cobra Island.

One of many matte paintings in the movie.

Sabu is Kado

Mistaken identity: Ramu goes after the bathing Naja, thinking she's Tollea

Then & Now: Ursula Andress

Ursula in SHE (1965) ; a recent photo of the actress.

By the Gods!

 Carla Calò as Yalis the Oracle in TRIUMPH OF MACISTE (1961)

Carla Calò died on December 29 at the age of 93. She appeared in over 80 movies, mainly as a supporting actress. I won't do a full list of her career. Her role as Yalis is my favourite of all her roles. She's sympathetic and important to Maciste's attempts to overthrow the evil ruler, Queen Tenefi. She was often credited as Carol Brown. Her other notable roles: the gypsy in REVENGE OF THE CONQUERED (1961), CAESAR THE CONQUEROR (1962), and ALI BABA & THE SEVE SARACENS (1964). R.I.P..

Carla helps Maciste (Kirk Morris) with her wisdom in TRIUMPH OF MACISTE (1961)

Carla played a gypsy in REVENGE OF THE CONQUERED (1961)

CAESAR THE CONQUEROR (1962) with Raffaella Carrà

ALI BABA & THE SEVEN SARACENS (1964) co-starring with Gordon Mitchell

PEPLUM Movie Posters

Lebanese poster of SHEHERAZADE (1963)

Of the many posters for this movie, this one is the best. The French posters are boring. The US poster is extremely ugly. The Italian ones are good but this one beats them. It's an odd poster. Giuliano Gemma is listed as the main star even though his role barely registers in the movie. His stardom really peaked in the 1970s. He was relatively new in 1963. Hmm...

Relaunch of PEPLUM TV store

For 2020, I've relaunched the PEPLUM TV store.

I have some of the merch and wear them all the time. Good stuff.

PEPLUM TV Official store

By the Gods!

Gordon Scott during the climax of GLADIATOR OF ROME (1962)

Another PEPLUM movie with a title that belies the movie: Scott never ends up as a gladiator in some  arena in Rome. It's a good title and there are gladiators in it but nothing really about Rome or fighting in the arena.

2020 marks the10th year of the blog's existence. It's been quite a decade. The screenshot above is the image I've used as an avatar, for the blog or Youtube channels. IMO, it's an iconic ending (even though it reduces Scott as a passive onlooker during the mayhem).

I'll be trying new, different things for 2020, including what I just announced in the post below. It's going to take some time and effort on my part to execute these new projects, which means I have to cut back a little here at the blog. I'm taking next week off from posting at the blog (Christmas was really hectic here so I need a break). I usually post a screenshot from THE 300 SPARTANS whenever I take a break but this one is not the usual break I schedule every 2 months. Everything is on-going, which means I'll announce things as they happen.

I thank everyone for the support during these 10 years. It's been incredible.

(Don't worry. The blog is still on-going. More about this next week...)

New project announced at BY THE GODS!

Check out BY THE GODS! for more info.

Model cities in PEPLUM films

One of the fun things to see in PEPLUM movies are scenes over discussion of the creation of cities and grand scale architectural projects. I'm not a historian and I can't say if these scenes are historically accurate but they're cool nonetheless. Here's a small sample of these scenes.

QUO VADIS (1951)

In QUO VADIS, Nero (Peter Ustinov) wishes to erect a new Rome and he showcases this grand scheme to his friends and cohorts. The problem: the project is set to be construction on land where there are already buildings and houses, and people living and working in those places will have to be displaced...by a catastrophic fire?

The model is quite intricate and spectacular.

THE COLOSSUS OF RHODES (1961)

The leaders of Rhodes, lead by Conrado San Martin (in red),  plot some nefarious evil scheme with the help of a model representation of Rhodes, its port and the Colossus. Nice.

GOLIATH & THE DRAGON (1960)

Broderick Crawford shows a model made of gold of the city of Thebes to Ugo Sasso. 

MY SON, THE HERO (1962)

We rarely see the model in the same shot as the lead actors. This is the best scene with the big model (on the right). With Antonio Molino Rojo.


SLAVE QUEEN OF BABYLON (1963)

Semiramis (Yvonne Furneaux) examines the model representation of Babylon. I really like this one.

By the Gods!

Anna Karina in SCHEHERAZADE (1963)

Directed by Pierre Gaspard-Huit, this Arabian adventure is an odd one in that it's very serious. There's no humour to be found anywhere. The approach was more like a tragic opera sans operatic music even though it's nothing more than an elaborate excuse to showcase cheesecake. Everything is tops in regards to the production: sets, costumes, music, locations, cast. All excellent. But the dour or joyless direction makes it a chore to sit through. The simple story can't sustain the weight of the dead serious direction. Things are made worse in that the movie is over 2 hours long. It's not bad by any means but the director probably thought he was making a 'big important film' when in fact even today it looks more like a politically incorrect pastiche of Arabian culture. It's a grand romantic adventure that's not fun at all. A real curio of the period when adventure movies were fun, colourful and fast paced. I really don't know for whom this movie was made for. 

Anna Karina as Sheherazade. Anna died on December 14, 2019. This was her only PEPLUM movie of the Golden Era.

Giuliano Gemma and Gérard Barray

Marilù Tolo as Princess Shirin. Unlike Anna Karina, Marilù was a regular in PEPLUM movies.

Behind-the-Scenes

Photo of the cast and crew of the filming of SODOM & GOMORRAH (1962). I can spot several people including Stewart Granger and Rossana Podesta.

Happy New Year!

I'll see you again next year on Thursday!

By the Gods!

Elissa Landi and David Manners in THE WARRIOR'S HUSBAND (1933)

Can't review the movie or give any details of it because the movie is out of circulation. There is a 16mm print that's been shown in museums but it never surfaced on TV or any home release or even bootleg. Not even a trailer. It's a shame because I'd love to see it. It's based on a successful play which starred Katherine Hepburn who didn't play the role for the movie. Elissa Landi, of SIGN OF THE CROSS (1932), starred in the lead role. I'm sure it wouldn't be missing in action if Hepburn had been in it. Can only say, from the photos, that it looks great. There were so few PEPLUM movies in 1930s that any missing title from that decade is a sad thing.

The title is a play on words...in that a warrior wouldn't have a 'husband' (even though Spartan warriors did have 'partners'). The warrior in this story is an Amazonian warrior (Landi). Today, that 'comical' significance would be lost since same sex marriage laws. The story would be seen as  politically incorrect.

It's also the only pre-HERCULES (1958) movie from Hollywood featuring Hercules, played by Tiny Sandford (last photo). Prior to the Steve Reeves movie, Hercules was often portrayed as some sort of caveman-like, barrel-chested man.

PEPLUM Movie Posters

Original Italian poster of HERCULES AGAINST ROME (1964)

A montage of photos instead of the usual artwork. With Alan Steel, Wandisa Guida, and Mimmo Palmara. I like it. The fortress is from CONSTANTINE & THE CROSS (1961).

By the Gods!

Princess Fazia (Elaine Stewart) is confronted by the Great Banah (Amanda Blake) while Hajji Baba (John Derek) watches on in THE ADVENTURES OF HAJJI BABA (1954)

An early entry in the CinemaScope / Sword & Sandal / PEPLUM movies, this colourful adventure has everything: great looking cast, excellent (and familiar Californian) locations, excellent production, memorable song (sung by Nat King Cole which is heard throughout the movie), etc. The one thing it lacks is a good story. Don't get me wrong. It's a fun movie but the barely there story is barely able to keep my attention. This scene happens 49 minutes or so into the 90 minutes long movie and I already had enough. The characters or situations are not compelling enough. I like it. I'm just not crazy about it. Both Elaine and John would go to Italy to make the same type of movie. In fact, this one looks a lot like a PEPLUM movie from Europe.

An ALLIED ARTISTS PICTURES production with financing from 20th CENTURY FOX (AA got domestic gross while FOX got overseas grosses). FOX also helped with the CinemaScope process.

These screenshots are taken from an HD copy and the movie looks amazing. The cinematography is excellent, as these screenshots show. Aside from some grain here and there, the image is remarkable pristine and clear. Many titles are now finally coming out in HD and I'm glad for this new trend.

Mistakes and goofs in GWENDOLINE (1984)

Here's a small sample of the many mistakes in GWENDOLINE (1984) starring Tawny Kitaen, Brent Huff and Zabou. These screenshots were taken from the new Blu-ray release. It's very good. Not necessarily great but very good nonetheless. BTW, I've noticed these mistakes decades ago so don't blame HD transfer. Many of these mistakes or goofs drive me crazy!

Above and below: A continuity mistake. From one angle, Tawny's hand is above the wire but in the other angle, her hand is below it. This mistake drives me crazy. It's a good scene and yet this glaring continuity issue is unnecessarily distracting.

A side note: just to show how clear the image is, you can see the tiny hole of Tawny's pierced earlobe in the screenshot below.

Above and below: A female warrior is thrown on a set of mirrors. The scene is very brief but it's obvious the woman is a mannequin. Also, you can see the crew, camera and lights in the silver vase. Even more so now in HD.

During the movie's chariot race, one of the female warriors pulling the chariot is in the process of losing her bottom gear. This scene should have been reshot. 

By the Gods!

Maid Marian (Dee Lockwood) is saved by Robin Hood (Ralph Jenkins) in THE RIBALD TALES OF ROBIN HOOD (1969)

The word 'ribald' here denotes 'adult', meaning the movie is peppered with (awkward) sex scenes. Reading some of the reviews at IMDb and you'd think this was a movie of quality. One reviewer wrote that aside from the classic Errol Flynn movie of the 1930s, this one is a close second. I'm like what? The film is pretty much poor: bad acting, bad cinematography, cheap sets, etc. The costumes are all over the place: sometimes okay but mostly looking more like stuff seen at a high school play, well except for Robin's super tight tights which leave nothing to the imagination. Jenkins' fighting skills are pretty good or at least believable but his face wasn't meant to be on screen. He appears handsome in some shots but then in close-ups he looks like below. In the last part of the movie, a plump Maid Marian is tortured endlessly by the villainess (which I can't show here on the blog). The dialogue is more elaborate than most movies of this kind but it's not enough to elevate it from its tawdry soft core qualities. A German - American co-production. Also known as THE EROTIC ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD.

"The Erotic Adventures of Robin Hood, his Lusty Men and Bawdy Wenches!"

Lobby Cards Set: THIEF OF BAGHDAD (1961)

Original US lobby card set of THIEF OF BAGHDAD (1961) starring Steve Reeves. Great set. It just needed one extra close up shot of Steve and it would have excellent. A card with Steve and Giorgia Moll would have been great. But as it is it pretty much covers the movie's highlights.

Merry Christmas and happy holidays!

The three wise men follow the 'Star of Bethlehem' in KING OF KINGS (1961)

Personally speaking, a PEPLUM style adventure film with the Three Wise Men, or Three Kings, on a quest would make a great film. There is one Italian movie, with Raoul Bova, called THE FOURTH KING (1997), but it's not exactly spectacular.

I wish all a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

THE THIEF OF BAGHDAD Blu-ray review

Steve Reeves, as Karim the thief, and Daniele Vargas.

The German Blu-ray edition of THE THIEF OF BAGHDAD (1961) starring Steve Reeves, Giorgia Moll, Edy Vessel, Arturo Dominici and Daniele Vargas, and directed by Arthur Lubin (along with Bruno Vailati), is a great release. Previous releases were always poor or had the incorrect aspect ratios. This one is nearly perfect. I've uploaded quite a number of screenshots (and I could have uploaded more) but I think the images speak for themselves. Just to make sure, these screenshots are not retouched. I present them exactly as how the movie looks like in HD. Is it really nearly perfect? Not really. There are some issues which I'll explain soon but it's close to it.

The Blu-ray comes with German, Italian and English audio tracks. I watched the German and Italian versions briefly. The audio seemed a bit weak and low. The English audio seemed more dynamic but there's an issue with the English track: it's both in English and Italian since the US version was cut and the missing scenes edited out of the US version this version revert to Italian during those scenes. I believe there are about 8 or 9 scenes cut so therefore the movie switches to Italian from time to time. It's like one of my Fan Dubs. I'm happy the distributors did this. Even though it's annoying to hear two separate languages, the movie itself is intact. The Blu-ray can be set so English subs can appear during those scenes (see below). Were the scenes cut from the US version important? Not really but Gloria Milland is more present and the scene where they dress Karim (Reeves) into his blue clothes, entirely cut from the US copy, is important.

The issues with the Blu-ray edition, aside from the language switching issue mentioned above, mostly have to do with the English track. There are some audio problems, problems that could have been easily fixed but I guess they wanted to fix it in the least amount of time. Had they spent a bit more time on fixing it the audio it would have been without issues. The main problems are some popping sounds and audio looping, such as 49 minutes in where the audio is repeated twice for no reason. Generally, the image is excellent. It could have been a bit more vibrant. I have to say that the movie looks more vibrant when played directly from the disc than from a MKV file ripped from it (these screenshots were mostly taken from the MKV file I made from it). Looking at it in this Blu-ray and you can help but think that this is how people saw in it in movie theatres back in the day.

The runtime of the Blu-ray is 93 minutes, PAL conversion, which means 25 frames a second. The US copy I have is 91 minutes at 24 frames a sec. IMDb lists the original runtime at 100 minutes, at 24 frames a second. So the German version is pretty much uncut and it would come close to the original length if it wasn't presented in PAL format.

The film holds up very well. It has a nice magical sense to it which always make it fun to watch. For some reason, it has a nice Christmassy feel to it. The opening credits are in Italian and not the US version, which I find more appealing than the original one. Steve has never looked better even if he wasn't as buff as his previous movies. The cast is good and the production values are excellent throughout. This Blu-ray edition doesn't make it look cheap. The music by Carlo Rustichelli is memorable, even though one of his tracks from THE GIANTS OF THESSALY (1960) can be heard at one point, which always takes me out since that music is so familiar.

For extras, there's a short documentary with Giovanni Cianfriglia (see below), and a short presentation of photos and movie posters. Just a reminder: this is not the US version but the pretty much uncut version with different opening title. Will the US version ever get such a great Blu-ray release?

So, in closing: I'm very happy with it. If every PEPLUM movie had this treatment I'd be in heaven. And I get to watch it during this Christmas season.

Giorgia Moll  is princess Amina

 Karim steals from the rich to help the poor. 

Gloria Milland (right) has a small role as the Princess' handmaiden. Her role was literally cut out of the US edition available in 4:3 aspect ratio. Since she always stands on the sides, she was cropped out of nearly all of her scenes. So, for someone who has seen this movie several times in 4:3 it's nice to finally see Gloria.

A scene cut from the US version. The audio is in Italian but if you set the Blu-ray to display English subtitles, English subs will appear during those scenes.

 Karim and the princess fall in love

 Arturo Dominici is Prince Osman. Great actor.

 Karim in forced labor.

I don't think Steve has ever looked better than in this movie. The cinematographer and the lighting, or the direction by Lubin, made him look especially great.

 The production values are excellent. The HD format really makes it look good. Nothing looks cheap.

 Karim gets dressed in a blue suit. The entire scene is cut from the US version.

 Karim is greeted by beautiful women. Shot at Monte Gelato waterfalls. 

The Monte Gelato waterfalls were incorporated with a matte painting. The entire movie has plenty of matte paintings which is fun to watch.

 Kadeejah's lair.

 Edy Vessel as the mysterious seductress Kadeejah.

 Something is afoot. Karim notices that these statues resemble the suitors.

Matinee idol!

 The winged horse. Nice shot.

Karim becomes Sultan, with the approval of the Sultan of Baghdad (played by a confused Antonio Battistella).

Above and below: The movie is filled with nice matte paintings, a definite change from the usual Italian production. They still look nice in HD.

The opening credits for the US version. I prefer this version over the original Italian one which is pretty ordinary.

The Blu-ray has a mini documentary (a little over 7 minutes long) with the great Giovanni Cianfriglia explaining his stunt work, including his work with Steve Reeves, and also for THE THIEF OF BAGHDAD, which is pretty much seamless. Usually it's easy to spot Giovanni doing his stunt work but not in this movie. The doc is dated from 2006. So it wasn't made specifically for this Blu-ray. It's only in Italian with no English subs available.