Clip of the week: NERO AND THE BURNING OF ROME (1953)

Gino Cervi as Nero; Jole Fierro as Poppea; Paola Barbara as Agrippina. Directed by Primo Zeglio. Exclusive clip.

By the Gods!

Tawny Kitaen as Gwendoline in GWENDOLINE (1984) 

Tawny died on May 7 at the age of 59. GWENDOLINE is her only PEPLUM movie. She also played Deianeira on the HERCULES TV show with Kevin Sorbo. The movie itself was trashed by critics back in the day and personally I prefer the second half of the movie than the tedious first half but I have a soft spot for this silly movie. RIP, Tawny.

Musings! (05-11)

Searching far and wide for all things PEPLUM! Luciano Marin and Steve Reeves in GOLIATH AND THE BARBARIANS (1959)

Streaming is NOT the future of PEPLUM movies!

Just a couple of Musings! ago, March 02, and April 20 and 27 to be exact, I mentioned how stunning prints of PEPLUM movies have been showing up at various streaming services in Europe, mainly in Italy, Canal+ in France and one in Spain. Well, it seems most if not all PEPLUM movies have been removed, including Canal+'s offerings. 

I tell you...someone monitors this blog closely. It's one of the reasons why I don't create posts with links to my Youtube channels anymore. Since I've stopped doing this my Youtube channels have been 'stable' if that's the proper word.

The blog's success can also become it's downfall.

Speaking of success, I created the blog over 11 years ago because there was so little dedicated to the PEPLUM genre on them interwebs. Yes, there were a couple of sites that had stuff on the genre but for the most part nothing earth-shatteringly important. So, I created the first PEPLUM Youtube channel, which was a success. Then the blog 3 years later, in 2010, which today, is more popular than ever. But little did I know that there were people out there who thought they were the 'leaders' of the genre. These folks created a huge amount of Facebook accounts, reviews at IMDb, etc, *after* my first Youtube channel and after the blog were a success. Even though their presence on the internet was minimal, they felt I was encroaching on their territory. But they are the ones who approached me, not the other way around. Today, all of these people have stopped communicating with me. It's a silly situation but that's how things go. I can count on at least 5 people who have shunned me...just because of the blog's success. Weird.

Cinematic Confusion

French VHS cover of THE PIRATE AND THE SLAVE GIRL (1959) starring Lex Barker and Chelo Alonso. Looks nothing like the movie. It's so weird. People who rented this movie must have looked at the cover in a weird way as the movie unfolded.


Have you seen?

The 1944 re-release of THE SIGN OF THE CROSS (1932)? They added WW2 scenes prior to the movie. This version is not available anywhere. 

New Feature at the blog

Starting this week, there will be a new feature at the blog. It will be called 'Different Versions' in which I'll show the different versions I have of many titles. I already do this with Different Titles but with Different Versions, I'll show screenshots of one scene from all different copies. HERCULES AND THE CAPTIVE WOMEN (1961) will be my first choice. Stay tuned!

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I was supposed to review DUEL OF THE TITANS German Blu-ray last week but I purchased a copy of the US release of the movie (I assume it is since I'm still waiting for it to arrive in the mail). Once I get this print, I'll do the review.

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Last week's 'Identify this movie' was from IN THE SHADOW OF THE EAGLES (1966) with a screenshot of Gabriella Pallota.

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I watched just a handful of movies during the past week. I'll have more on this next week.

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Stats for the past week:

 

Future Musings:

- List of PEPLUM books

- List of movies available in HD / Blu-ray

- PEPLUM Museum?

By the Gods!

Carl Möhner in THE FALL OF ROME (1963) 

I like this movie. It was released before THE FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE (1964). Of course on can't compare one with the other but it's still the first 'Fall of Rome' movie made. Carl is good in it. As far as I know this is his only PEPLUM movie. He should have done more. Directed by the always dependable Antonio Margheriti, who loved working with models and the earthquake at the end of the movie gave him ample opportunity to showcase his work with small scale buildings.

PEPLUM Movie Poster

Spanish poster of ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA (1972)

Interesting poster. A combination of photos, like lobby cards, plus art. Charlton looks dour.

PEPLUM TV Official store

Official PEPLUM TV Merch 

By the Gods!

Samson (Brad Harris) and Millstone (Alan Steel) are about to bring down the temple in SAMSON (1961)

Steel's character was named Hercules in some versions, including the French release. Two strong men are better than one. This scene recalls the scene the climatic scene in HERCULES (1958). They had to act quickly so the two together got things done. "Hey, stop talking and start pulling!" Samson should have said. It's fun but with two mighty men, the damage was disappointingly minimal. 

Then & Now: Claire Bloom

Claire Bloom in ALEXANDER THE GREAT (1956) ; a recent photo of the actress

By the Gods!

Elissa Landi as Antiope in THE WARRIOR'S HUSBAND (1933)

Yesterday I got a copy of this 'lost' film and watched most of it for the first time. I need more time to give a complete overview of it but needless to say I'm besides myself. This movie is considered 'lost'. One known copy happens to be at the Museum of Modern Art in NYC. The copy I got is a bootleg. It's not very good but it's good enough to see how lush the production is. In a pristine state, the movie must be beautiful to look at. The story centers on Amazons and we see how Amazons live, in massive buildings, with throngs of marching female warriors. In this society, men stay home to take care of the kids while the women go to war and are warriors. It's fun to watch (something that's rarely shown in movies) and Theseus (David Manners) enters the story and it becomes a comedy of the sexes, a pre-code one at that. It reminds me of COLOSSUS AND THE AMAZON QUEEN (1960) with Rod Taylor, Ed Fury and Gianna Maria Canale. It's original runtime is only 75 minutes long but the bootleg is missing 15 minutes so it's only an hour long. 55 minutes of the movie plus the ending with closing credits. Originally, this was a successful play starring Katherine Hepburn. It was eventually adapted into a musical called "BY JUPITER". 

I'd like to thank the generous fellow who provided this gem.
 

David Manners as Theseus

 

Big sets and marching warriors (below) abound in this production

The marching Amazons start dancing in a Charleston-style footwork.

Greek men captured by Amazons, chained and paraded as prize.

Lobby Cards Set: THE WARRIOR'S HUSBAND (1933)

Incomplete lobby cards set of THE WARRIOR'S HUSBAND (1933) starring Elissa Landi and David Manners. A rare set for an extremely rare movie. These 4 cards are gorgeous, sorta like the movie itself. I like all 4 cards. 

Clip of the week: HERCULES AND THE CAPTIVE WOMEN (1961)

Destruction of Atlantis! With Fay Spain. Great scene! 

By the Gods!

The statue of Uranus from HERCULES AND THE CAPTIVE WOMEN (1961)

Amazing set. One of the biggest from a European-produced PEPLUM movie. This image is a combination of two screenshots taken from a good copy of the movie (not the recent Blu-ray release...). 

Musings! (05-04)

Searching far and wide for all things PEPLUM! Luciano Marin and Steve Reeves in GOLIATH AND THE BARBARIANS (1959)

More on NERO'S BIG WEEKEND

Yesterday I posted about NERO'S BIG WEEKEND (1956) which was one of the movies that year that made Brigitte Bardot a superstar. But there's most interesting stuff just by reading the opening credits:

Actress Giorgia Moll is listed, spelled Georgia

Lucio Fulci is listed as Assistant Director. Fulci would become director in his own right.

Mario Bava was the director of photography and visual effects. He would directed PEPLUM movies later on.

Score by A. F. Lavagnino and conductor was Carlo Sabina, a composer as well.

And look at this...In Eastmancolor and Tecnostampa? 


Identify the movie!

Can you identify the movie from this scene?

No one identified last week's movie. It was from SEVEN REBEL GLADIATORS (1965).


Cinematic Confusion

Another very odd French VHS cover. The movie is TRIUMPH OF HERCULES starring Dan Vadis but the front cover has nothing to do with the movie. There are no scenes in it which take place on a boat. And the image on the back cover is Yann Larvor from SAMSON & THE MIGHTY CHALLENGE.


 

The answer to this mystery movie I posted about at the beginning of last month is WHEN THE RAVEN FLIES (1984), an Icelandic production. The movie is on Youtube so you can check it out. REVENGE OF THE BARBARIANS makes it sound more exciting...not to be confused with the 1960 movie starring Daniela Rocca.


Has anyone seen this movie?

 

LA VIE EROTIQUE D'URSUS (1970) or THE EROTIC LIFE OF URSUS. A lost movie? It apparently used scenes from HERCULES - PRISONER OF EVIL (1964) starring Reg Park and inserted erotic scenes in between those from the older movie. A definite curio I'd like to see.


Movies I watched...

NERO'S BIG WEEKEND - In HD but in Italian only. I just got the English subtitles to this movie today so I'll be rewatching it again.

SINBAD AND THE CALIPH OF BAGHDAD (1973) - This movie needs a good transfer, the audio boosted and new English dub. I like this movie, the last directed by Pietro Francisci, but the English audio is pretty weak.


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Last week's questions. The movie titled HERCULES VS THE GIANT WARRIORS is an alternate title for...TRIUMPH OF HERCULES.

 

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Stats for April were very good. 55,000 views which translates as an average of 1800 daily views. The blog used to get 900 to 1000 average daily views. The blog also gets these high peak days (seen below) which are a total mystery to me.

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Official PEPLUM TV T-shirt...
 

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Future Musings:

- List of PEPLUM books

- List of movies available in HD / Blu-ray

- PEPLUM Museum?

By the Gods!

Poppea (Brigitte Bardot) and Nero (Alberto Sordi) have a chat in NERO'S BIG WEEKEND (1956)

I'm always fascinated how stars become stars. Most people know Brigitte Bardot but few people know how she became a star. Brigitte starred in 6 movies in 1956, including this Italian comedy, plus HELEN OF TROY, and...AND GOD CREATED WOMEN. So, 1956 was the year Bardot became Bardot. She would become a cinematic sex symbol from then up until the beginning of the 1970s. I posted a screenshot of this at the PEPLUM Channel Facebook account and many had no clue she was in a movie with Gloria Swanson and Italian stars. It's one of many reasons to watch this movie, regardless if one finds it funny or not. Sordi had already starred with Sophia Loren in TWO NIGHTS WITH CLEOPATRA (1954) so he was used to sharing screen time with beautiful women. Also known as NERO'S MISTRESS. Screengrab taken from a beautiful copy in HD. I'll have more on this in tomorrow's Musings!

PEPLUM Movie Poster

Canadian poster of SHEHERAZADE (1963)

Hmm...

PEPLUM TV Official store

NEW STUFF! 

Official PEPLUM TV Merch 

By the Gods!

Steve Reeves as Aeneas in THE AVENGER (1962 ; aka War of the Trojans) 

Along with the DVD set of THE BIG FISHERMAN, I purchased this relatively recent release of this movie on DVD from Italy. It's basically the same print as previous versions but at a higher resolution. The big scene at the beginning available only in the French version is still missing from this cut though. So it's definitely not complete but it's the best version of this movie out there. It includes the Italian and English audio so a definite plus. You can buy it here.

Different Versions: THE LOVES OF HERCULES (1960)

PEPLUM movies made in Europe, mainly Italy, often had different versions of the same movie for different markets: one for Europe and another for North America. Though this practice was not widespread, it happened enough to be an issue. It's one of the reasons why Fan Dubs for some titles are impossible to make: the English audio doesn't match the European print. Here's one clear example.

THE LOVES OF HERCULES (1960) has three versions. I only show two versions here. The version on the left is the original Italian version while the screenshot on the right was taken from the US print. The third version is the one with Mickey Hargitay's real voice (I've never seen that one). The movie was made in 1960 but released in the US in 1966 (direct to TV?). 

Not only is the action of the same scenes different but the one for US market seems to have been made specifically for television. Side by side comparisons show how the framing between the two versions is completely different. In the above example, the US one shows Hercules (Mickey Hargitay) from the waist up while the Italian print shows him from the chest.

The problem is that the US version of the movie has never been released in widescreen (does it exist?) therefore it's impossible to fully know how much more different it it. Needeless to say, this is one of the best examples out there.

I can't imagine what a nightmare it must have been to keep track of all these scenes.

By the Gods!

Peter (Howard Keel) meets Fara (Susan Kohner) in THE BIG FISHERMAN (1959)

I got the Italian DVD in the mail yesterday (amazingly FAST service). I'm happy and yet disappointed. I'm happy to show screenshots of the movie in widescreen. This being the first movie shot in Super Panavision 70, it needs to be seen in the widescreen format. I won't review the movie itself as I've learned after watching tons of PEPLUM movies with bad prints that watching a movie with a great print is the only way to give it a fair overview. Needeless to say, this movie is more THE SILVER CHALICE (1954) than BEN-HUR (1959). It seems to draw as much criticism as THE SILVER CHALICE. Just check out the reviews at IMDb. That's all I shall say about it for now.  

As for the Italian DVD pack, it comes with two discs. One with the movie in 4:3 aspect ratio. This print is available in Italian and English, at 165 minutes (PAL) while the second disc is only in Italian, in widescreen at 122 minutes (PAL). I'm glad I bought it even though I'm disappointed the widescreen copy is not in better shape and there's no English track. The print in widescreen was reason alone in getting this pack.

Looking at this release I wonder: aside from PEPLUM fanatics like me who's going to buy this?

The movie has many insane massive sets!

Here's a comparison between the Italian DVD above and, below, the only copy available in English. It's almost unwatchable in 4:3. 

Behind-the-Scenes

Steve Reeves waits patiently as the scene is set up during the filming of THE THIEF OF BAGHDAD (1961)
 

Clip of the week: PERSEUS THE INVINCIBLE (1963)

Richard Harrison (Perseus) fights the Medusa. This is the Spanish version which is different from the Italian one. In the Spanish version, the score, special effects (lasers...) and editing are different.

By the Gods!

Paul Muller and Alan Steel in DUE SELVAGGI A CORTE (1959)

I wanted to write about it for a while but had so many other things going. This rare movie wasn't released in English. The title translates as TWO SAVAGES AT THE COURT. Now if one looks at the IMDb page for this movie, Alan Steel is not credited. Not even under is real name, Sergio Ciani. This movie would be more known if they actually included him in the credits. I have to say, Alan looks great in B&W. It's a rare black and white movie shot in widescreen. I have to update my list of B&W PEPLUM titles. Directed by PEPLUM veteran Ferdinando Baldi. It's a gorgeous looking film with a dream PEPLUM cast: Leonora Ruffo, Erno Crisa, Carla Calo, Andrea and Franco Fantasia, Nando Angelini, etc. A true find.

Musings! (04-27)

Searching far and wide for all things PEPLUM! Luciano Marin and Steve Reeves in GOLIATH AND THE BARBARIANS (1959)

The HECULES AND THE CAPTIVE WOMEN Blu-ray review

People are slowly realizing how bad the Blu-ray release is. At the 'Blu-ray.com' forum dedicated to the movies, there's an on-going discussion on this release and a link to this blog's review was posted (thanks). Also, someone posted a review at AMAZON re-iterating the points I've made. It's a bad release. People buying it don't realize the Blu-ray is a fail.

On a side note, I registered to that forum and posted a message months ago but the post was rejected or it wasn't posted. I don't (or can't) post there. So this is not some self-promotion. Someone there doesn't like me.


The future of the PEPLUM genre is in streaming...

Last week, I mentioned how TRIUMPH OF THE TEN GLADIATORS was available for streaming on Spain. The print is beautiful. Well, there are already plenty of PEPLUM movies available on Amazon Prime. Some of the prints look good but most of them (from either Sinister Cinema or something like them) seem to be in poor quality.

The title below is actually PERSEUS THE INVINCIBLE (1964). PERSEUS AGAINST MONSTERS makes it sound like a kids movie...but it's still better than MEDUSA VS THE SON OF HERCULES. The artwork on the poster or cover is from the French DVD release. I guess Amazon is affiliated with them.

Cinematic Confusion

Speaking of streaming services, the old Cinematic Confusion tradition, which has plagued the PEPLUM genre since forever, continues on with streaming services. In this screenshot of the Amazon page for ATLAS AGAINST THE CZAR (1964), the photo of Kirk Morris, who stars in that movie, is actually from HERCULES, SAMSON AND ULYSSES (1963). Then the 'Starring' credits show Michele Mercier, Richard Harrison and Roldano Lupi. None of them are in ATLAS AGAINST THE CZAR. It's truly baffling how these mistakes keep happening. I truly believe the PEPLUM genre is cursed.


Identify the movie!

Can you identify the movie from this screengrab? It's an easy one...

Last week's IDENTIFY THE MOVIE was a screenshot from THE MONGOLS (1961). No one bothered guessing, which is okay. It was an obscure shot.

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The other issue was the misspelling in the credits. Again, no one tried to guess where the error was. The problem was with the Director credit. Pietro Franscici was misspelled as FRANCISICI, which would be a mouthful. 

French DVD problem

The Artus DVD of SAMSON AND THE MIGHTY CHALLENGE (1964) has some sort of odd image issue which is brief but very odd. Below are screengrabs of the bizarre issue. The actors look like ghosts. Beware! 

I posted about this at BY THE GODS! a few weeks ago and I wanted to share it here.

 

Recent Acquisitions

I didn't receive anything in the mail but I did buy the Italian DVD of THE BIG FISHERMAN (1959). The 2 discs pack says the English track is included and it's in widescreen. Yeah!  There are two discs and the English one is not in widescreen. Oops...Anyway, at least there's a copy in widescreen. The runtimes between the English and Italian ones are also quite different.

I also bought a newer print of THE AVENGER (1962 ; aka War of the Trojans) starring Steve Reeves. I hope this print will be better than all of the previous ones which have all been disappointing up to now.

I should receive these this week so I'll have a review, or a quick overview, of them soon.

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Last week, I wrote that I'll have the review of the new German Blu-ray of DUEL OF THE TITANS this week but things have been so hectic here that I'll postpone the review for next week.

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I recently joined TikTok and I have to say that the platform is happening. I'm thinking of creating a PEPLUM TV account there. The issue: showing short clips of movies in portrait format. 

I wanted to create a Youtube channel with tons of short clips from PEPLUM movies but Youtube sucks. TikTok is so much better (for now) but showing clips in Portrait mode will be a challenge. TCM already does this and it's quite good. 

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In closing, does this movie really exist? What's the other title it's known as by everyone. Of course, try not to use IMDb or search the internet.

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Future Musings:

- List of PEPLUM books

- List of movies available in HD / Blu-ray

- PEPLUM Museum?

- A new Twitter account for actresses of PEPLUM movies?