Clip of the week: THE THRONE OF FIRE (1983)

Siegfried (Pietro Torrisi) shows up in the chamber of Princess Valkari (Sabrina Siani) while mega villain Morak (Harrison Muller) listens on.

 

SPFX DEPT.

A scene from GOLIATH AND THE DRAGON (1960)

This movie has a lot of different special effects, of different quality and style. In this case, it's about one scene with this is one big matte painting. The scene starts from the screenshot above. It then pans to the left, to the image below, and we see the vista in one extended shot. It's pretty cool. 
 

Then & Now: Helga Liné

Helga in HERCULES AND THE TYRANTS OF BABYLON (1964); a recent photo of Helga.

Musings!

Belinda Lee is Messalina in MESSALINA (1960) 

I like this movie. Production is excellent. Cast is excellent. Cinematography is excellent, etc. The one thing that I truly find odd about it is the tone. It's almost entirely this super serious dram but halfway through there's this long scene that's straight out of slapstick. It's so jarring. This is not unusual since the director is Vittorio Cottafavi. His style is unique and often shifts gears throughout a movie. Belinda Lee is excellent in her role. It's definitely her best PEPLUM role. Belinda would die a year later in a car accident in California. There are a couple of Blu-rays out there so this is good but the movie always had nice prints. 

PEPLUM Movie Poster

Belgian poster of REVAK THE REBEL (1960) 

Posters from Belgium are always colourful and this one is no exception. On the right are the main actors but the fellow swinging the chains is Alan Steel with a pose of Steve Reeves from the poster artwork of THE SON OF SPARTACUS (1962). This means the movie was released in Belgium in 1962.

Happy Easter!

 From KING OF KINGS (1961)

BY THE GODS! Spring 2024 magazine

BY THE GODS! Spring 2024 issue can now be purchased.

Get it while it's hot!

BY THE GODS! Spring 2024 edition

By JS Davidson

52 pages, published 3/7/2024

Magazine on the PEPLUM genre! For those who love movies with stories set in the past, such as Biblical, Epic or the Greco-Roman kind, this magazine covers it all.

Image of the week!

 Hercules (Reg Park) battles Proteus in HERCULES AND THE CAPTIVE WOMEN (1961)

Lobby Cards Set: THE LOVES OF HERCULES (1960)

Italian lobby cards set (fotobusta) of THE LOVES OF HERCULES starring Jayne Mansfield, Mickey Hargitay and others. This is a colourful movie and the set reflects this. I like it. I'm a bit confused on the LE QUATTRO FATICHE DI ERCOLE part. I mean, the original title is there, GLI AMORE DI ERCOLE, so what's up with the additional title? Cinematic Confusion! Good set.

Musings!

Champion gladiator (Pietro Ceccarelli) is about to fight with Revak (Jack Palance) in REVAK THE REBEL (1960)

This is an odd PEPLUM movie within the genre itself. It's feels like a TV production. The aspect ratio is not widescreen but shot in Academy aspect ratio (with a faux widescreen during projection in cinemas...?), perfect for TVs back then. The posters say it's in Eastmancolor while others say Technicolor. The movie has several different poster artwork with a lot of them directly copying the artwork of posters for other movies. They actually use the English audio of the English speaking cast, which is very odd for an Italian production. The entire 'modest' production itself is odd. The dialogue is often unintentionally hilarious. Some of the costumes are the worst I've seen in any PEPLUM movie. It's stands out from the rest of the pack...but not necessarily in a good way. It's still entertaining but...it's an odd one alright.

Behind-the-Scenes

Photographer Ken Whitmore taking a portrait of Charlton Heston as Moses on the exterior set of THE TEN COMMANDMENTS (1956).

Clip of the week: THE MIGHTY URSUS (1961)

Ursus (Ed Fury) is with his long lost wife to be, Attea (Moira Orfei). They're both interrupted by the evil Setas (Luis Prendes) who reveals the truth...

HD Alert!

Scenes from GOLIATH AND THE SINS OF BABYLON (1963)

HD copy of this fun PEPLUM movie. Again, this is from a streaming service in Europe. It's not available anywhere on Blu-ray, which is annoying since the movie looks spectacular in HD. Mark Forest and José Greci are in the image above.

Note: because of the lack of PEPLUM movies released on Blu-ray, HD Alert! will be appear once a month.

Giuliano Gemma and José Greci.

Vintage Article

A rare article on Gordon Mitchell. From a French magazine. I posted this years ago at BY THE GODS! blog. They described Mitchell as frightening. Images are from FURY OF ACHILLES (main image) and ATLAS IN THE LAND OF THE CYCLOPS (smaller image).

Musings!

Daniela Rocca in COLOSSUS AND THE AMAZON QUEEN (1960)

Daniela plays a leader of Amazons. According to myth, Amazons were one-breasted women. Removing one breast is kinda gruesome but in this movie, thanks to some clever costumes, the Amazons have one breast hanging out while the other is camouflaged, giving the illusion of being one-breasted. I really like this. Quite ingenious. This movie is fun to watch, for many reasons. The excellent sets are from SIEGE OF SYRACUSE (1960). Like almost all Amazon movies, it's a 'Battle of the Sexes' story as I wrote in the latest issue of BY THE GODS!

PEPLUM Movie Poster

Japanese re-release poster of CLEOPATRA (1963) 

This is from the 1977 revival. I love Japanese posters.

BY THE GODS! Spring 2024 magazine

BY THE GODS! Spring 2024 issue can now be purchased.

Get it while it's hot!

BY THE GODS! Spring 2024 edition

By JS Davidson

52 pages, published 3/7/2024

Magazine on the PEPLUM genre! For those who love movies with stories set in the past, such as Biblical, Epic or the Greco-Roman kind, this magazine covers it all.

Image of the week!

Marcus Tiberius (Brad Harris) is among the survivors of an erupting Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD: THE DESTRUCTION OF HERCULANEUM (1962)

At the movies...

SPARTACUS (1960) premiere at the Pantages theatre in Los Angeles.

Musings!

Maciste (Kirk Morris) looks on as the couple (Vira Silenti and Angelo Zanolli) are tormented by a witch hunt in MACISTE IN HELL (1962)

One of the biggest criticism this movie gets is Maciste appearing in 17th century Scotland in a loincloth of sorts (just go to IMDb to read reviews there). In this scene, no one questions him or his appearance. For many, they ridicule the movie just on this point alone. Personally, I think it works beautifully. It's obvious the director, Riccardo Freda, played with this perception aspect, in a brilliant manner. We see Maciste this waay but maybe the people around him saw Maciste differently. In my opinion, this is one of the reasons which makes this film so great. The contrast between Maciste and his surroundings works.

Behind-the-Scenes

Pascale Petit, still in costume, and fiancee Gianni Esposito eating at the Cinecitta restaurant during the filming of A QUEEN FOR CAESAR (1962). According to captions, Pascale was filming the last scenes of the movie on that day. Beautiful couple.

Clip of the week: GOLIATH AND THE DRAGON (1960)

Goliath (Mark Forest) to the rescue! With Broderick Crawford + cast. 

BY THE GODS! Spring 2024 edition

BY THE GODS! Spring 2024 issue can now be purchased.

BY THE GODS! Spring 2024 edition

By JS Davidson

52 pages, published 3/7/2024

Magazine on the PEPLUM genre! For those who love movies with stories set in the past, such as Biblical, Epic or the Greco-Roman kind, this magazine covers it all.

SPFX DEPT.

Scenes from SALAMMBO (1960; aka The Loves of Salammbo)

The view of Carthage from the desert. Carthage was a sea port and it looked quite different than this, apparently. Anyway, I like films that give a sense of place for the story, no matter how brief the scenes are. The matte work is nice but could have been more cool if it wasn't so far off in the distance. 

Then & Now: Kirk Morris

Kirk in SAMSON AND THE SEA BEAST (1963); a recent photo of Kirk

Below: there's a tribute to Kirk Morris in the Spring 2024 issue of BY THE GODS! Click here to purchase it.