Musings!

Mary (José Greci) and Joseph (Laurence Payne) are greeted by the Three Kings in BEN-HUR (1959)

Great scene from a great movie. It's a shame there aren't that many PEPLUM movies or TV shows that celebrate the birth of Jesus. Maybe I should do a list. It's so awkward to post anything during these festive last two weeks of December. This was José Greci's first role. She would eventually become a PEPLUM star in her own right.

PEPLUM Movie Poster

German poster of THE THIEF OF BAGHDAD (1961) 

Steve Reeves' costume is actually blue. Almost all the poster have him in red. It's odd. Still, a very colourful poster.

Image of the week!

Emiliano (Steve Reeves), the Goliath, helps Landa (Chelo Alonso) in GOLIATH AND THE BARBARIANS (1959)

At the movies...

Crowds gathering in Time Square for New Year's Eve celebrations with QUO VADIS (1951) playing at the Astor theatre.

Musings!

Gloria Milland and Mark Forest in HERCULES AGAINST THE BARBARIANS (1964)

I really like this film. The new German Blu-ray is excellent. But this scene, even with the nice Blu-ray transfer, always looks problematic. The two are crossing a river of fire on a makeshift bridge created by Hercules. It's the way the scene was filmed is the reason why this scene looks less than sharp. The scene is good, as with the entire colourful film. Even if Milland's character spends the most time with Hercules, she's not Hercules' love interest. It's a fascinating movie when it's juxtaposed with HERCULES AGAINST THE MONGOLS (almost the same cast, same director; filmed back to back). The contrast is amazing. 

Behind-the-Scenes

Gordon Scott getting ready on the set of GOLIATH AND THE VAMPIRES (1961)

Clip of the week: TIGER OF THE SEVEN SEAS (1962)

Gianna Maria Canale in action! 

Newest By The Gods! magazine now on sale!

By The Gods! 3

By JS Davidson

56 pages, published 12/18/2024

By The Gods! and Trojan Tales!

HD Alert!

Thanks to a comment made here, it seems Artus Films Blu-ray releases of HERCULES (1958) and HERCULES UNCHAINED (1959) will be available in March 2025. As previously reported at my BY THE GODS! blog, those BD releases had already been set but it fell through. This was back in 2021! So, hopefully this time Artus Films will succeed. And hopefully, the prints will be different than the ones on DVD in France or the Japanese Blu-ray versions, which I don't care for. Anyway, I checked the internet and couldn't find any confirmation of this. I'm just relying on the comment posted here on the blog. I assume the packaging from the aborted first release will be used for this one which is why I've included them here.

Addendum: the movies are not listed at Artus Films' website but they are listed at Amazon France (thanks to the anonymous comment): HERCULES and HERCULES UNCHAINED.

And another seller, CINEFEEL (thanks Paul)

They're actually trying to sell these as Mario Bava movies.

Then & Now: Beba Loncar

Beba in IN THE SHADOW OF THE EAGLES (1966); a recent photo of Beba.

Musings!

Beba Loncar and Cameron Mitchell in IN THE SHADOW OF THE EAGLES (1966)

Any fans out there of this movie? I'm not trying to make fun of it. I'm just asking. This PEPLUM is the closest thing to a regular drama/melodrama. I like it but it's serious and short on fun PEPLUM clichés. The movie always had great prints. Even the cheap Greek DVD was pristine. But, as far as I know, it hasn't been seen in HD yet. One of many PEPLUM movies Cameron made after his career in Hollywood fizzled even after appearing in movies like CAROUSEL (1956). 

PEPLUM Movie Poster

Original Italian poster of THREE SWORDS FOR ROME (1964)

Mimmo is clearly there but hard to make out Roger Browne and Mario Novelli. Nice poster nonetheless.

Image of the week!

A wounded El Kebir (Mark Damon) is nursed by Meroe (Samira Ahmed) after he was whipped in THE SON OF CLEOPATRA (1964)

Muscles Inc.

 Steve Reeves on the cover of an old French magazine. The Hercules of Cinema!

Musings!

Kirk Morris and Barbara Loy in MACISTE - AVENGER OF THE MAYANS (1965)

Not the greatest PEPLUM movie by any means. It's still entertaining but also confusing. It's one of those PEPLUM movies with a hero in the title that doesn't match the name in the movie itself. It's MACISTE but in the movie, Kirk is called HERCULES. It's a mishmash of scenes from different movies, one starring Kirk, with new scene (like this one) all stitched together in a bizarre film experience. Kirk looks like Elvis Presley. His hair in the new scenes doesn't match the hair in the scenes from those different movies. A mess of sorts but fun to watch for fans of the genre.

Behind-the-Scenes

Richard Gere and director Bruce Beresford setting up a scene on the set of KING DAVID (1985)

Clip of the week: JULIUS CAESAR AGAINST THE PIRATES (1962)

Orgy! With Gustavo Rojo, Mario Petri, Piero Lulli and Abbe Lane!

BTG magazine

I submitted the final copy to be printed. Once I get the printed copy in the mail (and make revisions if needed) BY THE GODS! magazine should be ready early next week!

SPFX DEPT.

Scenes from CAESAR THE CONQUEROR (1962)

Atmospheric matte paintings from this 'modest' movie. One could barely see these matte paintings in public domain print but now with better print available, one can see the amount of details put into this production. Quite subtle. Joseph Nathanson is the artist behind these very good matte works.

Antiquity recreated by AI

There's talk about TikTok being banned in the US. I doubt it will happen since the new president is against it. We will have to see. It would be sad if it was blocked because there's so much fun stuff on it, for PEPLUM fans like me. There are several accounts which recreate ancient civilizations with the help of AI.


 

 

 

Musings!

Sylvia Lopez as Queen Omphale in HERCULES UNCHAINED (1959) 

How do you view Omphale in this movie? Is she evil? A villainess? A tragic figure? Do you view her in a sympathetic way? I love the way director Francisci filmed her character. In an ambiguous way. But I can't feel too bad for her since her self interest almost started a major conflict. Was he affection for Hercules genuine or same as usual? She seemed to be in love with Hercules but the Queen lost her sense of judgment towards her Kingdom, which makes her sorta selfish. 

PEPLUM Movie Poster

Original Italian poster of AENEID (1971)

Originally this was a TV miniseries but they edited down to a feature length movie. I have the series (I will get the DVD set one day...) but I don't have this movie version. 

Image of the week!

Theodora (Gianna Maria Canale) is chained by the giant (Umberto Silvestri) knowing all too well her imprisonment won't last in THEODORA - SLAVE EMPRESS (1954; from HD source - click image)

Lobby Cards Set: THE WHITE WARRIOR (1959)

Original Italian lobby cards of THE WHITE WARRIOR (1959) starring Steve Reeves. A different kind of lobby cards set with photos and photo montages. I can't say I'm a fan of this. Nice set otherwise, with a good set of images.

Musings!

Edmund Purdom and George Ardisson in THE LAST OF THE VIKINGS (1961) 

Even though with the growing number of titles on Blu-ray (mostly from Europe), the PEPLUM genre in general has been neglected. Of the sub-genres, the Vikings category has been really neglected. We're in 2024, soon to be 2025, and yet this movie is still not on Blu-ray or HD streaming. This scene was recreated (aka stolen), almost scene by scene, for a GAME OF THRONES episode. It's really amazing. Edmund plays a crazed King. He's really quite entertaining. This entire scene and the scene following this one make the movie. It's harrowing even with Edmund's OTT acting.