Image of the week!

Joseph (Laurence Payne) and Mary (José Greci) passes through the Roman census (ordered by Caesar Augustus so everyone could be accounted for to pay taxes) as they arrive in Bethlehem in BEN-HUR (1959)

Multiple RIPs

I didn't want to end the year on a sad note and I was keeping these for a while but they were too many of these to wait after the holidays so here we go. The actresses appeared in a handful of PEPLUM movies.

The Kessler Twins, aka Alice and Ellen, died on November 17. The famous sisters starred in ERIK THE CONQUEROR (1961) which I profiled back in June. They died of assisted suicide since the sisters didn't want to die separately. That's so sad. They also appeared in SODOM AND GOMORRAH (1962).

 

Ornella Vanoni died on November 21. Ornella's major contribution to the PEPLUM genre was her prominent role in DUEL OF THE TITANS (1961). I posted a Then & Now last March before she passed away. Her other PEPLUM role was in WITH FIRE AND SWORD (1962).

  

Claudia Cardinale died on September 23. I saw the news of her death across all social medias but forgot to make a note of it. Claudia starred in CARTOUCHE (1962). Quite the movie. With Jean Paul Belmondo (below).

Claudia also had a role in JESUS OF NAZARETH (1977) miniseries.

 

Letícia Román died on June 26 in Florida. Letícia was Sarah in PONTIUS PILATE (1962) with Jean Marais. She also had roles in PIRATES OF TORTUGA (1961) and CHARGE OF THE BLACK LANCERS (1962; below) with Yvonne Furneaux. 

And lastly Elisa Montés. She died last year, October 9, 2024. I'm including her now because I just learned about her death (thanks Paul). I'm genuily sad because she's funny in SAMSON AND THE MIGHTY CHALLENGE (1964; above) with Alan Steel. She's also in ERIK THE VIKING (1965; below)

BY THE GODS! magazine issue no 4

You can buy the newest issue of BY THE GODS! at the link below:

BY THE GODS! magazine issue no 4

Musings!

Romano Giomini, Jeff Cameron and Sal Borgese are gladiators again in CHALLENGE OF THE GLADIATOR (1965)

In a reunion of sorts, three actors who appeared in all three TEN GLADIATORS films appeared in this movie as well. I recently posted about this title in HD Alert! but while watching the movie (again), I was reminded of this fun tidbit. Yes, I'm a PEPLUM maniac! I wish there was another Ten Gladiators movie. They're so much fun. You can see all the actors in the Ten Gladiators movies identified here in this blog post I did eleven years ago.
 

Behind-the-Scenes

Richard Burton and Rex Harrison on the set of CLEOPATRA (1963). Director Joseph L. Mankiewicz chatting with Rex.

Clip of the week: ALI BABA AND THE SEVEN SARACENS (1964)

Omar (Gordon Mitchell) is a bad boy. With Bella Cortez and Bruno Piergentili.

New PEPLUM imagery

THE SECRET THREE

MEN OF PULP

SPFX DEPT.

Scenes from THE GIANT OF MARATHON (1959)

These matte paintings in the movie are all excellent. And there are more of these. The screenshots are taken from a print in HD and they look amazing. Mario Bava is credited for cinematography and visual effects. They hold up beautifully. It's odd because these effects are much better than the ones in HERCULES IN THE HAUNTED WORLD (1961), also by Bava.

This shot is great but I don't know what to make of it. It looks like the battle at the end of HERCULES UNCHAINED (1959). The actor was added in with green screen.

PEPLUM Illustrations from TCM

I don't have TCM so I wouldn't know this but a few years ago, the movie channel showed a bunch of PEPLUM movies on Thursdays during the entire month of January. The illustrations are fun and show the movies that were going to be broadcasted.

On the left side, it's either ALEXANDER THE GREAT (1956) or CLEOPATRA (1963). The costumes look Roman so I'd say it's CLEOPATRA. BEN-HUR (1959; bottom right) with Charlton Heston during the chariot race, and the main illustration is from THE MINOTAUR (1960) with a muscular Bob Mathias and Rosanna Schiaffino.

 

The illustration on the left is from a POMPEII movie but which one? On the right side, we see Rossana Podesta from HELEN OF TROY (1956) and below her is Peter Ustinov as Nero in QUO VADIS (1951). And the main illustration is Kirk Douglas in SPARTACUS (1960).

 

The Trojan Horse from HELEN OF TROY is on the left side. Some viking movie on the right side. I don't know which one. Either THE VIKINGS (1958) or THE LONG SHIPS (1964). And the centre illustration is ATLAS (1961). It looks like Steve Reeves and not Michael Forest.

Musings!

Pierre Cressoy and Elena Klaus in FRINE - COURTESAN OF THE ORIENT (1953)

I got a new HD copy of this title, streaming in HD in Italy. Almost identical in style and story as APHRODITE - GODDESS OF LOVE (1958) also directed by Mario Bonnard. The copy has English subs and the spelling of Frine is Phryne. It even stars some of the same actors. It's beautiful but the print is not new (full of scratches, and marks...) which is why I won't feature it under HD Alert!

Elena has an elegant look and in this dress, one can clearly see she's not wearing anything underneath it. There's something undeniably exotic about her but her career was short, consisting of only 6 movies. Pierre Cressoy is excellent in this. He appeared in many PEPLUM movies. Tamara Lees looks and dresses like Irene Tunc in APHRODITE. 

Frine was the model to Praxiteles' revolutionary Aphrodite of Knidos. Sculptures and models are also part of the story of APHRODITE. APHRODITE is not a remake of FRINE but there's a lot of it that's identical. Cinematic Confusion. I like both movies. There's even incidental nudity.

PEPLUM Movie Poster

US one sheet poster of NIGHT IN PARADISE (1946) 

Beautiful poster. Notice how big Technicolor is vs everything else. It still didn't bring people in. 

Image of the week!

Glaucus, aka Hercules, is in a fight for his life against Archepolos (Nello Pazzafini) to prove his worth in HERCULES AGAINST MOLOCH (1963)

BY THE GODS! magazine issue no 4

You can buy the newest issue of BY THE GODS! at the link below:

BY THE GODS! magazine issue no 4

Lobby Cards Set: REVENGE OF THE BARBARIANS (1960)

Original Italian lobby cards set (fotobusta) of REVENGE OF THE BARBARIANS (1960) starring Daniella Rocca, José Greci, and Anthony Steel. Great set. Covers almost everything. Great film!

Musings!

Ettore Manni and Reg Park in HERCULES - PRISONER OF EVIL (1964) 

The movie's synopsis at IMDb: Hercules battles an evil sorceress who turns men into werewolves.

That pretty much covers it. I like the story. The original character wasn't Hercules but Ursus but even that doesn't really work with the story. Maciste would have been better. Both Manni and Park were in HERCULES AND THE CAPTIVE WOMEN (1961) so this was a reunion of sorts. The film utilizes BIG chunks of footage from THE SEVEN REVENGES (1961). The footage doesn't actually add that much to the story. It just pads the runtime. The (male) Bad Guy in this movie also appeared in THE SEVEN REVENGES as the Bad Guy and this is how they were able to tie those scenes with the new stuff. I wish those scenes didn't exist in the final cut since the production is so obviously different. I think the basic story of the evil sorceress turning men into werewolves would have been fine without it. Maybe a new edit is needed? To make things even more confusing, this movie was re-edited into an adult movie called THE EROTIC LIFE OF URSUS (1970), that added even more additional scenes in the already padded production. That movie is still missing in action. Anyway, this is a mix of PEPLUM and horror and since I'm a big fan of both genres, this movie is right up my alley. Maybe a BY THE GODS! magazine article on Horror and PEPLUM?

Behind-the-Scenes

Chelo Alonso posing in a huge display for SIGN OF THE GLADIATOR (1959), presumably during the premiere.

Clip of the week: HERCULES AGAINST THE MOON MEN (1964)

Hercules (Alan Steel) tries to find the lair of the Moon Men during a massive sandstorm. I wrote about this in the latest issue of BY THE GODS!
 

Portrait

Steve Reeves as Olympic champion Phillipides in THE GIANT OF MARATHON (1959)

HD Alert!

Steve Reeves, as Sandokan, and Leo Anchoriz in SANDOKAN - PIRATE OF MALAYSIA (1964)

Beautiful print taken from Spanish streaming service. The image is nearly perfect. The night scenes, and there are lot of them, are dark but overall it's not bad as other HD upgrades. Not available anywhere on Blu-ray.

Quick comparison between the DVD (first) and HD streaming (second). The reds of his jacket are totally different. The HD transfer is excellent. I've added a photo at the list of PEPLUM movies in HD.

Nydia from THE LAST DAYS OF POMPEII

As I wrote in the new issue of BY THE GODS!, THE LAST DAYS OF POMPEII was adapted numerous times for the big screen or TV. One of the main characters in the hugely popular novel by Edward Bulwer-Lytton is Nydia, the blind flower girl. I intended to include this article in the magazine after the formatting issue but I kept the new format and instead of adding it to the magazine, here it is.

You can buy the magazine at 20% off with the code HOLIDAY2025 until December 11!

BY THE GODS! magazine issue no 4

Musings!

Luciana Paluzzi as a genie in 1001 NIGHTS (1968) 

Luciana became an IT girl of sorts in the 1960s, having appeared in THUNDERBALL (1965) and a host of other projects, in movies or TV, throughout the decade all because of her role in HERCULES (1958) in which she had a small supporting role as Iole's handmaiden. She literally worked non stopped before retiring in the 1970s. It's incredible how many actors got their start from appearing in HERCULES. In this lightweight movie, she plays a genie who turns into a bird and 'lives' in a golden birdcage, not a genie bottle. It's entertaining but sorta repetitive. By the middle of the movie, I usually lose interest. It's not bad by any means but the story is not very compelling even if the cast does its best. A typical late 1960s foreign production with overly brightly lit sets and super-colourful costumes. 

PEPLUM Movie Poster

French poster of THE SWORD OF ALI BABA (1965) 

A simple photo montage. The focus is definitely on Jocelyn.

Image of the week

Hercules (Reg Park), who has been looking for Androcles (Ettore Manni) after arriving in Atlantis, finds him in his room and hit him by surprise. Antinea (Fay Spain), Queen of Atlantis who had said to Hercules that Androcles wasn't on the island, has some explaining to do.

PEPLUM Movie Quotes

From GIANTS OF ROME (1964)

Drood: 'We Druids have mastered the art of torture (audio issues). We are well acquainted with the human body and we know where to apply a white hot iron to produce the maximum amount of pain. Eventually, one of you will speak freely. Wouldn't it be wiser to save me this effort?'

I'm currently currently creating a new permanent page with an article for the blog (not the magazine) that I'll write progressively. It's a companion piece with THE REAL PEPLUM X and WARDROBE MALFUNCTION. This scene will be featured in the article.

Musings!

Alan Steel tries to survive a sandstorm in HERCULES AGAINST THE MOON MEN (1964)

In the current issue of BY THE GODS! I cover disasters in PEPLUM movies. This includes this movie which has the evil Moon Men try to destroy the earth and our Hero du jour tries to stop them. The disasters includes the infamous sandstorm which, at one point, became a meme. It was a point of ridicule by folks who trash PEPLUM movies in general. There's nothing bad about the sandstorm. It might be a bit long but overall, I like it. Steel stands out, literally, in this scene, which is one of the reasons why these film geeks hate it so much. The big difficulty writing the article for the magazine was decided what to cover and what to leave out. There's so much to write about. Volcanoes alone could have taken the entire length of the article. I included this movie because I like it. Nothing will make me not like it. And Alan Steel is one of the reasons why I give it thumbs up. Legend.

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You can buy the magazine at 20% off with the code HOLIDAY2025 until December 11!

BY THE GODS! magazine issue no 4