PEPLUM Break!

I take a break roughly every two months and my last break was back in April so it's that time again.

So stay tuned!

I'll leave you now with King Leonidas (Richard Egan) from THE 300 SPARTANS (1962), saying "From this wall, we do not retreat!"

Image of the week!

Outlaw Captain Morgan (Steve Reeves) easily overpowers Francois L'Olonnais (Armand Mestral) during a sword fight in MORGAN THE PIRATE (1960)

Lobby Cards Set: ULYSSES AGAINST HERCULES (1962)

Original Italian lobby cards set (fotobusta) of ULYSSES AGAINST HERCULES starring Georges Marchal, Mike Lane, Alessandra Panaro and more. Excellent set. It has only action scenes. There should have been a card with a full view of Alessandra or Raffaella Carrà or Dominique Boschero. But aside from this, it's great.

Musings!

Ed Fury and Massimo Carocci on the beach after surviving trouble on the seas in SAMSON AGAINST THE SHEIK (1962)

Another difficult scene shot during a sunset. The acting is not the best during this scene. They had to complete no matter what. This movie is a mix of Medieval (late 1500), Arabian Adventure, Muscle action, etc. This film is one of many reasons why PEPLUM movies don't necessarily fit in one category. I don't dislike the movie. It's colourful and the production is solid. The score is excellent, when they use it. But the direction is awkward. There are many 'dead' scenes where notting really happens. Ed started loosing his sculpted physique and the Feat of Strength scenes (there are a good number of them) are a bit odd as his muscles are almost non-existent. He's still fit but nothing out of the ordinary. 

I have this one uploaded to PEPLUM TV Youtube channel and it garners some of the most vitriolic comments from any film. The original version, Ed plays Maciste (for the first and last time). In the English version, Maciste was renamed Samson. People expecting a Biblical movie are unhappy with what they were watching, hence the nasty comments.

Behind-the-Scenes

Jeff Chandler and Rita Gam goof around on the set of SIGN OF THE PAGAN (1954)

Clip of the week: URSUS IN THE LAND OF FIRE (1963)

The fiery climax to the movie. With Ed Fury, Luciana Gilli and too many others to mention.

New PEPLUM imagery

With a few prompts, new PEPLUM imagery by AI. 

From 

MEN OF PULP @ X

THE 9 GIANTS OF ROME

HD Alert!

Scenes from THE BACCHANTES (1961)

A pristine print of this movie is now on the internet. It's not from a Blu-ray release. This was one of my first Fan Dubs I did. I had the English audio, which as in a bad state, and edited with the then best print available from Europe. The English audio from that Fan Dub has been copied over and over again, including this print. But the image is vast improvement over another HD broadcast at RAI which had major colour correction issues. This one doesn't have any even if it looks like they applied the same filter the HD print of HERCULES (1958) had which made that movie look terrible. This one is a bit better even if some scenes look overly retouched. But regardless, this is one of the best prints available yet so I'm not complaining. Great film! 

Actors in these screenshots are Alberto Lupo, Taina Elg, Miranda Campa, Enzo Fiermonte and Benito Stefanelli (above) and Alessandra Panaro and Nerio Bernardi (below).


 

Gladiators exhibition at the Leeds Royal Armouries

Gladiator items from Pompeii are showcased in an exhibition at the Leeds Royal Armouries in England. I won't be going but if you're in the area or plan to travel there, make sure to check it out. Looks good!

Link

Musings!

Andrea Aureli is surrounded by two Queens of the PEPLUM genre, Gianna Maria Canale and Sylva Koscina in THE MIGHTY CRUSADERS (1957)

This is a rare moment, when Gianna and Sylva, both who would star in HERCULES (1958), are on screen together. In fact, both actresses share top billing in the opening credit for the French release of MIGHTY CRUSADERS, which is rare in an action movie. In the Italian release, the opening credits are split by on-screen couples (Sylva Koscina with Francisco Rabal and then Gianna and Rik Battaglia). Even if they both star in HERCULES, they don't share a scene together since their characters are in different settings. It's fun to see them in the same shot. It was released on December 23, 1957, just in time for Christmas. Great film!

PEPLUM Movie Poster

Original Italian poster of KING OF THE VIKINGS (1961)

Nice artwork. Very dramatic.

Stats week 29 June - 5 July 2025

On average, the blog had 1500 to 2000 views a day. Last week, between June 29 and July 5, the average was 6565. At least there was 17 comments. 

29 June 11476

30 June   9997 

1 July     3267 

2 July     3318 

3 July     3226 

4 July     8224 

5 July     6448 

Total: 45956

@ BY THE GODS!...

The English Dub of ATTILA (1954). Why is it so hard to find?

BY THE GODS!

Image of the week!

Goliath (Brad Harris) on the lookout for any danger while Elea (Gloria Milland) rests peacefully in a quiet moment in GOLIATH AGAINST THE GIANTS (1961)

AI PEPLUMTV

VICTORS WRITE HISTORY 

VHS Covers: ATTILA (1954)

VHS covers of ATTILA (1954) starring Anthony Quinn and Sophia Loren. Many covers except for the US one. Something Weird apparently had the only VHS release in the US.

Above and below: Italian covers.

UK cover

 

Covers from Germany: above and the next two below.

Swedish cover

 

Cover from Finland. The least like the film.

 

Korean cover

Musings!

María Mahor and Javier Escrivá in KING OF THE VIKINGS (1960) 

Nothing makes me appreciate Italian PEPLUM productions like watching PEPLUM movies from other countries, such as this one, from Spain. It does a great job aping the style but it doesn't compare to the sleekness and sexiness of Italian PEPLUM. It just can't be duplicated. I like it or at least the story is sorta fascinating. The fate of Harold is something else. The cast is Spanish but the voices in the English dub are familiar. 😂  There's a lot of dialogue in this film. The names of the characters in the English dub are totally different from the original Spanish one. The movie also stars Luis Prendes who was amazing in THE MIGHTY URSUS (1960). So that's a definite good thing. The production looks more like an early 1950s production than one from the 1960s. It also has one of the most annoying 'Annoying Sidekick' in film history.  The Spanish title translates as THE PRINCE IN CHAINS or the THE CHAINED PRINCE. KING OF THE VIKINGS is the US TV title. I haven't checked to see if one is available but an HD print would be cool.

Behind-the-Scenes

Director Giacomo Gentilomo sets up a scene with Gordon Scott and Rocco Vidolazzi on the set of GOLIATH AND THE VAMPIRES (1961)

Clip of the week: THE MAGNIFICENT GLADIATOR (1964)

Mark Forest liberates a few strong prisoners...

Funnies!

Anne-Marie Baumann in THE LAST DAYS OF POMPEII (1959)

SPFX DEPT.

Scenes from THE LAST DAYS OF POMPEII (1959)

This spectacular movie has several stand-out effects scenes, mainly the exploding volcano but it also has a good number of beautiful and subtle matte paintings. Above is the scene in the arena during the climax, with Steve Reeves and Christine Kaufmann. Below is how the location / set looked like. Mount Vesuvius was added in the background. Last image below: the screenshot of Pompeii and the volcano in the background is probably one of my favourite matte works. Absolutely beautiful and very subtle. Matte work by Emilio Ruiz del Río with Mario Bava (technical)!

IMO, one of the best matte paintings ever. It's simply beautiful.

Illustrator Angus McBride

I just got hold of the artwork of illustrator Angus McBride. He created illustrations based on history but also fantasy/fiction. He as born in 1931 and died in 2007. His work his quite extensive (too extensive to cover fully here) and he excelled in Roman and illustrations set in Antiquity. His work is all across the internet. Amazing stuff.

 

 

 

Musings!

Hélène Chanel, as Astra the High Priestess, and with Lia Zoppelli and Nino Dal Fabbro at her side in SAMSON AND THE MIGHTY CHALLENGE (1964)

This movie is a comedy and it's one of the most crowded casts of the PEPLUM genre. There are at least a dozen major characters, including these three. It's so crowded some characters get lost in the shuffle, including the one played by Hélène Chanel. She gets too little time for her fun performance. I like the movie, I watched it many times. But it's decidedly uneven. Some really great parts while some really boring parts (the feuding family sub-plot, with Livio Lorenzon, is pointless and really drags the entire production). They could have removed the boring parts or trimmed them down, and increased the visibility of other characters, like the High Priestess one. This movie is often ridiculed and doesn't deserve the hate since the film's goofiness reflects its comedic tone. It's deliberate. 

PEPLUM Movie Poster

Original Italian poster of HERCULES AGAINST ROME (1964)

Cinematic Confusion. That's Gordon Scott not Alan Steel. And there are no arena scenes in the movie.

Stats week 22 - 28 June 2025

On average, in the past, the blog had 1500 to 2000 views a day. Average. Last week, between June 22 and 28, the average was 7147. Only 9 comments. Views during the summer usually go down so I don't have a clue why it's doing the opposite. 

22 June   5385*

23 June   3443

24 June   3728

25 June   8116

26 June   9336

27 June   7585

28 June 12439

Total: 50032

*June 22 wasn't calculated with the 44.8k. I added it in the screenshot and the total for the day, which brings the weekly total up to 50k.