SPFX DEPT.

Scenes from THE QUEEN OF BABYLON (1954) 

This is the big scene in the movie, which has an excellent matte painting. The crowd and part of the doorway and surrounding design are part of a real set while the rest is a great painting. The artist is uncredited. A side note: within the doorway we see a design of a building that extends well beyond it. The image in the doorway is not a matte painting but a mural. In the image at the bottom, you can see light reflecting on the big mural. Oops. With Rhonda Fleming in the image below.

AI PEPLUM clips

A Youtube channel has very short clips from mock PEPLUM movies, among other film genres. I like it. Some of them look odd (PEPLUM movies don't looks that odd...) but I like the spirit of it. The one above is cool. My only complaint is the clips are too short. Disclaimer: I didn't create these. The PEPLUM genre is more popular than people think. Thanks to Paul for the info. Link below:

THE LOST REEL ARCHIVE

Musings!

Sylva Koscina, as Clorinda, and Andrea Aureli in THE MIGHTY CRUSADERS (1957)

I love this movie. I even made a Fan Dub of it (which was copied everywhere on the internet). I know this movie. There's only one thing I'm sorta confused by it. How did Clorinda became a warrior...a Muslim warrior combating, and falling in love, with a crusader (Francisco Rabal)? Now, I just checked Google AI (which is politically correct) and asked if there were female Muslim warriors during the Crusades. AI said yes but they mostly worked alongside their husbands. One has to take AI with a massive grain of salt but supposed this was true, how did Clorinda, who is single (and promised to Andrea Aureli's character), become an independent Muslim female warrior? I don't care about the accuracy. The movie is highly entertaining as it overlooks the major religious aspects of the story and focuses on the Crusader men falling in love with the Muslim women (Koscina and Gianna Maria Canale). And was most likely inspired by ROLAND THE MIGHTY (1956) but it's something I always wondered. Anyway, this sorta unlikely set-up still leads to a great ending, which is why I always overlook this confusing aspect of the story. And Sylva Koscina is great a Clorinda.

PEPLUM Movie Poster

US one sheet of MARY MAGDALENE (1958; 1960 USA)

Fairly standard US poster. Does anyone think of 'spectacle' when thinking of Mary Magdalene? I like the movie. It's also known as THE SWORD AND THE CROSS. Yvonne went from THE TEN COMMANDMENTS (1956) to this movie. It was released in 1958 in Italy but 1960 in the US.

PEPLUM Break

I take a break roughly every two months. My last break was New Year's week 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!"

Peplum Public Discussion

Comments are open in this post. You have something to mention about this week's posts? Or something else. This is the only place you can voice your opinion. Comments are curated therefore any bad comment won't be published! Be respectful! 

Image of the week!

Hercules (Reg Park) is prepared to do what it takes to stay alive in Atlantis in HERCULES AND THE CAPTIVE WOMEN (1961)

BY THE GODS! magazine issue 4

BY THE GODS! magazine issue 4 and previous issues.

Details at the link below.

https://www.magcloud.com/browse/issue/3205057 

A reminder as well: I'm not responsible for the publishing and shipping of the magazine. MagCloud is.

Lobby Cards Set: QUEEN OF THE SEAS (1961)

French lobby cards set of QUEEN OF THE SEAS (1961) starring Lisa Gastoni, Jerome Courtland and others. Nice set. A bit on the murky side but that's most likely due to the photos taken of them. Some cheesecake here. I like it.

Musings!

Dolores Francine and Van Aikens in REVOLT OF THE SLAVES (1960) 

Even though their characters were supporting ones, I always liked their presence and how it meshed with the story. Van appeared in 5 PEPLUM movies (he only acted in 7 films in total) and was also very memorable in GOLIATH AND THE VAMPIRES (1961), as the man who 'recruited' the women for Kobrak. As for Dolores, this is her only PEPLUM film. She was quite good in it. In this movie, Van is the leader of the Emperor's elite soldiers. I know a big chunk of the audience today would react negatively towards the entire movie (the slaves in this movie are whites) but I think the movie holds up brilliantly.

I already made a list of black actresses in PEPLUM movies 11 years ago, here at this link. I think I should do the one listing all the black actors. 

Behind-the-Scenes

Kerwin Mathews on a vespa on the set of SAPPHO - THE VENUS OF LESBOS (1960)

Clip of the week: REVOLT OF THE BARBARIANS (1964)

A lot of sword fights and brawls in this movie. With Roland Carey, Gabriele Antonini and many others.

 

New PEPLUM imagery

A HERO OF ROME

MEN OF PULP

SPFX DEPT.

Scenes from THE FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE (1964)

This is a mega-production and there's very little information of the use of special effects in the movie since humongous sets were built so people assumed everything in the movie was built full scale. It wasn't. The top shot is definitely a matte painting. The structures behind the wall give it away. This shot has a left to right pan.

There are many big statues in the movie and the one below is definitely a special effects. Reading the credits at IMDb, this is most likely a foreground miniature and not matte painting. Francisco Prosper is credited for foreground miniature work. I recently explained the use of foreground models with THE GIANTS OF THESSALY (1960).
 

Then & Now: Sophia Loren

Sophia Loren in THE FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE (1964); A recent photo of the actress.

Musings!

Jacques Sernas and Franca Bettoia in DUEL OF CHAMPIONS (1961) 

Everything about this movie is sorta sad. Jacques Sernas was in a major Hollywood blockbuster, HELEN OF TROY (1956), before returning to Europe to continue with his career in PEPLUM movies that weren't as high caliber as the TROY movie. After a long time covering the PEPLUM genre, and knowing very little about Franca Bettoia at first, I realized, after years of research, she must have been disappointed with her short-lived career. She tried to make it big in American productions but that didn't happen. She even courted Alfred Hitchcok, not realizing she wasn't really his type. Sernas and Bettoia are not even the stars of the movie. A tired Alan Ladd was, who looked out of place. Ladd walked off the set of the movie after nearly 3 months because he hadn't been paid anything. He only resumed filming after he got paid. That would explain his performance in it. 

Terence Young was the director, or the co-director since there was an English crew and an Italian one, lead by Ferdinando Baldi. Young's career would explode after this gloomy production by directing DR. NO (1962), FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE (1963) and THUNDERBALL (1965). The setting and sets are bleak. The whole project looks bleak. There's a scene in a flooded forest. The outdoor locations look cold and uninviting. The story is not that compelling. It seems everyone involved was either going down or rising after making it. The tone and feel of this movie is similar to the WAR GODDESS (1973), also directed by Terence Young. I wrote about that movie's effects last week. Both movies have the same uninspired feel to them. And yet I don't hate it. It's not a fun movie but I watch it because I'm fascinated by it. The only bright spot is the beautiful score by Angelo Francesco Lavagnino.

PEPLUM Movie Poster

Arabic and Italian poster of THE LOVES OF HERCULES (1960) 

One of many posters for this movie. This one is Italian but with Arabic lettering next to the title which means it was released in one of the many Arab countries.

BY THE GODS! magazine issue 4 on SALE!

BY THE GODS! magazine is on SPECIAL again. This special rate applies to all issues. It's a limited time discount.

Details at the link below.

https://www.magcloud.com/browse/issue/3205057 

A reminder as well: I'm not responsible for the publishing and shipping of the magazine. MagCloud is.

Peplum Public Discussion

Comments are open in this post. You have something to mention about this week's posts? Or something else. This is the only place you can voice your opinion. Comments are curated therefore any bad comment won't be published! Be respectful! 

The post last week was quite successful so I'm keeping it.

Image of the week!

Maciste (Kirk Morris) appears out from the rocks after being summoned by people in help in MACISTE IN THE VALLEY OF THE THUNDERING ECHOES (1964)

VHS Covers

VHS covers of THE SON OF SPARTACUS (1962) starring Steve Reeves, Gianna Maria Canale and others. A pretty good selection. The only major cover missing are the German and English ones. I don't think it was released on VHS in the US. But I couldn't find one from the UK.

Italian VSH cover

 

First French VHS cover

 

Second French cover

Spanish cover

VHS from the Netherlands

Musings!

 
Dan Vadis, as Hercules, and Enzo Fiermonte in TRIUMPH OF HERCULES (1964)

This Hercules movie is also a Hercules movie in its original Italian version. It's not a Maciste film re-titled into Hercules for US markets. Dan is quite impressive (he's 6'4") and is very athletic so it works with Hercules but it's always a bit odd to watch a beardless Hercules. If you follow the blog, you know that I don't often criticize PEPLUM movies for their lack of logic. I personally watch them for entertainment, the colours, the beefy action, etc. There are a lot of PEPLUM movies which seem to lack some internal logic but I don't care. But in this case, this movie has A LOT of issues! I've already wrote about it many times before. And it's not a case of a Maciste movie turned Hercules, which would explain discrepancies. But in this shot alone, we see Hercules chained with the tiniest chain. What would that do? Hercules could snap those chains in a fraction of a second. It seems the writers didn't actually know much about Hercules. I love this movie. It's very entertaining but there are a lot of silly details which confound me. 

Side note: the shield in the background is the same shield seen in the MACISTE AGAINST HERCULES IN THE VALE OF WOE (1961), posted last Friday. The same shield also appeared in FURY OF ACHILLES (1962) and they were first seen in THE MINOTAUR (1960) but with different colours. 

Behind-the-Scenes

Photo of a scene filmed in front of a blue screen on the set of THIEF OF BAGHDAD (1961). The caption said it's Steve Reeves, who played Karim, but that's doubtful. It's most likely Giovanni Cianfriglia, Steve's stuntman/body double. I didn't colourize the image because I knew AI wouldn't understand what was going on and the colours wouldn't match. Below is the scene in question, when Karim falls from the bridge after being attacked by the ugly troll (Chignone).
 

Clip of the week: MACISTE AGAINST HERCULES IN THE VALE OF WOE (1961)

In this comedy, Hercules (Frank Gordon) flattens guards. With Franco Franchi and Ciccio Ingrassia and others.

Portraits

Tina Louise, as Diana, in SIEGE OF SYRACUSE (1960)