I just watched that one. A lot of fun. Mitchell had an interesting body type, looking almost slender at first glance, but look at the size and definition of his arms. Contrast that with someone just plain massive like fellow Maciste, Mark Forest.
Gordon is one of my favorites, he was a decent actor who made many movies and also owned his own movie studio in Italy. I was wondering about this scene and I think it's a little bit of trick photography. One of my DVDs has a piece on how they get the animals and people together in a shot. This is very interesting and has been done for years in the film industry. They film the animals on the set, then they film the actors on that set. Everything is then combined to give it that reality that the both are together in the scene.
Back then Italian filmmakers shied away from special effects like superimposition because it was too costly and technical. It was standard in Hollywood but not Rome.
One of the more inventive deathtrap/torture/test of strength scenes from one of these movies. Having Our Hero pulled on from opposite sides is one of the standard situations. But here, the intention is not to pull him apart, but to pull him from his perch, that he may be devoured by the lions waiting below. And has anybody noticed that one of the teams in this game is Black and the other one White? The English script does not make anything of this, either!
I just watched that one. A lot of fun. Mitchell had an interesting body type, looking almost slender at first glance, but look at the size and definition of his arms. Contrast that with someone just plain massive like fellow Maciste, Mark Forest.
ReplyDeleteIt is even more astounding when he has that pul contest with the cyclops. I have never seen a better back in my life.
ReplyDeleteBesides being very, very fit, I also thinks he's a very decent actor. He's my favourite peplum lead actor after Reeves.
ReplyDeleteGordon is one of my favorites, he was a decent actor who made many movies and also owned his own movie studio in Italy. I was wondering about this scene and I think it's a little bit of trick photography. One of my DVDs has a piece on how they get the animals and people together in a shot. This is very interesting and has been done for years in the film industry. They film the animals on the set, then they film the actors on that set. Everything is then combined to give it that reality that the both are together in the scene.
ReplyDeleteBack then Italian filmmakers shied away from special effects like superimposition because it was too costly and technical. It was standard in Hollywood but not Rome.
ReplyDeleteOne of the more inventive deathtrap/torture/test of strength scenes from one of these movies.
ReplyDeleteHaving Our Hero pulled on from opposite sides is one of the standard situations. But here, the intention is not to pull him apart, but to pull him from his perch, that he may be devoured by the lions waiting below.
And has anybody noticed that one of the teams in this game is Black and the other one White? The English script does not make anything of this, either!