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Hercules (Dan Vadis) is about to bring down the house in TRIUMPH OF HERCULES

Not the pillars of Hercules.

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Sci-Fi PEPLUM : STARLOST

Like so many science-fiction shows of the past such as STAR TREK or SPACE 1999, which sometimes borrowed heavily from the PEPLUM genre, either with costumes, themes or gladiatorial action, the Canadian-made series STARLOST follow the trend: borrowing from the past to make it more sci-fi. These screenshots are just a small sample of obvious examples. BTW, the story of STARLOST was about a massive spaceship with an endless number of biospheres with different stages or periods or cultures of Earth, which partially explains the PEPLUM inspired look in certain episodes.

Tunics and stolas

Roman senate?

PEPLUM GIF Animation : QUO VADIS

Triumphal March of Marcus overlooked by Nero, played by Peter Ustinov.

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The march of triumph for Marcus Vinicius (Robert Taylor) in QUO VADIS (1951)

'Remember you're mortal'

This is called 'Memento Mori': a slave would hold a wreath while saying those words, a reminder to the General that his ego shouldn't get too big because he's mortal or that only the Emperor is truly immortal. In the film the slave actually says "Remember that thou art only a man!" which is a variation of the same thing. I believe the actor who plays the slave was Richard Garrick. Great scene.

Then & Now : Sophia Loren

Timeless beauty Sophia Loren in EL CID; Sophia at this year's CANNES film festival. She's 79 years old.

Oops...

Cast: Jolanda Modio, Franco Cobianchi, Marilù Tolo, Paolo Gozlino

From THE MAGNIFICENT GLADIATOR: even though it seems harmless this mistake is quite bad since the entire scene is built up with the (fake) Emperor (Franco) switching cups since he suspects it to be poisoned (by Jolanda). The audience is made to look pacifically at the cup and we can clearly see the replacement cup is empty even though all cups on the table were filled as Jolanda casually picks a cup and drinks from it, not realizing it's the poisoned one switched by Franco. Oops...

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Maciste (Kirk Morris) tries to stop a stampede of bulls from pushing him over the edge in MACISTE IN HELL

This is a cool scene with a couple of liabilities: some of the animals were hurt during the filming of this scene. It's unfortunate but it was pretty standard practice back in the day. Also the sound effects are too weak. If I'd restore the film I'd make sure the sound of the charging stampede and the angry bulls would be cranked up to the max. This fantastic scene would pop out like something else.

SPARTACO postcards

These are not lobby cards but postcards with beautiful photos from the Italian film SPARTACO (1913). These postcards look better than what we actually see during the film itself and they show the great details of the production. This is the first big production on Spartacus. It's 101 years old!

Debbie Reynolds' PEPLUM costume collection

Debbie Reynolds used to have a massive collection of costumes from famous films, including many from the PEPLUM/Biblical/Historical genre. This is just a small sample.

One of Claudette Colbert's costumes from CLEOPATRA (1934)

The headdress from CLEOPATRA (1963) worn by Elizabeth Taylor

Above and Below: some of Richard Burton's costumes from CLEOPATRA (1963)

The tunic Charlton Heston wore in BEN-HUR (1959)

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Glaucus (Steve Reeves) and Julia (Anne-Marie Baumann) party the night away in THE LAST DAYS OF POMPEII (1959)

I'm not familiar with Anne-Marie Baumann's career so I looked it up at IMDb and it's no wonder. She only made one PEPLUM film (this one) and appeared in 6 films (if IMDb is accurate which is often not). One of the few actresses who looked bigger, chest-wise, than Steve Reeves. Ah!

Behind-the-Scenes

Tyrone Power visits his wife Linda Christian on the set of her newest production, SLAVES OF BABYLON,  also starring Richard Conte.

Upcoming project : GODS OF EGYPT

Photos of an upcoming project called GODS OF EGYPT starring Gerard Butler (above) and Elodie Yung (below). Looks like a PEPLUM film with Elodie in a role usually played by Bella Cortez. Gerard's costume looks a bit too Greek/Roman for an Egyptian God. Hmm....

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A scene from THE LAST ROMAN part 2

There were two THE LAST ROMAN films and the two 90 minute long films were edited down to the 90 minutes film I have and made a Fan Dub with it. This scene is not in the 90 minutes version but most likely in part 2 of the two seperate films. Great location.

Movie Poster Mondays

French poster of GOLD FOR THE CAESARS

Mylène looks really pissed off in this. For some reason artists have always had difficulty painting her likeness.

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Samson (Kirk Morris) goes through an elaborate test to measure his strength and valour in SAMSON & THE SEA BEAST

If Samson doesn't pull hard enough on the those ropes attached to the boats behind, filled with rowers trying to pull out, the spears surrounding Samson will stab him. Like who came up with those over-the-top killing traps? Much, much better in a full widescreen mode but that rubber crocodile seen later on still looks silly.

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Lobby Cards Set : ATTILA

US lobby cards set of ATTILA. Excellent set with great close-ups of the main actors Sophia Loren and Anthony Quinn. Some of the other cards are sorta dull but who cares with a card like no 8? Ha!

PEPLUM GIF Animation : THE MIGHTY URSUS

A scene from THE MIGHTY URSUS starring Ed Fury. Classic breaking chains bit seen in many PEPLUM films.

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Chelo Alonso is Tanya - QUEEN OF THE TARTARS

Chelo sorta looks like Raquel Welch here. Fun film with over-the-top costumes and an ending straight from left field. One of many 'Queen' PEPLUM films made during the Golden Era of the genre.

PEPLUM Pulp

Shiva and Cernunnos : related?

On the left is some say is the earliest depiction of Lord Shiva (Siva) from the Indus Valley origins while on the right is a depiction of the Celtic horned god Cernunnos. The similarities are quite striking.

I love these kinds of things and would love to see a film or documentary about the similarities between religions and where they all come from.

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David (Gregory Peck) and Bathsheba (Susan Hayward) spend a day outside in DAVID & BATHSHEBA (1951)

This was FOX's answer to Cecil B DeMille's SAMSON & DELILAH...huh no. As corny as SAMSON & DELILAH was that film was colourful and entertaining AND spectacular. This film, though not bad, is just meh compared to the DeMille film. It's odd that the producers of this film almost got everything wrong if they were trying to top the 1949 epic. Apparently, Peck hated wearing tunics.

Artist representation of ATLANTIS

I don't know where the artwork comes from or who's the artist but I like this. I searched on the internet for the source and I couldn't find the original source.

After work activities

A happier moment with Vera Miles and (soon to be) PEPLUM star Gordon Scott. They were a married couple, for 4 years, and they had one child. Things didn't work out too well for them. Gordon was doing Tarzan films during this period.

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Consuelo (Gianna Maria Canale) is pushed to the limit as Serpente (John Kitzmiller) and her father (Andrea Aureli) look on in TIGER OF THE SEVEN SEAS

Last Friday, I posted a screenshot from QUEEN OF THE PIRATES also starring Gianna. This is another one of her several colourful Swashbucklers and imo better than QUEEN. It's one of those films I can watch over and over again.

PEPLUM films with different 8mm titles

Films released for the home market in the 8mm format back in the day were, oddly enough, retitled. Here are some examples.

 ATTILA THE BARBARIAN aka SIGN OF THE PAGAN

 DESTINY OF CLEOPATRA aka CLEOPATRA

NERO'S GLADIATORS aka SIGN OF THE CROSS

Then & Now : Geoffrey Horne

Geoffrey in JOSEPH & HIS BRETHREN; A recent photo of Geoffrey

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A bunch of babes from HERCULES UNCHAINED

Mini-HERCULES UNCHAINED festival today. The image is a bit fuzzy but this cheesecake shot, seen during the Evening Star scene (I uploaded it today), was cut from the English version. It's sorta understandable why they cut it: it's cute but it comes out of nowhere and looks forced. But it's fun to see.