Italian actress Aleesandra Panaro, who made a handful of PEPLUM movies in the early 1960s, died on May 1 at the age of 79. She only appeared in a few titles but they were good productions, including SON OF CAPTAIN BLOOD (1962), which was released theatrically in the US. Like many actresses who appeared in PEPLUM productions, once the genre died her career basically disappeared as well. For an actress who only appeared in a few films, three of those are my all time favourites. R.I.P. Alessandra.
Alessandra's first big PEPLUM production was THE BACCHANTES (1961) which also starred Taina Elg. Great film and excellent performance. A favourite of mine.
Alessandra was the love interest to Hercules (Mike Lane, not shown) in ULYSSES AGAINST HERCULES (1962). Another favourite PEPLUM movie.
Alessandra co-starred with Sean Flynn in SON OF CAPTAIN BLOOD (1962). A fun movie with excellent production. Both actors would star together in another movie.
Alessandra with George Nader in THE SECRET MARK OF D'ARTAGNAN (1962). Another entertaining movie with the beautiful star.
Alessandra co-starred with Lex Barker and Franco Fantasia in THE EXECUTIONER OF VENICE (1963). Another solid production.
Above and below: Alessandra starred in HERCULES AGAINST MOLOCH (1963), co-starring Rosalba Neri (above) and Gordon Scott (below). A cool action film with scenes taken from THE BACCHANTES, which Alessandra starred. Both films were directed by Giorgio Ferroni. Yet another favourite of mine.
Sean Flynn and Alessandra starred together again in TEMPLE OF THE WHITE ELEPHANT (1964), a great adventure in the SANDOKAN kind.
The beautiful Alessandra in TEMPLE OF THE WHITE ELEPHANT; a recent photo of Alessandra
Thanks for your update/obit. Always loved her, the exchanges between her as Medea and Rosalba as Queen Demeter in MOLOCH won me over years ago. Even though the scenes are dubbed the body language says it all.
ReplyDeleteNice remembrance. She was a beauty.
ReplyDeleteAlessandra was indeed beautiful.
ReplyDeleteSON OF CAPTAIN BLOOD is not a very good pirate movie in my view. By the early 1960s the pirate genre had trouble taking itself seriously.
Sean Flynn disappeared in 1970 while working as a photojournalist in Cambodia during the Vietnam War.
Presumably he was murdered by the Khmer Rouges. Not surprisingly his remains were never found. Sean was declared legally dead in 1984.