Mark Forest as Maciste in MACISTE - THE STRONGEST MAN IN THE WORLD (1961)
Initially, I was underwhelmed by this movie but I quickly realized that the terrible print I viewed was really what made it so. Once I saw a beautiful print, it quickly became one of my favourites. This scene alone places it on top of the best PEPLUM movies ever: Maciste is put to the test by the Mole people. If he fails in holding the slabs, he will be killed and his friends will also be impaled and crushed by the heavy slabs. Truly surreal Feat of Strength. A must see in widescreen.
This particular film made a large impression on me as a small child taken along to see it and only recently have I connected the title to it. I had vivid images of underground dwellers, the execution of a man by exposure to sunlight and the sad death of a beautiful woman near a stream at the end. Another period film at the time had a similarly strong emotional ending for me, vivid images and very sad haunting music. It had the death of a beautiful woman who's body was placed into a carriage wheeled into a lake at night. I eventually found that it was Cartouche (1962): https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CJK4JK3J6GU&pp=ygUUc3dvcmRzIG9mIGJsb29kIDE5NjI%3D
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