Sappho (Tina Louise) and fellow students sneak about in SAPPHO - THE VENUS OF LESBOS (1960; aka The Warrior Empress)
A fun film which literally has everything in it. It's still pretty much missing in action. Aside from a TV broadcast in the US, an old copy I had years ago and it's the one available everywhere on the internet now after I uploaded to Youtube, the movie is forgotten. It was never released on DVD or broadcast in a nice widescreen copy anywhere in Europe. Anyway, here's a little test: above is a photo is from a Black & White lobby card.
This is a colourized version of the black and white photo made at a website which adds colour to old B&W photos.
These are the actual colours in the movie. 😂
I remember taping this off TV back in the days of VHS and it was full frame and the soundtrack was off. I wonder why this has always been MIA as far at home video versions. Put it right up there with The Pharaohs' Woman for inaccessibility to see.
ReplyDeleteThe colours in the lobby card and the AI image are nothing like the film, particularly their clothing. I don't think the image itself occurs like this in the film, perhaps it is a promotional shot. But, check out the video from 18:00 onwards.
ReplyDeletehttps://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Tci-p370PSU&pp=ygUQc2FmbyB0aW5hIGxvdWlzZQ%3D%3D
The colourization gives a cleaner-looking image, I have to admit, but where is the beautiful red of Tina's hair? Is nothing sacred?
ReplyDeleteOn something more esoteric:
The lobby card has a "U" next to the title "The Warrior Empress".
I see it on British posters, but hadn't noticed it before on lobby cards.
It stood for Universal Exhibition (Persons of all ages will be admitted).
I wonder if there were any peplum films rated A or even X?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_British_film_certificates#1951–1970
Further on my query about film classifications in the UK, there must indeed have been quite a number of 'A' classified peplum films at the time. Below are just the ones I found from film posters in this blog.
ReplyDeleteThe Queen of Babylon / The Slave Woman (1954), Aphrodite Goddess of Love (1957), Ben-Hur (1959), Son of Samson (1960), The Minotaur (1960), Fury of the Vikings (1961), Cleopatra (1963), Perseus Against the Monsters (1963), Hercules Against Moloch (1963), Carry On Cleo (1964).
'A' = More Suitable for Adult Audiences. Children under 12 (originally 16) had to be accompanied by their parent or adult guardian.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_British_film_certificates#1951–1970