Clip of the week: TIBERIUS (1960)

Abbe Lane practices with her dancers with some onlookers. With Ugo Tognazzi and Walter Chiari.

For some reason, Blogger is not letting me upload the video. You can check it out at Facebook

New PEPLUM Art

New feature here at the blog. PEPLUM inspired art. 

With a few prompts, new PEPLUM art by AI. 

From MEN OF PULP @ X 

SEVEN FROM ROME 

SPFX DEPT.

Donald O'Connor, as Aladdin, and Vittorio De Sica, as the genie, in a scene from THE WONDERS OF ALADDIN (1961)

This colourful movie has a boatload of special effects in it. This is my favourite fx scene, with smallish practical set making Donald look tall in a play with perspective. Below, he stops people from opening the door with his oversized foot. It's a fun scene. Vittorio was added later. Sometimes the simplest effects are the best.

Same set, different films!

Above: a scene from MESSALINA (1960). Below: a scene from TIBERIUS (1960). Both films are most likely TWIN PRODUCTIONS. I like both movies so it doesn't really matter.
 

Musings!

Sylvia Sorrente in THE FIGHTING COSSACKS (1962) 

A seldom seen movie that was made to capitalized on the success of TARAS BULBA (1962) starring Tony Curtis, Yul Brynner and Christine Kaufmann, who would become Tony's wife. The original title for this movie is THE SON OF TARAS BULBA. It wasn't connected to the Hollywood movie and was released in the US as THE FIGHTING COSSACKS. On TV, it was renamed as THE PLAINS OF BATTLE. I like it but I reserve my full review of it until I see it in a decent copy. The two copies I have are terrible and I'm certain if I'd watched it with a pristine print, my view would change for sure. One of the best thing about the movie is Sylvia. In that dress. I always wanted to make a list of the best (and worst) costumes for men and women. This one would make the list. This is Sylvia's only major role in a PEPLUM movie. She appeared in CALIGULA AND MESSALINA (1981) as an extra!

PEPLUM Movie Poster

Original Italian poster of APHRODITE - GODDESS OF LOVE (1958) 

Quite a poster. And a very PEPLUM one at that. If you know you know.

Image of the week!

Perseus (Richard Harrison) is put to the test, fighting a whip happy Galemore (Leo Anchóriz) in PERSEUS THE INVINCIBLE (1963)

MUSCLES Inc

Big Reg Park on the cover of MUSCLE BUILDER (Jan 1954)

Musings!

Abbe Lane shows her assets in TIBERIUS (1960) 

This is another movie with a missing English dub. It was shown on TV in the US. So an English version is out there but it's nowhere to be found. This is a comedy (of course). It's a sexy, breezy Italian comedy which are a thing unto themselves and Italian humour is often difficult to translate. I like it even if I don't understand half the movie. It would be nice to have an English audio, certainly if Abbe Lane uses her voice. Maybe I should do a list of movies with the English track missing.

Behind-the-Scenes

Director Guido Brignone sets up a scene with Marisa Allasio on the cross on the set of THE SWORD AND THE CROSS (1956)

Clip of the week: TRIUMPH OF HERCULES (1964)

Hercules (Dan Vadis) against the Golden Warriors of the Dagger of Jae. With Pietro Torrisi.

Portraits

 Sebastian (Massimo Girotti) awaits his fate in FABIOLA (1949)

HD Alert!

Apollodorus (Franco Volpi) and Cleopatra (Pascale Petit) in A QUEEN FOR CAESAR (1962)

A new HD print of the movie has surfaced. This mostly studio-bound movie looks great and looks even greater in outdoor scenes, such as this beautiful one I posted recently. This movie, which was one of the first Fan Dubs I made, always had nice prints. This one in HD was from a TV broadcast. It's not available on Blu-ray. It's shame because it would be worth buying. It's one of my favourites.

Vintage Article

An old magazine article on Steve Reeves in ATHENA (1954). Some of the best photos of Steve were taken for publicity and promotion of the movie.

Debbie Reynolds, Edmund Purdom and Steve Reeves in ATHENA

Musings!

Redilly B. Rajapa and Mimmo Palmara, as Parvati Sandok, in TEMPLE OF THE WHITE ELEPHANT (1964)

When I posted the VHS covers of this movie, there were a lot of questions. The whole thing is sorta confusing, as usual with PEPLUM movies. I already wrote about this in 2019 so here goes: TEMPLE OF THE WHITE ELEPHANT is known as SANDOK - MACISTE OF THE JUNGLE in Italy. Sandok is played by Mimmo Palmara. He plays a strong man and he's nicknamed Maciste of the Jungle but his character is named Sandok. I know, confusing (this is common in PEPLUM films...like SAPPHO - THE VENUS OF LESBOS...etc). This movie, as the poster below shows, stars Sean Flynn. Some have wondered if the movie was released in English. There is an English version of it. It was released theatrically in Britain and it was shown on TV in the US. The Flynn name guarantees it was released for English speaking markets. Unfortunately, its English version is nowhere to be found, like so many other PEPLUM titles. To make matters more confusing, there's another movie called TEMPLE OF A THOUSAND LIGHTS (1965) starring Richard Harrison. Both films were directed by Umberto Lenzi. That movie was released in the US on DVD as SANDOK (directly below) even though no character in the movie is called Sandok! Mimmo Palmara is not in TEMPLE OF A THOUSAND LIGHTS. This movie was released in the US back in the 1960s as TEMPLE OF A THOUSAND LIGHTS. I have the English version of this title. The SANDOK DVD *doesn't* have the English track, which doesn't make any sense! With the VHS covers from last Friday, the French one had the artwork of MYSTERY OF THUG ISLAND, which was released on VHS in the US as THE SNAKE HUNTER STRANGLER. I have the English version. I got it from a Greek DVD! 

Got that?

Hopefully the English version of TEMPLE OF THE WHITE ELEPHANT will resurface. And a updated DVD or new Blu-ray of TEMPLE OF A THOUSAND LIGHTS aka SANDOK with the actual English audio.

Extra note: someone emailed me to say that they saw TEMPLE OF THE WHITE ELEPHANT playing at a movie theatre in Seattle. So, yes, it was released, no matter how limited, at cinemas in the US and the UK.

PEPLUM Movie Poster

Original Italian poster of TEMPLE OF THE WHITE ELEPHANT (1964)

The original title in English is SANDOK - MACISTE OF THE JUNGLE. The poster is very colourful. I like it.

Image of the week!

Cleopatra (Rhonda Fleming) flanked by Mark Antony (Raymond Burr) and Lucilius (William Lundigan) in SERPENT OF THE NILE (1954)

VHS Covers: TEMPLE OF THE WHITE ELEPHANT (1964)

VHS covers of TEMPLE OF THE WHITE ELEPHANT (1964) starring Sean Flynn and others. Limited selection and with average covers. Nothing too earth shattering. No English cover.

 

German cover with original artwork

 

French VHS cover. Back has correct photos but artwork is from MYSTERY OF THUG ISLAND (1964) starring Giacomo Rossi Stuart.

 

Spanish VHS cover. Very generic.

Musings!

Reg Park as Hercules in HERCULES AND THE CAPTIVE WOMEN (1961) 

I recently saw an upload with the disastrous US Blu-ray release (below) of the film along with the original Italian version on DVD (above). The US release has an awful orange tint throughout and the image is stretched. I still can't believe people put up with the ugly US copy. Many are happy with it. It's mind boggling when the DVD version is better than the Blu-ray one. 

Here are all the different versions I have (when I published the article)

Link of my review of the Blu-ray released in the US.

Behind-the-Scenes

 A photographer on the set of BEN-HUR (1959)

Clip of the week: THE CENTURION (Conqueror of Corinth; 1961)

Jacques Sernas escapes from prison!

New PEPLUM Art

New feature here at the blog. PEPLUM inspired art. 

With a few prompts, new PEPLUM art by AI. 

From MEN OF PULP @ X

THE LION OF CORINTH

SPFX DEPT.

Scenes from THE SEVEN REVENGES (1960)

It's telling how good the special effects are when one is not too sure if it's effects or real stuff. This is how I feel about these scenes from THE SEVEN REVENGES. The movie had an above average budget but it wouldn't explain elaborate sets like these. The top one is for sure effects because they didn't built such big exterior sets for scenes which lasted a few seconds. While the shot below, for me it looks more like a practice model via forced perspective than a matte painting. The look is very three dimensional. 

GLADIATOR II trailer!

The official trailer of GLADIATOR II is out. What's your opinion on it? It looks more pulpy than the 2000 film. It's directed by Ridley Scott, which is good but then he also directed the abysmal EXODUS (2014) and that critically panned NAPOLEON (2023) since the original GLADIATOR. Will it re-ignite a new PEPLUM explosion? In one way, I hope so. In another way, hopefully in not as uneven as the one from the early 2000s. The trailer has already caused a lot of controversy, mostly about being historically incorrect and rap music.

Musings!

Jacques Sernas and Jeanne Valérie in the pivotal moment in SALAMMBO (1960)

The movie becomes the movie with this scene and yet this shot is NOT in the movie, which always frustrates me. This happens a lot with PEPLUM movies: photos of the movie often have better shots than what we end up seeing in the final cut. In this scene, the two are never seen together like this, when Mathos (Sernas) discovers Salammbo (Valérie). The scene itself is excellent and one of the best in a PEPLUM movie but it needed one brief shot of the two together. Instead, we see Sernas pouncing on Valérie. I love this movie even if wildly uneven. It has so many great elements and scenes and so many cringe ones as well. 

PEPLUM Movie Poster

Original Italian poster of SEVEN SLAVES AGAINST THE ROME (1964)

Nice poster. Is that Roger Browne or Giacomo Rossi Stuart?

Image of the week!

 Hercules (Steve Reeves) revives Iole (Sylva Koscina) in HERCULES (1958)

At the movies...

BEN-HUR playing at the Egyptian theatre on Hollywood blvd in 1959.

Musings!

Chelo Alonso dancing up a storm in SIGN OF THE GLADIATOR (1959) 

Do you like dance numbers in PEPLUM films? That's one element missing in modern day PEPLUM productions. This dance number is quite long and elaborate. The screenshot was taken from a quasi HD print in desperate need of colour correction. I had to re-adjust the colours and brightness because the image was just to whack. It's from a RAI broadcast/streaming service. 

Behind-the-Scenes

Virna Lisi taking a break on the set of DUEL OF THE TITANS (1961)

Clip of the week: ULYSSES AGAINST HERCULES

Hercules (Mike Lane) and Leuconia (Raffaella Carrà) try to save Ulysses (Georges Marchal) from being crushed to death!  Amazing location!

Portraits

New feature: portraits of PEPLUM stars!

Anne Baxter as Nefretiri in THE TEN COMMANDMENTS (1956) 

HD Alert!

 Gianna Maria Canale in TIGER OF THE SEVEN SEAS (1962) 

This colourful movie is now available as a German Blu-ray release. I like this movie and I will purchase it if there are any left. The movie is already uploaded in HD on a Youtube channel. I won't link to it since they are not friendly. But even so, buying these will inspire other distributors in releasing more titles. No English audio.

 

Steve Reeves pre-HERCULES

Steve Reeves in Cannes, France at the age of 22. The year is1948. Fascinating to watch. The image/audio quality isn't the best. LE PLUS BEL HOMME DU MONDE at IMDb.

note: the video doesn't exist anymore. The Youtube account that had it was terminated...after I posted it here. I tell you, my account is followed by nefarious people.

Musings!

Brad Harris, as Hercules, and Luisella Boni in FURY OF HERCULES (1962) 

I recently posted a clip from this movie. It's a fun 'feat of strength' clip. The movie is filled with such scenes. I love this movie for these scenes but I have to admit that the story itself is pretty weak. It's all over the place, with very little focus of anything but action, which is fine but a movie sometimes needs more. It's a shame because its Twin Production, SAMSON (1961), is identical with this is one but with a memorable storyline. The German release changed the title to SAMSON and the SAMSON movie mentioned before became a Hercules title. Harris looks like a Greek hero for sure, which helped with the entertaining aspects of this production but the meandering story puts it below SAMSON. 

PEPLUM Movie Poster

Original Italian poster of SWORD FOR THE EMPIRE (1965)

Simple but catchy design makes it stand out. I love it.