Image of the week!

Obro (Gordon Mitchell) and Princess Mecede (Bella Cortez) are surrounded in GIANT OF METROPOLIS (1961)

Lobby cards set: REVAK THE REBEL (1960)

Extensive French lobby cards set of REVAK THE REBEL starring Jack Palance and others. Big set, much bigger than usual. I like it but it's missing most of the actresses, which is odd. The one with the elephant is my favourite.

Musings!

Queen Gaia (Nadia Sanders) and Jason (Roland Carey) meet in THE GIANTS OF THESSALY (1960)

Jason ends up on an all-female society ruled by Queen Gaia, who explains her fate. Of course, there's something sinister underneath all of this to explain how an all female society survived. The entire scene is pretty entertaining with obvious nods to HERCULES (1958) and its Amazon scene. Are they comparable? No. The women on this island are witches while in HERCULES they were Amazon warriors. Gaia is an old woman who retains her youthful beauty by magic and potions from Apollo. According to prophecy, if Gaia is able to seduce Jason, she'll be immortal and live in eternal beauty. Of course, things do go according to plan. I like stuff like this. This film needs to be in HD already. 

Behind-the-Scenes

Steve Reeves and Mylène Demongeot on a break on the set of THE GIANT OF MARATHON (1959). They look a bit glum.

Clip of the week: THE THIEF OF BAGHDAD (1961)

 Karim (Steve Reeves) meets Kadeejah (Edy Vessel).

New PEPLUM Art!

With a few prompts, new PEPLUM art by AI. 

From MEN OF PULP @ X 

URSUS AGAINST THE TYRANTS OF TIME

HD Alert!

I received two Blu-ray/DVD sets from Artus Films. Remarkably enough, I still haven't watched them. Very busy. I will watch them today or later on this week.

The movie on the left is THE WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF GUERRIN MESCHINO (1952) directed by Pietro Francisci. I can't wait to watch it. I already have it but in so so quality. Francisci directed the classic HERCULES (1958). This set has two discs.

Of course, the movie on the right is PERSEUS THE INVINCIBLE (1963; aka Medusa against the Son of Hercules). I already mentioned this but this set (it also has two discs) has the Spanish version in HD and the original Italian version on DVD. I already have these prints in my collection but I wanted the physical discs. I hope the original Italian version will be released on Blu-ray. I like the Spanish version but it's more of a curio to me than anything else. It has different scenes and special effects and added wardrobe malfunctions (yes, I'm not kidding) but the original Italian one is the best.

These Artus Films releases come with amazing booklets. The GUERRIN MESCHINO booklet has 60 pages. And the PERSEUS booklet has 31 pages by Michel Eloy (who follows me on Facebook). If every PEPLUM movie would be released this way it would be amazing! The only downside o Artus Films releases: no English audio. I'll have more in the near future.

Then & Now: Edy Vessel

Edy in THE THIEF OF BAGHDAD (1962); a current photo of Edy (born Edoarda Vesselovsky). 

Musings!

Queen Leda (Gia Sandri) meets Antaeus (Giovanni Cianfriglia) in HERCULES THE AVENGER (1965)

I like this movie, even if contains numerous scenes from other movies, including HERCULES AND THE CAPTIVE WOMEN. My only issue (is it really an issue?) with the movie is the relationship between these two. Does the Queen like Antaeus aka Evil Hercules? It's hard to say. She seems constantly repulsed by him and yet keeps murderous Antaeus close to her, and doesn't refuse his amorous advances. She uses him or he uses her? It's a unique relationship in a PEPLUM movie, or any movie. There's a decent German copy of this film in near HD. Some scenes are stunning. Hopefully, a Blu-ray will be available soon.

PEPLUM Movie Poster

US one sheet of GLADIATOR II (2024) 

Interesting choice of artwork. 

Image of the week!

Hulina (Anita Ekberg) shows her special kind of love to Ogatai (Jack Palance) in THE MONGOLS (1961)

MUSCLES Inc

PEPLUM Star Ed Fury on the cover of MUSCLE POWER (April 1954). Ed's real name was Ed Holovchik.

Musings!

Mucius (Gordon Scott) gets new bandages for his wounded hand/arm in COLOSSUS OF ROME (1964; aka Hero of Rome)

I like this film. It's one solid movie starring Gordon Scott. The movie misses just one or two extra scenes to make it a Wow! but still, it's pretty good. It's directed by Giorgio Ferroni, who worked with Scott in other equally solid movies. The only decent copy out there is the German DVD with Spartacus in the title. It's good but not great. Hopefully, it's will be available soon in HD!

Behind-the-Scene

Tina Louise on the set of SAPPHO - THE VENUS OF LESBOS (1960)

Clip of the week: KERIM - SON OF THE SHEIK (1962)

They try to break Kerim (Gordon Scott)...

Portraits

Steve Reeves as Phillipides in THE GIANT OF MARATHON (1959)

SPFX DEPT.

Evil Antarus (Massimo Serato) getting eaten by a man-eating creature/plant in MARS - GOD OF WAR (1962)

This movie is totally different than the majority of PEPLUM movies, in tone and style. One of the biggest surprises watching it for the first time was the quite elaborate creature at the end. I like it. I think it's cool. I certainly didn't expect anything like this from it. The good copies I have are a bit too dark but you can see how detailed the creature is. No info on who created it.

BY THE GODS! magazine...yes, it's coming!

Nothing much to say except, yes, it's coming. Because of personal issues during the past months, everything has been delayed but it's coming. I can't say when specifically but it's in the works. Here's the cover! 

Musings!

Lady Iolanthe Rogliano (Betta St. John) introduces Pietro Donati (Ricardo Montalban) to Elaine of Siniscola (Carolyn Jones) in THE SARACEN BLADE (1954)

This is a fun small movie directed by William Castle. The script is surprisingly fun.  I wish there was a clear, uncut version of this, in HD, of course. This old 'B movies' from Columbia Pictures often get a bad treatment, even with such a good cast and a known director. The movie did have some obvious budget shortcomings. The big battle scenes are stock footage. But overall, I like this one. It's entertaining. I have it uploaded to one of my Youtube channels. 

PEPLUM Movie Poster

Spanish poster of REVOLT OF THE SLAVES (1960) 

Nice poster. The Rhonda on the poster looks different than the real one.

Clip of the week: MESSALINA (1960)

Assassination attempt on essa lina (Belinda Lee). Would be assassin is Giuliano Gemma.

 

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 DESTINY OF ADAM AND EVE 

Blog Note

Richard Harrison and cast from REVOLT OF THE PRAETORIANS (1964) 

I'm taking an impromptu break! I should be back next week. If I find time I might post sporadically this week but for now I need some time off. 

Image of the week!

Sappho (Tina Louise) and Phaon (Kerwin Mathews) seek counsel with the Sybil (Elena Zareschi) in SAPPHO - THE VENUS OF LESBOS (1960; aka The Warrior Empress)

At the movies...

 BEN-HUR (1959) playing at the Gaumont Palace in Paris.

Musings!

Giuliano Gemma and Richard Harrison in TWO GLADIATORS (1964) 

A few things about this movie:

- It's very entertaining. 

- Richard Harrison and Giuliano Gemma also starred in REVOLT OF THE PRAETORIANS, a Twin production with this one 

- Is this a Richard Harrison film with Giuliano or a Giuliano Gemma film with Richard?

- I don't know how or why but Richard was made to look or simply looks old in this movie, compared to PERSEUS THE INVINCIBLE

- Yellow is not a very discreet colour for clothes

- Wasn't it awkward to sit down in those togas, certainly a yellow one

- There are multiple wardrobe malfunctions in this movie (and in Revolt of the Praetorians) 

- The main poster is one of the best of the PEPLUM genre

- It's known as THE TWO GLADIATORS or TWO GLADIATORS. I prefer the latter.

- Not available in HD or blu-ray.

Behind-the-Scenes

 Yul Brynner taking photos while on a break on the set of KINGS OF THE SUN (1963)

Clip of the week: SEVEN FROM THEBES (1964)

Alfio Caltabiano is bad. With Andre Lawrence.

Portraits

Edy Vessel as Kadeejah in THE THIEF OF BAGHDAD (1961) 

HD Alert!

Scenes from ANDROCLES AND THE LION (1954) with Jean Simmons and Alan Young

My friend in Europe provided me with this HD copy of the movie. He doesn't where it came from. Criterion has a DVD release but not a Blu-ray release. It might have shown up on a TV channel like TMC but they usually have logos and this copy doesn't have any logos. So where it came from is a mystery. Needless to say, it's a vast improvement over the regular version.

Victor Mature and John Hoyt 

HERCULES AND THE CAPTIVE WOMEN Blu-ray quick comparison

I recently brought up the controversial Blu-ray release of HERCULES AND THE CAPTIVE WOMEN in the US and how terrible it is, and seemingly a lot of people are actually fine with it. This is quite discouraging. Here's just a quick glance on how bad it is. On top is a compilation of screen captures of the US blu-ray. Below is the screen captures of the Italian DVD. The colours of the DVD are correct. The reds are red, etc. The US Blu-ray is a travesty. 

Musings!

Gordon Scott and Moira Orfei in HERO OF BABYLON (1963) 

I'm still trying to figure out what's my favourite Gordon Scott or Moira Orfei film. For Gordon, this one is at the top. For Moira, sh's very good in it but I would say my favourite would be MACISTE - THE STRONGEST MAN IN THE WORLD or MACISTE VS THE MOVIE MEN. I like the fact that Moira enjoyed playing evil ladies. I really like this film. Yes, it's not very Babylonian but who cares. It's very entertaining. This screenshot is from a DVD release in Europe. Yes, DVD. I have many copies of this film and even though it's not close to being a Blu-ray, it's better than all the copies I have in my collection.

PEPLUM Movie Poster

Original Italian poster of THE FIGHTING COSSACKS (1962) 

Nice artwork...but would this poster make you want to see the movie?

Image of the week!

Captain Morgan (Steve Reeves) fight with Francois L'Olonnais (Armand Mestral) in MORGAN THE PIRATE (1960)

Lobby Cards Set: SHE GODS OF SHARK REEF (1958)

US lobby cards set of SHE GODS OF SHARK REEF starring Bill Cord and Don Durant. Nice set. It pretty much sums up the movie in a 8 photos. Roger Corman said it was one of his favourites films he directed. 

Musings!

A scene from THOSE ABOUT TO DIE (2024)

A new TV series on gladiators. It stars Anthony Hopkins as Vespasian. This is Sara Martins in the image above. I know little about it. Will I watch it? I doubt it. 😂 I don't want to get my hopes too high but I assume it's going to be the typical political correct style of today, which is boring. Reviews at IMDb are mostly not encouraging. I wish there was something cool today like those old movies but alas...great title though.

Behind-the-Scenes

Joseph E Levine and Steve Reeves take a break from filming THIEF OF BAGHDAD (1961)