Clip of the week: SINS OF POMPEII (1950)

Mount Vesuvius erupts! With Georges Marchal and Micheline Presle

Funnies!

HD Alert!

John Drew Barrymore and Pierre Brice in THE COSSACKS (1960) in the infamous vulture scene.

Not really an alert but this title sorta got lost in the shuffle of movies in HD. I have a copy of this in HD and it's quite good. I mentioned briefly in a post that I had one in high definition but nothing more. So I'm posting about here. It's from a streaming service and the print is excellent. But even after all these years, the movie is still not released on Blu-ray anywhere. It's so odd since it's such a nice print.

John Drew Barrymore and Edmund Purdom

Xenobia by Bill Lee from SIGN OF THE GLADIATOR

As I often say and I wrote in the first issue of BY THE GODS! magazine (new issue coming soon!), the US version of SIGN OF THE GLADIATOR (1959) is missing. Will it ever surface? I have multiple books on PEPLUM movies and aside from Rob Craig's book American International Pictures: A Comprehensive Filmography, no one else had this tidbit of info...until someone who actually saw SIGN OF THE GLADIATOR at the movie left a comment at BY THE GODS blog. Craig's AIP book mentions a song for the movie but not the artist. Anyway, here's the closing song heard during the end credits of SIGN OF THE GLADIATOR. Hopefully, the US cut will surface one day.

Anita Ekberg as Queen Zenobia from SIGN OF THE GLADIATOR

Musings!

José Greci and Mimmo Palmara in THE TEN GLADIATORS (1963) 

I like this movie but it's probably the movie with the most stock footage from other movies crammed into it. It's mind boggling. In this scene, José's character is in a dungeon of sorts where men are tortured. The scenes of the tortured men are from THE COLOSSUS OF RHODES (1961). The 'new' scenes of José and Mimmo are edited in between those torture scenes. It makes the movie look very cheap but it became a big hit and spawned other two movies. I like the entire series and this one is entertaining but I have to say that the following movies were better (even though they too used scenes from other movies).

PEPLUM Movie Poster

German poster of THE SILVER CHALICE (1954)

Very nice artwork. 

Someone made an English version of it. 

PEPLUM Break

I take a break roughly every two months so this is that time again.

(The break 3 weeks ago was an impromptu 'emergency' one. This is a regular break I take)

So stay tuned!

I'll leave you now with King Leonidas (Richard Egan) from THE 300 SPARTANS (1962), saying "From this wall, we do not retreat!"

Image of the week!

Hercules (Steve Reeves) can't save Iphitus (Mimmo Palmara) after being attacked by the Nemean Lion in HERCULES (1958)

At the movies...

 HERCULES (1958) playing at the Plaza in Toulouse, France.

Musings!

Frank Wolff, Michael Forest and Barboura Morris in ATLAS (1961)

I get emails and messages from people from all over the world. I recently discovered something interesting which someone mentioned somewhere and I got new info on a film I thought I knew everything about. I like this. I also got contacted by someone claiming several things and saying how much my blog and work inspired him. Above is a screenshot of ATLAS in 'HD.' I know, it's not a good image. It's difficult to say what's going on. The emails I got were difficult to read (English is not their first language?). Anyway, he told me he was working on a ton of stuff, a lot of which interest me. He then disappeared without a trace. The HD version of ATLAS is on Youtube. I won't link to it. Anyway, the widescreen is faux widescreen meaning the image was stretched. The original posters and credits claim the movie was shot in widescreen but no copies of it in widescreen has ever surfaced anywhere. 

Behind-the-Scenes

Sylva Koscina and Steve Reeves on the set of HERCULES (1958)

Clip of the week: MARS - GOD OF WAR (1962)

Roger Browne (Mars) vs evil Massimo Serato, who becomes a meal. 

Portraits

Anouk Aimée as the Queen in SODOM AND GOMORRAH (1962) 

Note: Anouk died recently so this is a little tribute to her.

SPFX DEPT.

Scenes from THE SON OF CAPTAIN BLOOD (1962)

In the movie, a tsunami hits a coastal Caribbean town after an earthquake. The shots of the wave hitting the town are pretty good but as it always the case in these wide shots, we don't see people. The earthquake comes out of nowhere.

Vintage Article

Old article on the HISTORY OF THE MUSCLE MOVIES. For once, Steve Reeves is not featured. But the article was republished with Steve Reeves for another print. 

Musings!

Scenes from THE WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF GUERRIN MESCHINO (1952)

This is one of the highlights of the movie, which I got in HD. As with all Pietro Francisci movies, it's very entertaining. This scene in particuliar is very reminiscent of other such scenes in Francisci's other films. Above is Tamara Lees as the sorceress Alcina. Below: Guerrin Moschino (Gino Leurini) enters her lair. Very memorable scene. It's a fun movie with a lot of derring-dos and pitfalls. Part of it reminds me of QUEEN OF SHEBA (1952) and ROLAND THE MIGHTY (1956). Now if only the English version would be available.

PEPLUM Movie Poster

Original Italian poster of THE WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF GUERRIN MESCHINO (1952)

The scene depicted in the poster is one of the highlights of the movie.