Musings!

Gloria Milland and Alan Steel, as Commodus, in URSUS - THE REBEL GLADIATOR (1962)

Alan Steel plays Commodus. Gloria plays his mate. They make a great couple. It's sorta rare to see couples in the way it's portrayed in this movie. Alan is quite good as Commodus. More interesting than the one seen in other films. Gloria is always fun to watch. She excelled in PEPLUM movies. The title of this movie is confusing. The English title, THE REBEL GLADIATORS, doesn't make much sense since the main rebellious gladiator is Ursus, played by Dan Vadis. It's sometimes simply referred to as THE REBEL GLADIATOR. URSUS - THE REBEL GLADIATOR is the correct title. 

PEPLUM Movie Poster

French poster of ROMULUS AND THE SABINES (1961) 

A fun comedy of rape for the whole family! Seriously, nice poster.

Image of the week!

Emiliano (Steve Reeves), aka Goliath, is put to the test in GOLIATH AND THE BARBARIANS (1959)

Lobby Cards Set: THE AFFAIRS OF MESSALINA (1951)

Incomplete UK lobby cards set of THE AFFAIRS OF MESSALINA (1953) starring Maria Felix and Georges Marchal. The set is incomplete but even so it's a good selection of scenes. It gives a good preview of the movie.

Musings!

Ed Fury and Maria Luisa Merlo in URSUS IN THE VALLEY OF LIONS (1961) 

This is one of three URSUS movies Ed made in the early 1960s. I like this file but it's not as good as the other two. It's entertaining, of course, but there's on major issue with the movie: it uses a lot of lions and the professional lion tamer is Ed's body double for scenes with Ursus standing next to lions but the problem is the lion tamer is not as fit as Ed and of course, the whole thing is sorta jarring. One second, we see Ed, the next we see the lion tamer from the back. It's unfortunate that this i so obvious because it's a fun movie. Maria also starred in the first URSUS movie but not URSUS IN THE LAND OF FIRE (1963).

Behind-the-Scenes

Georges Marchal on the set of THEODORA - SLAVE EMPRESS (1954)

Clip of the week: WITCH WITHOUT A BROOM (1968)

Gladiators fight! With Gustavo Rojo. 

New PEPLUM Art!

With a few prompts, new PEPLUM art by AI. 

From MEN OF PULP @ X 

MASTER OF ARMS

SPFX DEPT.

 Scene from URSUS AND THE TARTAR PRINCESS (1961) 

This is the only scene with a matte painting. It's pretty good. The set was used in other movies, including ALI BABA AND THE SEVEN SARACENS (1964). It was dressed up for this movie, inclding matching matte work.

Same costume, different films!

Who wore it best?

Top left: Massimo Serato (with Hedy Lamarr) in THE LOVE OF THREE QUEENS (1954)

Top right: Ivo Garrani in HERCULES (1958)

Bottom left: an extra in THE MIGHTY URSUS (1960)

Bottom right: Philippe Hersent (with Mark Forest) in GOLIATH AND THE DRAGON (1960)

In my opinion, number one is Ivo, then it's Philippe, Massimo and the extra.

Musings!

Susy Andersen, the blonde one, and other female gladiators in THOR AND THE AMAZON QUEEN

I like Susy Andersen. She only made a handful of PEPLUM films and yet I'm a fan. My question is: what happened to her? This is one of the frustrating things about the PEPLUM genre. All these interesting actors and artists and nothing about them. I like her character in it. She is forced to fight even though it's against her principles. Even though the movie could have ended up in the exploitation level, and it does to a certain level, it actually remains serious all the way to the end. The story can be seen as camp by many but the direction is serious. One of the first movie released in HD!

PEPLUM Movie Poster

French poster of THE APOCALYPSE (1947) 

I finally got a copy of this ultra rare movie. And it didn't disappoint. I will have a full review in the upcoming issue of BY THE GODS!

Image of the week!

The nine gladiators got revenge for the death of Roccia in THE TEN GLADIATORS (1963)

(With Roger Browne and Jose Greci, left side... there are too many actors to identify)

VHS Covers: SIGN OF THE GLADIATOR

VHS covers of SIGN OF THE GLADIATOR (1959) starring Anita Ekberg, Georges Marchal and others. Somewhat limited selection for such a big title and with average covers. Nothing too earth shattering.

 

US cover. The artwork is from THE BACCHANTES! Well, at least the movie had a VHS release in the US. If anyone has a digitized copy, please email me at peplumtv2@gmail.com.

Italian cover. Those KOLOSSAL covers were ugly.

 

German cover. Beautiful.

Second German cover. 

 

French cover. Absolutely ugly! 😂

Musings!

Ed Fury in URSUS IN THE LAND OF FIRE (1963) 

This is fun, colourful and violent URSUS movie. The one thing that sorta takes me out is the big prop seen here. It's in a lot of other PEPLUM movies. It's always funny to see it here. PEPLUM movies were not no budget movies but they knew how to cut corners in every way possible. Maybe I should do a list of movies, if I an remember them all.

Behind-the-Scenes

Paul Newman, Virginia Mayo, both in costumes, with Natalie Wood, not in costume, on the set of THE SILVER CHALICE (1954)

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.