Musings!

Mimmo Palmara doing what he does best: being a bad guy in TWO GLADIATORS (1964)

I recently got a bunch of new DVDs, yes, DVDs, not Blu-rays, from Germany. These DVDs are not new but are new to my collection. One of the best in the bunch is this movie. The image is very good. There's no English audio of course. But I really wanted a quasi-pristine print of this movie and the DVD filled the need. Almost all of my other dozen or so print of this movie are good to barely ok. You can check out the list of DVDs I got at BY THE GODS! website. I'll list them here soon under Recent Acquisitions.

Behind-the-Scenes

Steve Reeves taking a break on the set of HERCULES (1958)

Clip of the week: CLASH OF THE TITANS (1981)

The Kraken appears to Andromeda (Judi Bowker) in CLASH OF THE TITANS. With Harry Hamlin, Bubo, and others!

New PEPLUM Imagery!

With a few prompts, new PEPLUM imagery by AI. 

From MEN OF PULP @ X 

ANDROMEDA'S REVENGE

New BY THE GODS! magazine issue 3

By The Gods! 3

By JS Davidson

56 pages, published 12/18/2024

By The Gods! and Trojan Tales!

HD Alert!

SON OF SAMSON was released in HD in the US before any other country, including those in Europe. This Blu-ray is apparently the first release of this film in HD in Europe. I didn't buy it (I just bought it). I suspect it's the same as the US version. Has anyone bought this? I have the Spanish DVD and the quality is definitely not as good as the US BD. My review/comparisons of the US release.

Amazon.es

 

Screenshot from the US Blu-ray! With mark Forest.

PEPLUM exhibition

There's an exhibition of the PEPLUM genre in Paris at the Fondation Pathé Seydoux. The exhibition is called "Antiquité et Cinéma" and the show runs until March 29. My friend in Europe already mentioned this to me and Jacques Le Roux contacted me about it as well. Le Roux is a lecturer and author on Art History. He also provided photos he took while visited the museum. If you're in Paris, make sure to check it out. 

I purchased the catalogue but haven't received it yet. Anyway, thanks to Jacques for these great photos. I'd like to see it but I'm not planning on traveling to Paris.

Poster and chariot from BEN-HUR (1959)

QUO VADIS (1951) poster and production design (below)

Costumes from CLEOPATRA (1934)

Above: Costumes from CLEOPATRA (1963)

Above and below: costumes from THE PRODIGAL (1955). Notice the posters in the background.

Matte painting from SPARTACUS (1960)

Photo of the construction of the colossus in COLOSSUS OF RHODES (1960)

Costumes sketches for HELEN OF TROY (1956; above) and ULYSSES (1954; below)

A photo of HERCULES (1958) with Sylva Koscina and Steve Reeves. Below: some memorabilia, including stuff from HERCULES.

Photo by Bob Mizer and the influence of beefcake magazines.

Costumes from GLADIATOR (2000)

Props from BEN-HUIR (1925). Cool!

Musings!

Sylva Koscina as Empress Theodora in THE LAST ROMAN Part 2 (1969)

I love Sylva Koscina. She was great in all her roles in PEPLUM movies, including playing Iole in HERCULES (1958) and HERCULES UNCHAINED (1959). But I have to say that Gianna Maria Canale as Theodora in THEODORA - SLAVE EMPRESS (1954) was so memorable that Sylva doesn't hold a candle next to her. These two movies, THE LAST ROMAN and this sequel, came out when the PEPLUM genre was all but dead. There were still some movies made here and there but this project stands mainly for being out in the wrong time. I like the movies but I have some reservations. Sylva's dress here is an example but there's something missing about it. It's well produced and quite impressive in parts but it's sorta robotic. I got the double DVD set from Germany. The screenshot is from that set. I didn't so any adjustments to the image aside from adding the blog's address.

PEPLUM Movie Poster

Belgian poster of THE GOLDEN FALCON (1955) 

Simple and colourful poster of a good looking movie. 

Image of the week!

Salammbo (Jeanne Valérie) stops Mathos (Jacques Sernas) and the Mercenary Chief (Raf Baldassarre) in SALAMMBO (1960)

MUSCLES Inc.

Mark Forest, aka Lou Degni, on the cover of Strength and Health - April 1955.

Musings!

Milton Reid, Gianno Rizzo and Dan Vadis in SPARTACUS AND THE TEN GLADIATORS (1964)

Our hero, Roccia (Vadis), is in a tight situation. It's a fairly regular thing in PEPLUM musclemen features.  He had to be kneeling since he's 6'4" and he would have towered everyone else. I love this movie, even with the plethora of re-used scenes from other movies. The action is fast and the cast is great and, as one can see in this quasi-HD shot, it's nice looking when seen in its original glory. The title is always a problem with the TEN GLADIATORS movies. In my collection, I name it TEN GLADIATORS_SPARTACUS, in order to have all three TEN GLADIATORS movies together. With the title starting with Spartacus, the movie is a hassle to find in my collection. 

Behind-the-Scenes

Director Robert Aldrich going over a scene with Scilla Gabel on the set of SODOM AND GOMORRAH (1962).

Clip of the week: THE MIGHTY URSUS (1961)

The fate of Ursus (Ed Fury) and Doreide (María Luisa Merlo) is in the hands of the goddess Zaas summoned by the Chosen One (Moira Orfei). I love this movie!

New BY THE GODS! magazine issue 3

By The Gods! 3

By JS Davidson

56 pages, published 12/18/2024

By The Gods! and Trojan Tales!

Portraits

Richard Harrison as Lucius Crassus in TWO GLADIATORS (1964) 

SPFX DEPT.

Scenes from THE BEASTMASTER (1982)

I believe the scene above is a model and not a matte painting. Very nice work! While below, well, it's obviously a sketch or drawing. It doesn't even look like a painting. The movie has a lot of different type of special effects, not just these optical effects.

Yvonne Furneaux. RIP!

Yvonne Furneaux died last year (summer) at the age of 98! Yvonne made a handful of PEPLUM movie but a couple of them are quite memorable, such as SLAVE QUEEN OF BABYLON (1963; above) and THE LION OF THEBES (1964). I intended to do this retrospective last summer but never got around it. I like her a lot. RIP!

A young Yvonne in IL PRINCIPE DALLA MASCHERA ROSSA (1955). 

Yvonne in THE STORY OF THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO (1961) with Louis Jourdan.


 

Yvonne in a prominent role in THE CHARGE OF THE BLACK LANCERS (1961) along with Lorella De Luca. She's very good in this.

 

Probably her most iconic role in a PEPLUM movie: Yvonne as Semiramis in SLAVE QUEEN OF BABYLON (1963). Though the film wasn't very Babylonian, it's still a pretty solid film and a solid performance by the actress. She makes the movie. Below: Yvonne as Semiramis with Renzo Ricci.

Yvonne in another solid performance as Helen of Troy in THE LION OF THEBES (1964) with Massimo Serato (above). Below: Yvonne with Mark Forest in the excellent climax.
 

Yvonne Furneaux 1926 - 2024

Musings!

Giuliano Gemma and José Greci in GOLIATH AND THE SINS OF BABYLON (1963)

Directed by Michele Lupo, this was the before of his manic SLAVE series a few years later. It has manic scenes in it but not as much as 7 SLAVES AGAINST ROME or SEVEN REBEL GLADIATORS. Love scenes in these type of PEPLUM action films are often odd to watch. The movie is available on DVD in Germany, with only Italian and German audios. I want to buy it. As a collector but also because it's super cheap. If a new PEPLUM style movie is made in Italy, they have to shot a scene at Monte Gelato waterfalls. 

PEPLUM Movie Poster

German poster of SLAVE QUEEN OF BABYLON (1963)

I like this one. Great artwork. Title translates as Slaves of Semiramis.

Image of the week!

Queen Omphale (Sylvia Lopez) inspects the work of the Egyptian embalmers with her entourage in HERCULES UNCHAINED (1959)

Lobby Cards Set: MACISTE IN HELL (1962)

Original Italian lobby cards set of MACISTE IN HELL (1962) starring Kirk Morris and Hélène Chanel. Excellent set. It's missing a few cards but overall, a nice representation of the movie. At least one card with Kirk and Hélène.

Musings!

Guy Madison and Rossana Podesta in SLAVE OF ROME (1961) 

This is one of those PEPLUM productions which was filmed almost entirely outside, with few interior sets. No big Roman sets. Just forests and hills. I like it and it's one of those films which fall under the radar as far as the genre goes. The fact that there are few interior sets sorta irks me nonetheless because I love anything Roman, including beautiful sets. The other pet peeve has nothing to do with the movie but with the title. Any title with the word Slave these days is now problematic. AI and censors will automatically downgrade or shadowban anything with that word. It's a sad fact of living in 2025.