HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Happy New Year to all my followers and visitors, regulars and casual lurkers! 

Brigitte Bardot RIP

Brigitte Bardot in HELEN OF TROY (1956)

Ending the year on a sad note, Brigitte Bardot, one of France's biggest stars, died on December 28 at the age of 91. Adding her to the long list of actresses who passed away recently. I liked her a lot. She only did three movies that fall under the PEPLUM umbrella but they are memorable.

Au revoir Brigitte!

One of Brigitte's first noticeable roles was in ROYAL AFFAIRS IN VERSAILLES (1953; Si Versailles m'était conté). She's very charming in it.

Brigitte played Poppea in NERO'S BIG WEEKEND (1956). This one really put her on the map. She held her own against much bigger stars like Gloria Swanson (below) and Alberto Sordi. It's a fun role.

Brigitte and Jacques Sernas in HELEN OF TROY (1956)

Brigitte's next noticeable role was also a 1956 movie, HELEN OF TROY. She had a supporting role as a slave but her role was memorable and when she became a superstar, the re-releases of the movie had her on top billing. 

Musings!

Agrippina's handmaiden is swiftly killed in NERO AND THE BURNING OF ROME (1953)

In this movie, people, mostly women, are dispatched in a blink of an eye. It's quite amazing how brutal everything was, or at least in this movie. Agrippina came into power after plotting to kill Valeria Messalina (the infamous Messalina), the third wife of Emperor Claudius, in a swift and brutal scene. The movie starts with this scene! With Valeria Messalina's death, Agrippina married Claudius. Since she was the mother of Nero, Claudius adopted Nero. When Claudius died, Nero became Emperor at a young age. As an adult, Nero was married to his second wife, Poppea, which Agrippina wanted dead. We see her death in a brutal scene (she was pregnant btw). Waiting in line is Statilia Messalina, who was a mistress to Nero. When Poppea was killed by Nero, Statilia became his third wife. In this scene, after killing the handmaiden, the one on the right kills Agrippina and the men toss Agrippina's body into the sea. Also, we see Britannicus killed by poison. Phew! There's more killings than a FRIDAY THE 13TH movie. The portrayal of Agrippina is always different in almost every movie. She's either extremely evil or she's just cunning. BTW, the actors are extras and not credited. 

PEPLUM Movie Poster

French poster of THE LAST DAYS OF POMPEII (1959) 

This is an odd poster. The title is different but it was also released as LES DERNIERS JOURS DE POMPEI. Both Mario Bonnard and Sergio Leone are on the poster while the actors, including Steve Reeves, are barely noticeable. I've seen some with Sergio Leone crossed out. For Bonnard, they state 'Mise en scene' and for Leone is 'Realisation,' which, technically, is the same thing. I wonder if this a re-release. Disasters in PEPLUM movies is the subject of the main article in the latest BY THE GODS! magazine issue 4.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

I wish everyone a Merry Christmas and happy holidays to all! Thank you for your continued support.

Musings!

Sabina Crassus (Gianna Maria Canale) torments her new slave, Amytis (Ludmilla Tchérina), while Marcus Virilius Rufus (Vittorio Sanipoli) watches, in SPARTACUS - SINS OF ROME (1953)

15 years ago, I started the blog with a post about this movie, and when 2025 ends, so will be its 15th anniversary. I like this movie in Black & White. I could have colourized the photo but I love it like this. IMO, a masterpiece!

NOTE: I'll be taking some time off during Christmas week and will post irregularly during New Years week!

BY THE GODS! magazine issue no 4

Support the blog by buying the newest issue of BY THE GODS! at the link below:

BY THE GODS! magazine issue no 4

PEPLUM Movie Poster

Belgian poster of THE SECRET SEVEN (1964; or THE SECRET 7) 

Nice artwork. It's interesting that Tony Russel is not featured and Massimo Serato is. The French title translates as THE INVINCIBLE 7 (or The 7 Invincibles).

Image of the week!

Joseph (Laurence Payne) and Mary (José Greci) passes through the Roman census (ordered by Caesar Augustus so everyone could be accounted for to pay taxes) as they arrive in Bethlehem in BEN-HUR (1959)

Multiple RIPs

I didn't want to end the year on a sad note and I was keeping these for a while but they were too many of these to wait after the holidays so here we go. The actresses appeared in a handful of PEPLUM movies.

The Kessler Twins, aka Alice and Ellen, died on November 17. The famous sisters starred in ERIK THE CONQUEROR (1961) which I profiled back in June. They died of assisted suicide since the sisters didn't want to die separately. That's so sad. They also appeared in SODOM AND GOMORRAH (1962).

 

Ornella Vanoni died on November 21. Ornella's major contribution to the PEPLUM genre was her prominent role in DUEL OF THE TITANS (1961). I posted a Then & Now last March before she passed away. Her other PEPLUM role was in WITH FIRE AND SWORD (1962).

  

Claudia Cardinale died on September 23. I saw the news of her death across all social medias but forgot to make a note of it. Claudia starred in CARTOUCHE (1962). Quite the movie. With Jean Paul Belmondo (below).

Claudia also had a role in JESUS OF NAZARETH (1977) miniseries.

 

Letícia Román died on June 26 in Florida. Letícia was Sarah in PONTIUS PILATE (1962) with Jean Marais. She also had roles in PIRATES OF TORTUGA (1961) and CHARGE OF THE BLACK LANCERS (1962; below) with Yvonne Furneaux. 

And lastly Elisa Montés. She died last year, October 9, 2024. I'm including her now because I just learned about her death (thanks Paul). I'm genuily sad because she's funny in SAMSON AND THE MIGHTY CHALLENGE (1964; above) with Alan Steel. She's also in ERIK THE VIKING (1965; below)

Musings!

Romano Giomini, Jeff Cameron and Sal Borgese are gladiators again in CHALLENGE OF THE GLADIATOR (1965)

In a reunion of sorts, three actors who appeared in all three TEN GLADIATORS films appeared in this movie as well. I recently posted about this title in HD Alert! but while watching the movie (again), I was reminded of this fun tidbit. Yes, I'm a PEPLUM maniac! I wish there was another Ten Gladiators movie. They're so much fun. You can see all the actors in the Ten Gladiators movies identified here in this blog post I did eleven years ago.
 

Behind-the-Scenes

Richard Burton and Rex Harrison on the set of CLEOPATRA (1963). Director Joseph L. Mankiewicz chatting with Rex.

Clip of the week: ALI BABA AND THE SEVEN SARACENS (1964)

Omar (Gordon Mitchell) is a bad boy. With Bella Cortez and Bruno Piergentili.

New PEPLUM imagery

THE SECRET THREE

MEN OF PULP

SPFX DEPT.

Scenes from THE GIANT OF MARATHON (1959)

These matte paintings in the movie are all excellent. And there are more of these. The screenshots are taken from a print in HD and they look amazing. Mario Bava is credited for cinematography and visual effects. They hold up beautifully. It's odd because these effects are much better than the ones in HERCULES IN THE HAUNTED WORLD (1961), also by Bava.

This shot is great but I don't know what to make of it. It looks like the battle at the end of HERCULES UNCHAINED (1959). The actor was added in with green screen.

PEPLUM Illustrations from TCM

I don't have TCM so I wouldn't know this but a few years ago, the movie channel showed a bunch of PEPLUM movies on Thursdays during the entire month of January. The illustrations are fun and show the movies that were going to be broadcasted.

On the left side, it's either ALEXANDER THE GREAT (1956) or CLEOPATRA (1963). The costumes look Roman so I'd say it's CLEOPATRA. BEN-HUR (1959; bottom right) with Charlton Heston during the chariot race, and the main illustration is from THE MINOTAUR (1960) with a muscular Bob Mathias and Rosanna Schiaffino.

 

The illustration on the left is from a POMPEII movie but which one? On the right side, we see Rossana Podesta from HELEN OF TROY (1956) and below her is Peter Ustinov as Nero in QUO VADIS (1951). And the main illustration is Kirk Douglas in SPARTACUS (1960).

 

The Trojan Horse from HELEN OF TROY is on the left side. Some viking movie on the right side. I don't know which one. Either THE VIKINGS (1958) or THE LONG SHIPS (1964). And the centre illustration is ATLAS (1961). It looks like Steve Reeves and not Michael Forest.

Musings!

Pierre Cressoy and Elena Klaus in FRINE - COURTESAN OF THE ORIENT (1953)

I got a new HD copy of this title, streaming in HD in Italy. Almost identical in style and story as APHRODITE - GODDESS OF LOVE (1958) also directed by Mario Bonnard. The copy has English subs and the spelling of Frine is Phryne. It even stars some of the same actors. It's beautiful but the print is not new (full of scratches, and marks...) which is why I won't feature it under HD Alert!

Elena has an elegant look and in this dress, one can clearly see she's not wearing anything underneath it. There's something undeniably exotic about her but her career was short, consisting of only 6 movies. Pierre Cressoy is excellent in this. He appeared in many PEPLUM movies. Tamara Lees looks and dresses like Irene Tunc in APHRODITE. 

Frine was the model to Praxiteles' revolutionary Aphrodite of Knidos. Sculptures and models are also part of the story of APHRODITE. APHRODITE is not a remake of FRINE but there's a lot of it that's identical. Cinematic Confusion. I like both movies. There's even incidental nudity.

PEPLUM Movie Poster

US one sheet poster of NIGHT IN PARADISE (1946) 

Beautiful poster. Notice how big Technicolor is vs everything else. It still didn't bring people in. 

Image of the week!

Glaucus, aka Hercules, is in a fight for his life against Archepolos (Nello Pazzafini) to prove his worth in HERCULES AGAINST MOLOCH (1963)

BY THE GODS! magazine issue no 4

You can buy the newest issue of BY THE GODS! at the link below:

BY THE GODS! magazine issue no 4

Lobby Cards Set: REVENGE OF THE BARBARIANS (1960)

Original Italian lobby cards set (fotobusta) of REVENGE OF THE BARBARIANS (1960) starring Daniella Rocca, José Greci, and Anthony Steel. Great set. Covers almost everything. Great film!

Musings!

Ettore Manni and Reg Park in HERCULES - PRISONER OF EVIL (1964) 

The movie's synopsis at IMDb: Hercules battles an evil sorceress who turns men into werewolves.

That pretty much covers it. I like the story. The original character wasn't Hercules but Ursus but even that doesn't really work with the story. Maciste would have been better. Both Manni and Park were in HERCULES AND THE CAPTIVE WOMEN (1961) so this was a reunion of sorts. The film utilizes BIG chunks of footage from THE SEVEN REVENGES (1961). The footage doesn't actually add that much to the story. It just pads the runtime. The (male) Bad Guy in this movie also appeared in THE SEVEN REVENGES as the Bad Guy and this is how they were able to tie those scenes with the new stuff. I wish those scenes didn't exist in the final cut since the production is so obviously different. I think the basic story of the evil sorceress turning men into werewolves would have been fine without it. Maybe a new edit is needed? To make things even more confusing, this movie was re-edited into an adult movie called THE EROTIC LIFE OF URSUS (1970), that added even more additional scenes in the already padded production. That movie is still missing in action. Anyway, this is a mix of PEPLUM and horror and since I'm a big fan of both genres, this movie is right up my alley. Maybe a BY THE GODS! magazine article on Horror and PEPLUM?

Behind-the-Scenes

Chelo Alonso posing in a huge display for SIGN OF THE GLADIATOR (1959), presumably during the premiere.

Clip of the week: HERCULES AGAINST THE MOON MEN (1964)

Hercules (Alan Steel) tries to find the lair of the Moon Men during a massive sandstorm. I wrote about this in the latest issue of BY THE GODS!
 

Portraits

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

HD Alert!

Steve Reeves, as Sandokan, and Leo Anchoriz in SANDOKAN - PIRATE OF MALAYSIA (1964)

Beautiful print taken from Spanish streaming service. The image is nearly perfect. The night scenes, and there are lot of them, are dark but overall it's not bad as other HD upgrades. Not available anywhere on Blu-ray.

Quick comparison between the DVD (first) and HD streaming (second). The reds of his jacket are totally different. The HD transfer is excellent. I've added a photo at the list of PEPLUM movies in HD.

Nydia from THE LAST DAYS OF POMPEII

As I wrote in the new issue of BY THE GODS!, THE LAST DAYS OF POMPEII was adapted numerous times for the big screen or TV. One of the main characters in the hugely popular novel by Edward Bulwer-Lytton is Nydia, the blind flower girl. I intended to include this article in the magazine after the formatting issue but I kept the new format and instead of adding it to the magazine, here it is.

You can buy the magazine at 20% off with the code HOLIDAY2025 until December 11!

BY THE GODS! magazine issue no 4