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Sword-and-sandal

April 17, 2023

Sword-and-sandal, also known as peplum (pepla plural), is a subgenre of largely Italian-made historical, mythological, or biblical epics mostly set in the Greco-Roman antiquity or the Middle Ages. These films attempted to emulate the big-budget Hollywood historical epics of the time, such as Samson and Delilah (1949), Quo Vadis (1951), The Robe (1953), The Ten Commandments (1956), Ben-Hur (1959), Spartacus (1960), and Cleopatra (1963).[1] These films dominated the Italian film industry from 1958 to 1965, eventually being replaced in 1965 by spaghetti Western and Eurospy films.[2][3]

This poster for Goliath and the Barbarians (1959) by Carlo Campogalliani illustrates many people's expectations from films of this genre

The term "peplum" (a Latin word referring to the ancient Greek garment peplos), was introduced by French film critics in the 1960s.[2][3] The terms "peplum" and "sword-and-sandal" were used in a condescending way by film critics. Later, the terms were embraced by fans of the films, similar to the terms "spaghetti Western" or "shoot-'em-ups". In their English versions, peplum films can be immediately differentiated from their Hollywood counterparts by their use of "clumsy and inadequate" English language dubbing.[4] A 100-minute documentary on the history of Italy's peplum genre was produced and directed by Antonio Avati in 1977 entitled Kolossal: i magnifici Maciste (aka Kino Kolossal).[5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]

Genre characteristics

 
Kirk Douglas and Silvana Mangano in a pause during the shootings of Ulysses (1954) by Mario Camerini

Sword-and-sandal films are a specific class of Italian adventure films that have subjects set in Biblical or classical antiquity, often with plots based more or less loosely on Greco-Roman history or the other contemporary cultures of the time, such as the Egyptians, Assyrians, and Etruscans, as well as medieval times. Not all of the films were fantasy-based by any means. Many of the plots featured actual historical personalities such as Julius Caesar, Cleopatra, and Hannibal, although great liberties were taken with the storylines. Gladiators and slaves rebelling against tyrannical rulers, pirates and swashbucklers were also popular subjects.

As Robert Rushing defines it, peplum, "in its most stereotypical form, [...] depicts muscle-bound heroes (professional bodybuilders, athletes, wrestlers, or brawny actors) in mythological antiquity, fighting fantastic monsters and saving scantily clad beauties. Rather than lavish epics set in the classical world, they are low-budget films that focus on the hero's extraordinary body."[13] Thus, most sword-and-sandal films featured a superhumanly strong man as the protagonist, such as Hercules, Samson, Goliath, Ursus or Italy's own popular folk hero Maciste. In addition, the plots typically involved two women vying for the affection of the bodybuilder hero: the good love interest (a damsel in distress needing rescue), and an evil femme fatale queen who sought to dominate the hero.

Also, the films typically featured an ambitious ruler who would ascend the throne by murdering those who stood in his path, and often it was only the muscular hero who could depose him. Thus the hero's often political goal: "to restore a legitimate sovereign against an evil dictator."[14]

Many of the peplum films involved a clash between two populations, one civilized and the other barbaric, which typically included a scene of a village or city being burned to the ground by invaders. For their musical content, most films contained a colorful dancing girls sequence, meant to underline pagan decadence.

Precursors of the sword-and-sandal wave (pre-1958)

Italian films of the silent era

Italian filmmakers paved the way for the peplum genre with some of the earliest silent films dealing with the subject, including the following:

The silent Maciste films (1914–1927)

The 1914 Italian silent film Cabiria was one of the first films set in antiquity to make use of a massively muscled character, Maciste (played by actor Bartolomeo Pagano), who served in this premiere film as the hero's slavishly loyal sidekick. Maciste became the public's favorite character in the film however, and Pagano was called back many times to reprise the role. The Maciste character appeared in at least two dozen Italian silent films from 1914 through 1926, all of which featured a protagonist named Maciste although the films were set in many different time periods and geographical locations.

Here is a complete list of the silent Maciste films in chronological order:

  • Cabiria (1914) introduced the Maciste character
  • Maciste (1915) a.k.a. "The Marvelous Maciste"
  • Maciste bersagliere ("Maciste the Ranger", 1916)
  • Maciste alpino ("Maciste The Warrior", 1916)
  • Maciste atleta ("Maciste the Athlete", 1917)
  • Maciste medium ("Maciste the Clairvoyant", 1917)
  • Maciste poliziotto ("Maciste the Detective", 1917)
  • Maciste turista ("Maciste the Tourist", 1917)
  • Maciste sonnambulo ("Maciste the Sleepwalker", 1918)
  • La Rivincita di Maciste ("The Revenge of Maciste", 1919)
  • Il Testamento di Maciste ("Maciste's Will", 1919)
  • Il Viaggio di Maciste ("Maciste's Journey", 1919)
  • Maciste I ("Maciste the First", 1919)
  • Maciste contro la morte ("Maciste vs Death", 1919)
  • Maciste innamorato ("Maciste in Love", 1919)
  • Maciste in vacanza ("Maciste on Vacation", 1920)
  • Maciste salvato dalle acque ("Maciste Rescued from the Waters", 1920)
  • Maciste e la figlia del re della plata ("Maciste and the Silver King's Daughter", 1922)
  • Maciste und die Japanerin ("Maciste and the Japanese", 1922)
  • Maciste contro Maciste ("Maciste vs. Maciste", 1923)
  • Maciste und die chinesische truhe ("Maciste and the Chinese Trunk", 1923)
  • Maciste e il nipote di America ("Maciste's American Nephew", 1924)
  • Maciste imperatore ("Emperor Maciste", 1924)
  • Maciste contro lo sceicco ("Maciste vs. the Sheik", 1925)
  • Maciste all'inferno ("Maciste in Hell", 1925)
  • Maciste nella gabbia dei leoni ("Maciste in the Lions' Den", 1926)
  • il Gigante delle Dolemite ("The Giant From the Dolomite", released in 1927)

Italian fascist and post-war historical epics (1937-1956)

The Italian film industry released several historical films in the early sound era, such as the big-budget Scipione l'Africano (Scipio Africanus: The Defeat of Hannibal) in 1937. In 1949, the postwar Italian film industry remade Fabiola (which had been previously filmed twice in the silent era). The film was released in the United Kingdom and in the United States in 1951 in an edited, English-dubbed version. Fabiola was an Italian-French co-production like the following films The Last Days of Pompeii (1950) and Messalina (1951).

During the 1950s, a number of American historical epics shot in Italy were released. In 1951, MGM producer Sam Zimbalist cleverly used the lower production costs, use of frozen funds and the expertise of the Italian film industry to shoot the large-scale Technicolor epic Quo Vadis in Rome. In addition to its fictional account linking the Great Fire of Rome, the Persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire and Emperor Nero, the film - following the novel "Quo vadis" by the Polish writer Henryk Sienkiewicz - featured also a mighty protagonist named Ursus (Italian filmmakers later made several pepla in the 1960s exploiting the Ursus character). MGM also planned Ben Hur to be filmed in Italy as early as 1952.[16]

Riccardo Freda's Sins of Rome was filmed in 1953 and released by RKO in an edited, English-dubbed version the following year. Unlike Quo Vadis, there were no American actors or production crew. The Anthony Quinn film Attila (directed by Pietro Francisci in 1954), the Kirk Douglas epic Ulysses (co-directed by an uncredited Mario Bava in 1954) and Helen of Troy (directed by Robert Wise with Sergio Leone as an uncredited second unit director in 1955) were the first of the big peplum films of the 1950s. Riccardo Freda directed another peplum, Theodora, Slave Empress in 1954, starring his wife Gianna Maria Canale. Howard Hawks directed his Land of the Pharaohs (starring Joan Collins) in Italy and Egypt in 1955. Robert Rossen made his film Alexander the Great in Egypt in 1956, with a music score by famed Italian composer Mario Nascimbene.

The main sword-and-sandal period (1958-1965)

To cash in on the success of the Kirk Douglas film Ulysses, Pietro Francisci planned to make a film about Hercules, but searched unsuccessfully for years for a physically convincing yet experienced actor. His daughter spotted American bodybuilder Steve Reeves in the American film Athena and he was hired to play Hercules in 1957 when the film was made. (Reeves was paid $10,000 to star in the film).[17][18]

The genre's instantaneous growth began with the U.S. theatrical release of Hercules in 1959. American producer Joseph E. Levine acquired the U.S. distribution rights for $120,000, spent $1 million promoting the film and made more than $5 million profit.[19] This spawned the 1959 Steve Reeves sequel Hercules Unchained, the 1959 re-release of Cecil B. DeMille's Samson and Delilah (1949), and dozens of imitations that followed in their wake. Italian filmmakers resurrected their 1920s Maciste character in a brand new 1960s sound film series (1960–1964), followed rapidly by Ursus, Samson, Goliath and various other mighty-muscled heroes.

Almost all peplum films of this period featured bodybuilder stars, the most popular being Steve Reeves, Reg Park and Gordon Scott.[20] Some of these stars, such as Mickey Hargitay, Reg Lewis, Mark Forest, Gordon Mitchell and Dan Vadis, had starred in Mae West's touring stage review in the United States in the 1950s.[20] Bodybuilders of Italian origin, on the other hand, would adopt English pseudonyms for the screen; thus, stuntman Sergio Ciani became Alan Steel, and ex-gondolier Adriano Bellini was called Kirk Morris.[20]

To be sure, many of the films enjoyed widespread popularity among general audiences, and had production values that were typical for popular films of their day. Some films included frequent re-use of the impressive film sets that had been created for Ben-Hur and Cleopatra.

Although many of the bigger budget pepla were released theatrically in the US, fourteen of them were released directly to Embassy Pictures television in a syndicated TV package called The Sons of Hercules. Since few American viewers had a familiarity with Italian film heroes such as Maciste or Ursus, the characters were renamed[20] and the films molded into a series of sorts by splicing on the same opening and closing theme song and newly designed voice-over narration that attempted to link the protagonist of each film to the Hercules mythos. These films ran on Saturday afternoons in the 1960s.

Peplum films were, and still are, often ridiculed for their low budgets and bad English dubbing. The contrived plots, poorly overdubbed dialogue, novice acting skills of the bodybuilder leads, and primitive special effects that were often inadequate to depict the mythological creatures on screen all conspire to give these films a certain camp appeal now. In the 1990s, several of them have been subjects of riffing and satire in the United States comedy series Mystery Science Theater 3000.

However, in the early 1960s, a group of French critics, mostly writing for the Cahiers du cinéma, such as Luc Moullet, started to celebrate the genre and some of its directors, including Vittorio Cottafavi, Riccardo Freda, Mario Bava, Pietro Francisci, Duccio Tessari, and Sergio Leone.[21] Not only directors, but also some of the screenwriters, often put together in teams, worked past the typically formulaic plot structure to include a mixture of "bits of philosophical readings and scraps of psychoanalysis, reflections on the biggest political systems, the fate of the world and humanity, fatalistic notions of accepting the will of destiny and the gods, anthropocentric belief in the powers of the human physique, and brilliant syntheses of military treatises".[22]

With reference to the genre's free use of ancient mythology and other influences, Italian director Vittorio Cottafavi, who directed a number of peplum films, used the term "neo-mythologism".[23]

Hercules series (1958–1965)

 
A poster for Hercules (1958) by Pietro Francisci starring Steve Reeves

A series of 19 Hercules movies were made in Italy in the late '50s and early '60s. The films were all sequels to the successful Steve Reeves peplum Hercules (1958), but with the exception of Hercules Unchained, each film was a stand-alone story not connected to the others. The actors who played Hercules in these films were Steve Reeves followed by Gordon Scott, Kirk Morris, Mickey Hargitay, Mark Forest, Alan Steel, Dan Vadis, Brad Harris, Reg Park, Peter Lupus (billed as Rock Stevens) and Mike Lane. In a 1997 interview, Reeves said he felt his two Hercules films could not be topped by another sequel, so he declined to do any more Hercules films.[24]

The films are listed below by their American release titles, and the titles in parentheses are their original Italian titles with an approximate English translation. Dates shown are the original Italian theatrical release dates, not the U.S. release dates (which were years later in some cases).

A number of English-dubbed Italian films that featured the word "Hercules" in the title were not made as Hercules movies originally, such as:

  • Hercules Against the Moon Men, Hercules Against the Barbarians, Hercules Against the Mongols and Hercules of the Desert were all originally Maciste films. (See "Maciste" section below)
  • Hercules and the Black Pirate and Hercules and the Treasure of the Incas were both re-titled Samson movies. (See "Samson" section below)
  • Hercules, Prisoner of Evil was actually a re-titled Ursus film. (See "Ursus" section below)
  • Hercules and the Masked Rider was actually a re-titled Goliath movie. (See "Goliath" section below)

None of these films in their original Italian versions involved the Hercules character in any way. Likewise, most of the Sons of Hercules movies shown on American TV in the 1960s had nothing to do with Hercules in their original Italian versions.

(see also The Three Stooges Meet Hercules (1962), an American-made genre parody starring peplum star Samson Burke as Hercules)

Goliath series (1959–1964)

The Italians used Goliath as the superhero protagonist in a series of adventure films (pepla) in the early 1960s. He was a man possessed of amazing strength, although he seemed to be a different person in each film. After the classic Hercules (1958) became a blockbuster sensation in the film industry, a 1959 Steve Reeves film Il terrore dei barbari (Terror of the Barbarians) was re-titled Goliath and the Barbarians in the U.S. The film was so successful at the box office, it inspired Italian filmmakers to do a series of four more films featuring a generic beefcake hero named Goliath, although the films were not related to each other in any way (the 1960 Italian peplum David and Goliath starring Orson Welles was not part of this series, since that movie was just a historical retelling of the Biblical story).

The titles in the Italian Goliath adventure series were as follows: (the first title listed for each film is the film's original Italian title along with its English translation, while the U.S. release title follows in bold type in parentheses)

The name Goliath was also inserted into the English titles of three other Italian pepla that were re-titled for U.S. distribution in an attempt to cash in on the Goliath craze, but these films were not originally made as "Goliath movies" in Italy.

Both Goliath and the Vampires (1961) and Goliath and the Sins of Babylon (1963) actually featured the famed Italian folk hero Maciste in the original Italian versions, but American distributors did not feel the name "Maciste" meant anything to American audiences.

Goliath and the Dragon (1960) was originally an Italian Hercules movie called The Revenge of Hercules, but it was re-titled Goliath and the Dragon in the U.S. since at the time Goliath and the Barbarians was breaking box-office records, and the distributors may have thought the name "Hercules" was trademarked by distributor Joseph E. Levine.

Maciste series (1960–1965)

Main article: Maciste

There were a total of 25 Maciste films from the 1960s peplum craze (not counting the two dozen silent Maciste films made in Italy pre-1930). By 1960, seeing how well the two Steve Reeves Hercules films were doing at the box office, Italian producers decided to revive the 1920s silent film character Maciste in a new series of color/sound films. Unlike the other Italian peplum protagonists, Maciste found himself in a variety of time periods ranging from the Ice Age to 16th century Scotland. Maciste was never given an origin, and the source of his mighty powers was never revealed. However, in the first film of the 1960s series, he mentions to another character that the name "Maciste" means "born of the rock" (almost as if he was a god who would just appear out of the earth itself in times of need). One of the 1920s silent Maciste films was actually entitled "The Giant from the Dolomite", hinting that Maciste may be more god than man, which would explain his great strength.
The first title listed for each film is the film's original Italian title along with its English translation, while the U.S. release title follows in bold type in parentheses (note how many times Maciste's name in the Italian title is altered to an entirely different name in the American title):

In 1973, the Spanish cult film director Jesus Franco directed two low-budget "Maciste films" for French producers: Maciste contre la Reine des Amazones (Maciste vs the Queen of the Amazons) and Les exploits érotiques de Maciste dans l'Atlantide (The Erotic Exploits of Maciste in Atlantis). The films had almost identical casts, both starring Val Davis as Maciste, and appear to have been shot back-to-back. The former was distributed in Italy as a "Karzan" movie (a cheap Tarzan imitation), while the latter film was released only in France with hardcore inserts as Les Gloutonnes ("The Gobblers"). These two films were totally unrelated to the 1960s Italian Maciste series.

Ursus series (1960–1964)

Main article: Ursus (film character)

Following Buddy Baer's portrayal of Ursus in the classic 1951 film Quo Vadis, Ursus was used as a superhuman Roman-era character who became the protagonist in a series of Italian adventure films made in the early 1960s.

When the "Hercules" film craze hit in 1959, Italian filmmakers were looking for other muscleman characters similar to Hercules whom they could exploit, resulting in the nine-film Ursus series listed below. Ursus was referred to as a "Son of Hercules" in two of the films when they were dubbed in English (in an attempt to cash in on the then-popular "Hercules" craze), although in the original Italian films, Ursus had no connection to Hercules whatsoever. In the English-dubbed version of one Ursus film (retitled Hercules, Prisoner of Evil), Ursus was actually referred to throughout the entire film as "Hercules".

There were a total of nine Italian films that featured Ursus as the main character, listed below as follows: Italian title / English translation of the Italian title (American release title);

Samson series (1961–1964)

A character named Samson was featured in a series of five Italian peplum films in the 1960s, no doubt inspired by the 1959 re-release of the epic Victor Mature film Samson and Delilah. The character was similar to the Biblical Samson in the third and fifth films only; in the other three, he just appears to be a very strong man (not related at all to the Biblical figure).

The titles are listed as follows: Italian title / its English translation (U.S. release title in parentheses);

The name Samson was also inserted into the U.S. titles of six other Italian movies when they were dubbed in English for U.S. distribution, although these films actually featured the adventures of the famed Italian folk hero Maciste.

Samson Against the Sheik (1962), Son of Samson (1960), Samson and the Slave Queen (1963), Samson and the Seven Miracles of the World (1961), Samson vs. the Giant King (1964), and Samson in King Solomon's Mines (1964) were all re-titled Maciste movies, because the American distributors did not feel the name Maciste was marketable to U.S. filmgoers.

Samson and the Treasure of the Incas (a.k.a. Hercules and the Treasure of the Incas) (1965) sounds like a peplum title, but was actually a spaghetti Western.

The Sons of Hercules (TV syndication package)

Main article: The Sons of Hercules
 
Title card for the 1960s series The Sons of Hercules

The Sons of Hercules was a syndicated television show that aired in the United States in the 1960s. The series repackaged 14 randomly chosen Italian peplum films by unifying them with memorable title and end title theme songs and a standard voice-over intro relating the main hero in each film to Hercules any way they could. In some areas, each film was split into two one-hour episodes, so the 14 films were shown as 28 weekly episodes. None of the films were ever theatrically released in the U.S.

The films are not listed in chronological order, since they were not really related to each other in any way. The first title listed below for each film was its American broadcast television title, followed in parentheses by the English translation of its original Italian theatrical title:

Steve Reeves pepla (in chronological order of production)

Main article: Steve Reeves

Steve Reeves appeared in 14 pepla made in Italy from 1958 to 1964, and most of his films are highly regarded examples of the genre. His pepla are listed below in order of production, not in order of release. The U.S. release titles are shown below, followed by the original Italian title and its translation (in parentheses)

Other (non-series) Italian pepla

There were many 1950s and 1960s Italian pepla that did not feature a major superhero (such as Hercules, Maciste or Samson), and as such they fall into a sort of miscellaneous category. Many were of the Cappa e spada (swashbuckler) variety, though they often feature well-known characters such as Ali Baba, Julius Caesar, Ulysses, Cleopatra, the Three Musketeers, Zorro, Theseus, Perseus, Achilles, Robin Hood, and Sandokan. The first really successful Italian films of this kind were Black Eagle (1946) and Fabiola (1949).

Gladiator films

Inspired by the success of Spartacus, there were a number of Italian peplums that heavily emphasized the gladiatorial arena in their plots, with it becoming almost a peplum subgenre in itself. One group of supermen known as "The Ten Gladiators" appeared in a trilogy, all three films starring Dan Vadis in the lead role.

  • Alone Against Rome (1962) a.k.a. Vengeance of the Gladiators
  • The Arena (1974) a.k.a. Naked Warriors, co-directed by Joe D'Amato, starring Pam Grier, Paul Muller and Rosalba Neri
  • Challenge of the Gladiator (1965) starring Peter Lupus (a.k.a. Rock Stevens)
  • Fabiola (1949) a.k.a. The Fighting Gladiator
  • Gladiator of Rome (1962) a.k.a. Battle of the Gladiators, starring Gordon Scott
  • Gladiators Seven (1962) a.k.a. The Seven Gladiators, starring Richard Harrison
  • Invincible Gladiator, The (1961) Richard Harrison
  • Last Gladiator, The (1963) a.k.a. Messalina Against the Son of Hercules
  • Maciste, Gladiator of Sparta (1964) a.k.a. Terror of Rome Against the Son of Hercules
  • Revenge of Spartacus, The (1965) a.k.a. Revenge of the Gladiators, starring Roger Browne
  • Revenge of The Gladiators (1961) starring Mickey Hargitay
  • Revolt of the Seven (1964) a.k.a. The Spartan Gladiator, starring Tony Russel and Helga Line
  • Revolt of the Slaves (1961) Rhonda Fleming
  • Seven Rebel Gladiators (1965) a.k.a. Seven Against All, starring Roger Browne
  • Seven Slaves Against the World (1965) a.k.a. Seven Slaves Against Rome, a.k.a. The Strongest Slaves in the World, starring Roger Browne and Gordon Mitchell
  • Sheba and the Gladiator (1959) a.k.a. The Sign of Rome, a.k.a. Sign of the Gladiator, Anita Ekberg
  • Sins of Rome (1952) a.k.a. Spartacus, directed by Riccardo Freda
  • Slave, The (1962) a.k.a. Son of Spartacus, Steve Reeves
  • Spartacus and the Ten Gladiators (1964) a.k.a. Ten Invincible Gladiators, Dan Vadis
  • Spartan Gladiator, The (1965) Tony Russel
  • Ten Gladiators, The (1963) Dan Vadis
  • Triumph of the Ten Gladiators (1965) Dan Vadis
  • Two Gladiators, The (1964) a.k.a. Fight or Die, Richard Harrison
  • Ursus, the Rebel Gladiator (1963) a.k.a. Rebel Gladiators, Dan Vadis
  • Warrior and the Slave Girl, The (1958) a.k.a. The Revolt of the Gladiators, Gianna Maria Canale

Ancient Rome

Greek mythology

Barbarian and Viking films

Swashbucklers / pirates

  • Adventurer of Tortuga (1965) starring Guy Madison
  • Adventures of Mandrin, The (1960) a.k.a. Captain Adventure
  • Adventures of Scaramouche, The (1963) a.k.a. The Mask of Scaramouche, Gianna Maria Canale
  • Arms of the Avenger (1963) a.k.a. The Devils of Spartivento, starring John Drew Barrymore
  • At Sword's Edge (1952) dir. by Carlo Ludovico Bragaglia
  • Attack of the Moors (1959) a.k.a. The Kings of France
  • Avenger of the Seven Seas (1961) a.k.a. Executioner of the Seas, Richard Harrison
  • Avenger of Venice, The (1963) directed by Riccardo Freda, starring Brett Halsey
  • Balboa (Spanish, 1963) a.k.a. Conquistadors of the Pacific
  • Beatrice Cenci (1956) directed by Riccardo Freda
  • Beatrice Cenci (1969) directed by Lucio Fulci
  • Behind the Mask of Zorro (1966) a.k.a. The Oath of Zorro, Tony Russel
  • Black Archer, The (1959) Gerard Landry
  • Black Devil, The (1957) Gerard Landry
  • Black Duke, The (1963) Cameron Mitchell
  • Black Eagle, The (1946) a.k.a. Return of the Black Eagle, directed by Riccardo Freda
  • Black Lancers, The (1962) a.k.a. Charge of the Black Lancers, Mel Ferrer
  • Captain from Toledo, The (1966)
  • Captain of Iron, The (1962) a.k.a. Revenge of the Mercenaries, Barbara Steele
  • Captain Phantom (1953)
  • Captains of Adventure (1961) starring Paul Muller and Gerard Landry
  • Caribbean Hawk, The (1963) Yvonne Monlaur
  • Castillian, The (1963) Cesare Romero, U.S./Spanish co-production
  • Catherine of Russia (1962) directed by Umberto Lenzi
  • Cavalier in Devil's Castle (1959) a.k.a. Cavalier of Devil's Island
  • Conqueror of Maracaibo, The (1961)
  • The Count of Braggalone (1954) aka The Last Musketeer, starring Georges Marchal
  • Count of Monte Cristo, The (1962) Louis Jourdan
  • Devil Made a Woman, The (1959) a.k.a. A Girl Against Napoleon
  • Devil's Cavaliers, The (1959) a.k.a. The Devil's Riders, Gianna Maria Canale
  • Dick Turpin (1974) a Spanish production
  • El Cid (1961) Sophia Loren, Charlton Heston, U.S./ Italian film shot in Italy
  • Executioner of Venice, The (1963) Lex Barker, Guy Madison
  • Fighting Musketeers, The (1961)
  • Giant of the Evil Island (1965) a.k.a. Mystery of the Cursed Island, Peter Lupus
  • Goliath and the Masked Rider (1964) a.k.a. Hercules and the Masked Rider, Alan Steel
  • Guns of the Black Witch (1961) a.k.a. Terror of the Sea, Don Megowan
  • Hawk of the Caribbean (1963)
  • Invincible Swordsman, The (1963)
  • The Iron Swordsman (1949) a.k.a. Count Ugolino, directed by Riccardo Freda
  • Ivanhoe, the Norman Swordsman (1971) a.k.a. La spada normanna, directed by Roberto Mauri
  • Knight of a Hundred Faces, The (1960) a.k.a. The Silver Knight, starring Lex Barker
  • Knights of Terror (1963) a.k.a. Terror of the Red Capes, Tony Russel
  • Knight Without a Country (1959) a.k.a. The Faceless Rider
  • Lawless Mountain, The (1953) a.k.a. La montaña sin ley (stars Zorro)
  • Lion of St. Mark, The (1964) Gordon Scott
  • Mark of Zorro (1975) made in France, Monica Swinn
  • Mark of Zorro (1976) George Hilton
  • Masked Conqueror, The (1962)
  • Mask of the Musketeers (1963) a.k.a. Zorro and the Three Musketeers, starring Gordon Scott
  • Michael Strogoff (1956) a.k.a. Revolt of the Tartars
  • Miracle of the Wolves (1961) a.k.a. Blood on his Sword, starring Jean Marais
  • Morgan, the Pirate (1960) Steve Reeves
  • Musketeers of the Sea (1960)
  • Mysterious Rider, The (1948) directed by Riccardo Freda[26]
  • Mysterious Swordsman, The (1956) starred Gerard Landry
  • Nephews of Zorro, The (1968) Italian comedy with Franco and Ciccio
  • Night of the Great Attack (1961) a.k.a. Revenge of the Borgias
  • Night They Killed Rasputin, The (1960) a.k.a. The Last Czar
  • Nights of Lucretia Borgia, The (1959)
  • Pirate and the Slave Girl, The (1959) Lex Barker
  • Pirate of the Black Hawk, The (1958)
  • Pirate of the Half Moon (1957)
  • Pirates of the Coast (1960) Lex Barker
  • Prince with the Red Mask, The (1955) a.k.a. The Red Eagle
  • Prisoner of the Iron Mask, The (1961) a.k.a. The Revenge of the Iron Mask
  • Pugni, Pirati e Karatè (1973) a.k.a. Fists, Pirates and Karate, directed by Joe D'Amato, starring Richard Harrison (a 1970s Italian spoof of pirate movies)
  • Queen of the Pirates (1961) a.k.a. The Venus of the Pirates, Gianna Maria Canale
  • Queen of the Seas (1961) directed by Umberto Lenzi
  • Rage of the Buccaneers (1961) a.k.a. Gordon, The Black Pirate, starring Vincent Price
  • Red Cloak, The (1955) Bruce Cabot
  • Revenge of Ivanhoe, The (1965) Rik Battaglia
  • Revenge of the Black Eagle (1951) directed by Riccardo Freda
  • Revenge of the Musketeers (1963) a.k.a. Dartagnan vs. the Three Musketeers, Fernando Lamas
  • Revenge of Spartacus, The (1965) Roger Browne
  • Revolt of the Mercenaries (1961)
  • Robin Hood and the Pirates (1960) Lex Barker
  • Roland, the Mighty (1956) directed by Pietro Francisci
  • Rome 1585 (1961) a.k.a. The Mercenaries, Debra Paget, set in the 1500s
  • Rover, The (1967) a.k.a. The Adventurer, starring Anthony Quinn
  • The Sack of Rome (1953) a.k.a. The Barbarians, a.k.a. The Pagans (set in the 1500s)
  • Samson vs. the Black Pirate (1963) a.k.a. Hercules and the Black Pirate, Alan Steel
  • Samson vs. the Pirates (1963) a.k.a. Samson and the Sea Beast, Kirk Morris
  • Sandokan Fights Back (1964) a.k.a. Sandokan to the Rescue, a.k.a. The Revenge of Sandokan, Guy Madison
  • Sandokan the Great (1964) a.k.a. Sandokan, the Tiger of Mompracem, Steve Reeves
  • Sandokan, the Pirate of Malaysia (1964) a.k.a. Pirates of Malaysia, a.k.a. Pirates of the Seven Seas, Steve Reeves, directed by Umberto Lenzi
  • Sandokan vs. the Leopard of Sarawak (1964) a.k.a. Throne of Vengeance, Guy Madison
  • Saracens, The (1965) a.k.a. The Devil's Pirate, a.k.a. The Flag of Death, starring Richard Harrison
  • Sea Pirate, The (1966) a.k.a. Thunder Over the Indian Ocean, a.k.a. Surcouf, Hero of the Seven Seas
  • Secret Mark of D'artagnan, The (1962)
  • Seven Seas to Calais (1961) a.k.a. Sir Francis Drake, King of the Seven Seas, Rod Taylor
  • Seventh Sword, The (1960) Brett Halsey
  • Shadow of Zorro (1962) Frank Latimore
  • Sign of Zorro, The (1952)
  • Sign of Zorro [it] (1963) a.k.a. Duel at the Rio Grande, Sean Flynn
  • Son of Black Eagle (1968)
  • Son of Captain Blood (1962)
  • Son of d'Artagnan (1950) directed by Riccardo Freda
  • Son of El Cid, The (1965) Mark Damon
  • Son of the Red Corsair (1959) a.k.a. Son of the Red Pirate, Lex Barker
  • Son of Zorro (1973) Alberto Dell'Acqua
  • Sword in the Shadow, A (1961) starring Livio Lorenzon
  • Sword of Rebellion, The (1964) a.k.a. The Rebel of Castelmonte
  • Sword of Vengeance (1961) a.k.a. La spada della vendetta
  • Swordsman of Siena, The (1961) a.k.a. The Mercenary
  • Sword Without a Country (1960) a.k.a. Sword Without a Flag
  • Taras Bulba, The Cossack (1963) a.k.a. Plains of Battle
  • Terror of the Black Mask (1963) a.k.a. The Invincible Masked Rider
  • Terror of the Red Mask (1960) Lex Barker
  • Three Swords of Zorro, The (1963) a.k.a. The Sword of Zorro, Guy Stockwell
  • Tiger of the Seven Seas (1963)
  • Triumph of Robin Hood (1962) starring Samson Burke
  • Tyrant of Castile, The (1964) Mark Damon
  • White Slave Ship (1961) directed by Silvio Amadio
  • The White Warrior (1959) a.k.a. Hadji Murad, the White Devil, Steve Reeves
  • Women of Devil's Island (1962) starring Guy Madison
  • Zorro (1968) a.k.a. El Zorro, a.k.a. Zorro the Fox, George Ardisson
  • Zorro (1975) Alain Delon
  • Zorro and the Three Musketeers (1963) Gordon Scott
  • Zorro at the Court of England (1969) Spiros Focás as Zorro
  • Zorro at the Court of Spain (1962) a.k.a. The Masked Conqueror, Georgio Ardisson
  • Zorro of Monterrey (1971) a.k.a. El Zorro de Monterrey, Carlos Quiney
  • Zorro, Rider of Vengeance (1971) Carlos Quiney
  • Zorro's Last Adventure (1970) a.k.a. La última aventura del Zorro, Carlos Quiney
  • Zorro the Avenger (1962) a.k.a. The Revenge of Zorro, Frank Latimore
  • Zorro the Avenger (1969) a.k.a. El Zorro justiciero (1969) Fabio Testi
  • Zorro, the Navarra Marquis (1969) Nadir Moretti as Zorro
  • Zorro the Rebel (1966) Howard Ross
  • Zorro Against Maciste (1963) a.k.a. Samson and the Slave Queen (1963) starring Pierre Brice, Alan Steel

Biblical

  • Barabbas (1961) Dino de Laurentiis, Anthony Quinn, filmed in Italy
  • Bible, The (1966) Dino de Laurentiis, John Huston, filmed in Italy
  • David and Goliath (1960) Orson Welles
  • Desert Desperadoes (1956) plot involves King Herod
  • Esther and the King (1961) Joan Collins, Richard Egan
  • Head of a Tyrant, The (1959)
  • Herod the Great (1958) Edmund Purdom
  • Jacob, the Man Who Fought with God (1964) Giorgio Cerioni
  • Mighty Crusaders, The (1957) a.k.a. Jerusalem Set Free, Gianna Maria Canale
  • Moses the Lawgiver (1973) aka Moses in Egypt, Burt Lancaster, Anthony Quayle (6-hour made-for-TV Italian/British co-production) also released theatrically
  • Old Testament, The (1962) Brad Harris
  • Pontius Pilate (1962) Jean Marais
  • The Queen of Sheba (1952), directed by Pietro Francisci
  • Samson and Gideon (1965) Fernando Rey
  • Saul and David (1963) Gianni Garko
  • Sodom and Gomorrah (1962) Rosanna Podesta, U.S./Italian film shot in Italy
  • Story of Joseph and his Brethren, The (1960)
  • Sword and the Cross, The (1958) a.k.a. Mary Magdalene, Gianna Maria Canale

Ancient Egypt

Babylon / the Middle East

The second peplum wave: the 1980s

After the peplum gave way to the spaghetti Western and Eurospy films in 1965, the genre lay dormant for close to 20 years. Then in 1982, the box-office successes of Jean-Jacques Annaud's Quest for Fire (1981), Arnold Schwarzenegger's Conan the Barbarian (1982) and Clash of the Titans (1981 film) (1981) spurred a second renaissance of sword and sorcery Italian pepla in the five years immediately following. Most of these films had low budgets, focusing more on barbarians and pirates so as to avoid the need for expensive Greco-Roman sets. The filmmakers tried to compensate for their shortcomings with the addition of some graphic gore and nudity. Many of these 1980s entries were helmed by noted Italian horror film directors (Joe D'Amato, Lucio Fulci, Luigi Cozzi, etc.) and many featured actors Lou Ferrigno, Miles O'Keeffe and Sabrina Siani. Here is a list of the 1980s pepla:

A group of so-called "porno peplum" films were devoted to Roman emperors, especially - but not only - to Caligula and Claudius' spouse Messalina:

  • Caligula (1979) directed by Tinto Brass
  • A Filha de Calígula/ The Daughter of Caligula (1981) directed by Ody Fraga; made in Brazil
  • Caligula and Messalina (1981) directed by Bruno Mattei
  • Bacanales Romanas/ My Nights with Messalina (1982) directed in Spain by Jaime J. Puig; stars Ajita Wilson
  • Nerone and Poppea (1982) directed by Bruno Mattei
  • Caligula... The Untold Story (1982) directed by Joe D'Amato, starring Laura Gemser and Gabriele Tinti
  • Orgies of Caligula (1984) a.k.a. Caligula's Slaves, a.k.a. Roma, l'antica chiave dei sensi; directed by Lorenzo Onorati

See also

References

  1. ^ Patrick Lucanio, With Fire and Sword: Italian Spectacles on American Screens, 1958–1968 (Scarecrow Press, 1994; ISBN 0810828162)
  2. ^ a b O'Brien, D. (2014). Classical Masculinity and the Spectacular Body on Film: The Mighty Sons of Hercules. Springer. ISBN 9781137384713. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  3. ^ a b Kinnard, Roy; Crnkovich, Tony (2017). Italian Sword and Sandal Films, 1908–1990. McFarland. p. 1. ISBN 9781476662916. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  4. ^ Bondanella, Peter; Pacchioni, Federico (2017). A History of Italian Cinema. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. p. 166. ISBN 9781501307645. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  5. ^ Della Casa, Steve; Giusti, Marco (2013). "Il Grande Libro di Ercole". Edizione Sabinae. Page 194. ISBN 978-88-98623-051
  6. ^ Kino kolossal – Herkules, Maciste & Co. Eintrag letterboxd.com. Retrieved 19 March 2021.
  7. ^ "Cineforum" (in Italian). 29 (#1–6). Federazione italiana cineforum. 1989: 62. Retrieved 14 February 2019. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  8. ^ Pomeroy, Arthur J. (2008). 'Then it Was Destroyed by the Volcano': The Ancient World in Film and on Television. Bloomsbury Academic. p. 67. ISBN 9780715630266. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  9. ^ Nikoloutsos, Konstantinos P. (2013). Ancient Greek Women in Film. OUP Oxford. p. 139. ISBN 9780199678921. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  10. ^ Bayman, Louis (2011). Directory of World Cinema: Italy. Intellect Books. p. 177. ISBN 9781841504001. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  11. ^ Diak, Nicholas (2018). The New Peplum: Essays on Sword and Sandal Films and Television Programs Since the 1990s. McFarland. p. 195. ISBN 9781476631509. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  12. ^ Ritzer, Ivo; Schulze, Peter W. (2016). Genre Hybridisation: Global Cinematic Flow. Schüren Verlag. p. 65. ISBN 9783741000416. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  13. ^ Klein, Amanda Ann; Palmer, R. Barton (2016). Cycles, Sequels, Spin-offs, Remakes, and Reboots: Multiplicities in Film and Television. University of Texas Press. ISBN 9781477308196. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
  14. ^ Cornelius, Michael G. (2011). Of Muscles and Men: Essays on the Sword and Sandal Film. McFarland. p. 15. ISBN 9780786489022.
  15. ^ Michelakis, Pantelis; Wyke, Maria; Pucci, Giuseppe (2013). The Ancient World in Silent Cinema. Cambridge University Press. pp. 247–261. ISBN 9781107016101. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  16. ^ Pryor, Thomas M. "Ben-Hur to Ride for Metro Again." New York Times. December 8, 1952.
  17. ^ Jon Thurber: Steve Reeves, Mr. Universe Who Became Movie Strongman, Dies 4 May 2000 latimes.com. Retrieved 19 March 2021.
  18. ^ Frumkes, Roy, ed. (July 1994). "An Interview with Steve Reeves". The Perfect Vision Magazine. Vol. 6, no. 22.
  19. ^ p.73 Frayling, Christopher Spaghetti Westerns: Cowboys and Europeans from Karl May to Sergio Leone I.B.Tauris, 2006.
  20. ^ a b c d Hughes, Howard (2011). Cinema Italiano: The Complete Guide from Classics to Cult. Bloomsbury Academic. p. 2. ISBN 9781848856080. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  21. ^ Brunetta, Gian Piero (2004). Cent'anni di cinema italiano (in Italian). Laterza. p. 329. ISBN 9788842073468. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  22. ^ Brunetta, Gian Piero (2004). Cent'anni di cinema italiano (in Italian). Laterza. pp. 329–330. ISBN 9788842073468. Retrieved 14 February 2019. frammenti di letture filosofiche e briciole di psicanalisi, meditazioni sui massimi sistemi politici, sul destino del mondo e dell'umanità, concezioni fatalistiche di accetazione della volontà del destino e degli dei, fiducia antropocentrica nella potenza fisica e sintesi fulminee di trattatistica militare
  23. ^ Winkler, Martin M. (2009). Troy: From Homer's Iliad to Hollywood Epic. John Wiley & Sons. p. 14. ISBN 9781405178549. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  24. ^ Labbe, Rod "Steve Reeves: Demi-God on Horseback" Films of the Golden Age.
  25. ^ a b Kinnard, Roy; Crnkovich, Tony (2017). Italian Sword and Sandal Films, 1908-1990. McFarland. ISBN 1476662916.
  26. ^ a b Roberto Chiti; Roberto Poppi; Enrico Lancia. Dizionario del cinema italiano: I film. Gremese 1991. ISBN 8876055487.
  27. ^ Roberto Poppi, Mario Pecorari. Dizionario del cinema italiano. I film. Gremese Editore 2007. ISBN 8884405033.
  28. ^ Hughes, Howard (30 April 2011). Cinema Italiano: The Complete Guide from Classics to Cult. ISBN 9780857730442.
  29. ^ http://www.tcm.turner.com/tcmdb/title/78700/Hundra/.[dead link]

Further reading

  • Diak, Nicholas, editor. The New Peplum: Essays on Sword and Sandal Films and Television Programs Since the 1990s. McFarland and Company, Inc. 2018. ISBN 978-1-4766-6762-1
  • Richard Dyer: "The White Man's Muscles" in R. Dyer: White: London: Routledge: 1997: ISBN 0-415-09537-9
  • David Chapman: Retro Studs: Muscle Movie Posters from Around the World: Portland: Collectors Press: 2002: ISBN 1-888054-69-7
  • Hervé Dumont, L'Antiquité au cinéma. Vérités, légendes et manipulations (Nouveau-Monde, 2009; ISBN 2-84736-434-X)
  • Florent Fourcart, Le Péplum italien (1946–1966) : Grandeur et décadence d'une antiquité populaire (2012, CinExploitation; ISBN 291551786X)
  • Maggie Gunsberg: "Heroic Bodies: The Culture of Masculinity in Peplums" in M. Gunsberg: Italian Cinema: Gender and Genre: Houndsmill: Palgrave Macmillan: 2005: ISBN 0-333-75115-9
  • Patrick Lucanio, With Fire and Sword: Italian Spectacles on American Screens, 1958–1968 (Scarecrow Press, 1994; ISBN 0810828162)
  • Irmbert Schenk: "The Cinematic Support to Nationalist(ic) Mythology: The Italian Peplum 1910–1930" in Natascha Gentz and Stefan Kramer (eds.) Globalization, Cultural Identities and Media Representations Albany, NY: State University of New York Press: 2006: ISBN 0-7914-6684-1
  • Stephen Flacassier: "Muscles, Myths and Movies": Rabbit's Garage: 1994 : ISBN 0-9641643-0-2

External links

Films
Images and discussion
  • The Many Faces of Hercules at Brian's Drive-In Theatre
  • PEPLVM - Images de l'Antiquité, par Michel Eloy (in French)
  • (in French), by Hervé Dumont.
  • Vincent Price, B Movies, Film Noir, Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff, Peter Cushing,Christopher Lee,Barbara Steele,horror,sci-fi,B westerns,sword & sandal (source of peplum DVD's)
  • Something Weird Video (source of peplum DVD's)
  • Santo And Friends (filmography of Mexican muscleman films)

April 17, 2023
sword, sandal, also, known, peplum, pepla, plural, subgenre, largely, italian, made, historical, mythological, biblical, epics, mostly, greco, roman, antiquity, middle, ages, these, films, attempted, emulate, budget, hollywood, historical, epics, time, such, s. Sword and sandal also known as peplum pepla plural is a subgenre of largely Italian made historical mythological or biblical epics mostly set in the Greco Roman antiquity or the Middle Ages These films attempted to emulate the big budget Hollywood historical epics of the time such as Samson and Delilah 1949 Quo Vadis 1951 The Robe 1953 The Ten Commandments 1956 Ben Hur 1959 Spartacus 1960 and Cleopatra 1963 1 These films dominated the Italian film industry from 1958 to 1965 eventually being replaced in 1965 by spaghetti Western and Eurospy films 2 3 This poster for Goliath and the Barbarians 1959 by Carlo Campogalliani illustrates many people s expectations from films of this genre The term peplum a Latin word referring to the ancient Greek garment peplos was introduced by French film critics in the 1960s 2 3 The terms peplum and sword and sandal were used in a condescending way by film critics Later the terms were embraced by fans of the films similar to the terms spaghetti Western or shoot em ups In their English versions peplum films can be immediately differentiated from their Hollywood counterparts by their use of clumsy and inadequate English language dubbing 4 A 100 minute documentary on the history of Italy s peplum genre was produced and directed by Antonio Avati in 1977 entitled Kolossal i magnifici Maciste aka Kino Kolossal 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Contents 1 Genre characteristics 2 Precursors of the sword and sandal wave pre 1958 2 1 Italian films of the silent era 2 2 The silent Maciste films 1914 1927 2 3 Italian fascist and post war historical epics 1937 1956 3 The main sword and sandal period 1958 1965 3 1 Hercules series 1958 1965 3 2 Goliath series 1959 1964 3 3 Maciste series 1960 1965 3 4 Ursus series 1960 1964 3 5 Samson series 1961 1964 3 6 The Sons of Hercules TV syndication package 3 7 Steve Reeves pepla in chronological order of production 4 Other non series Italian pepla 4 1 Gladiator films 4 2 Ancient Rome 4 3 Greek mythology 4 4 Barbarian and Viking films 4 5 Swashbucklers pirates 4 6 Biblical 4 7 Ancient Egypt 4 8 Babylon the Middle East 5 The second peplum wave the 1980s 6 See also 7 References 8 Further reading 9 External linksGenre characteristics Edit Kirk Douglas and Silvana Mangano in a pause during the shootings of Ulysses 1954 by Mario Camerini Sword and sandal films are a specific class of Italian adventure films that have subjects set in Biblical or classical antiquity often with plots based more or less loosely on Greco Roman history or the other contemporary cultures of the time such as the Egyptians Assyrians and Etruscans as well as medieval times Not all of the films were fantasy based by any means Many of the plots featured actual historical personalities such as Julius Caesar Cleopatra and Hannibal although great liberties were taken with the storylines Gladiators and slaves rebelling against tyrannical rulers pirates and swashbucklers were also popular subjects As Robert Rushing defines it peplum in its most stereotypical form depicts muscle bound heroes professional bodybuilders athletes wrestlers or brawny actors in mythological antiquity fighting fantastic monsters and saving scantily clad beauties Rather than lavish epics set in the classical world they are low budget films that focus on the hero s extraordinary body 13 Thus most sword and sandal films featured a superhumanly strong man as the protagonist such as Hercules Samson Goliath Ursus or Italy s own popular folk hero Maciste In addition the plots typically involved two women vying for the affection of the bodybuilder hero the good love interest a damsel in distress needing rescue and an evil femme fatale queen who sought to dominate the hero Also the films typically featured an ambitious ruler who would ascend the throne by murdering those who stood in his path and often it was only the muscular hero who could depose him Thus the hero s often political goal to restore a legitimate sovereign against an evil dictator 14 Many of the peplum films involved a clash between two populations one civilized and the other barbaric which typically included a scene of a village or city being burned to the ground by invaders For their musical content most films contained a colorful dancing girls sequence meant to underline pagan decadence Precursors of the sword and sandal wave pre 1958 EditItalian films of the silent era Edit Italian filmmakers paved the way for the peplum genre with some of the earliest silent films dealing with the subject including the following The Sack of Rome 1905 Agrippina 1911 The Fall of Troy 1911 The Queen of Nineveh 1911 directed by Luigi Maggi Brutus 1911 Quo Vadis 1913 directed by Enrico Guazzoni Antony and Cleopatra 1913 Cabiria 1914 directed by Giovanni Pastrone Julius Caesar 1914 Saffo Sappho 1918 directed by Antonio Molinari The Crusaders 1918 Fabiola 1918 directed by Enrico Guazzoni Attila 1919 directed by F Mari Venere Venus 1919 directed by Antonio Molinari Il mistero di Osiris The Mystery of Osiris 1919 directed by Antonio Molinari Giuliano l Apostata 1919 directed by Ugo Falena Giuditta e Oloferne Judith and Holofernes 1920 directed by Antonio Molinari The Sack of Rome 1920 directed by Enrico Guazzoni Messalina 1924 directed by Enrico Guazzoni Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei The Last Days of Pompeii 1926 directed by Carmine Gallone and Amleto Palermi 15 The silent Maciste films 1914 1927 Edit The 1914 Italian silent film Cabiria was one of the first films set in antiquity to make use of a massively muscled character Maciste played by actor Bartolomeo Pagano who served in this premiere film as the hero s slavishly loyal sidekick Maciste became the public s favorite character in the film however and Pagano was called back many times to reprise the role The Maciste character appeared in at least two dozen Italian silent films from 1914 through 1926 all of which featured a protagonist named Maciste although the films were set in many different time periods and geographical locations Here is a complete list of the silent Maciste films in chronological order Cabiria 1914 introduced the Maciste character Maciste 1915 a k a The Marvelous Maciste Maciste bersagliere Maciste the Ranger 1916 Maciste alpino Maciste The Warrior 1916 Maciste atleta Maciste the Athlete 1917 Maciste medium Maciste the Clairvoyant 1917 Maciste poliziotto Maciste the Detective 1917 Maciste turista Maciste the Tourist 1917 Maciste sonnambulo Maciste the Sleepwalker 1918 La Rivincita di Maciste The Revenge of Maciste 1919 Il Testamento di Maciste Maciste s Will 1919 Il Viaggio di Maciste Maciste s Journey 1919 Maciste I Maciste the First 1919 Maciste contro la morte Maciste vs Death 1919 Maciste innamorato Maciste in Love 1919 Maciste in vacanza Maciste on Vacation 1920 Maciste salvato dalle acque Maciste Rescued from the Waters 1920 Maciste e la figlia del re della plata Maciste and the Silver King s Daughter 1922 Maciste und die Japanerin Maciste and the Japanese 1922 Maciste contro Maciste Maciste vs Maciste 1923 Maciste und die chinesische truhe Maciste and the Chinese Trunk 1923 Maciste e il nipote di America Maciste s American Nephew 1924 Maciste imperatore Emperor Maciste 1924 Maciste contro lo sceicco Maciste vs the Sheik 1925 Maciste all inferno Maciste in Hell 1925 Maciste nella gabbia dei leoni Maciste in the Lions Den 1926 il Gigante delle Dolemite The Giant From the Dolomite released in 1927 Italian fascist and post war historical epics 1937 1956 Edit Theodora Slave Empress 1954 by Riccardo Freda The Italian film industry released several historical films in the early sound era such as the big budget Scipione l Africano Scipio Africanus The Defeat of Hannibal in 1937 In 1949 the postwar Italian film industry remade Fabiola which had been previously filmed twice in the silent era The film was released in the United Kingdom and in the United States in 1951 in an edited English dubbed version Fabiola was an Italian French co production like the following films The Last Days of Pompeii 1950 and Messalina 1951 During the 1950s a number of American historical epics shot in Italy were released In 1951 MGM producer Sam Zimbalist cleverly used the lower production costs use of frozen funds and the expertise of the Italian film industry to shoot the large scale Technicolor epic Quo Vadis in Rome In addition to its fictional account linking the Great Fire of Rome the Persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire and Emperor Nero the film following the novel Quo vadis by the Polish writer Henryk Sienkiewicz featured also a mighty protagonist named Ursus Italian filmmakers later made several pepla in the 1960s exploiting the Ursus character MGM also planned Ben Hur to be filmed in Italy as early as 1952 16 Riccardo Freda s Sins of Rome was filmed in 1953 and released by RKO in an edited English dubbed version the following year Unlike Quo Vadis there were no American actors or production crew The Anthony Quinn film Attila directed by Pietro Francisci in 1954 the Kirk Douglas epic Ulysses co directed by an uncredited Mario Bava in 1954 and Helen of Troy directed by Robert Wise with Sergio Leone as an uncredited second unit director in 1955 were the first of the big peplum films of the 1950s Riccardo Freda directed another peplum Theodora Slave Empress in 1954 starring his wife Gianna Maria Canale Howard Hawks directed his Land of the Pharaohs starring Joan Collins in Italy and Egypt in 1955 Robert Rossen made his film Alexander the Great in Egypt in 1956 with a music score by famed Italian composer Mario Nascimbene The main sword and sandal period 1958 1965 Edit Duel of the Titans 1961 by Sergio Corbucci To cash in on the success of the Kirk Douglas film Ulysses Pietro Francisci planned to make a film about Hercules but searched unsuccessfully for years for a physically convincing yet experienced actor His daughter spotted American bodybuilder Steve Reeves in the American film Athena and he was hired to play Hercules in 1957 when the film was made Reeves was paid 10 000 to star in the film 17 18 The genre s instantaneous growth began with the U S theatrical release of Hercules in 1959 American producer Joseph E Levine acquired the U S distribution rights for 120 000 spent 1 million promoting the film and made more than 5 million profit 19 This spawned the 1959 Steve Reeves sequel Hercules Unchained the 1959 re release of Cecil B DeMille s Samson and Delilah 1949 and dozens of imitations that followed in their wake Italian filmmakers resurrected their 1920s Maciste character in a brand new 1960s sound film series 1960 1964 followed rapidly by Ursus Samson Goliath and various other mighty muscled heroes Almost all peplum films of this period featured bodybuilder stars the most popular being Steve Reeves Reg Park and Gordon Scott 20 Some of these stars such as Mickey Hargitay Reg Lewis Mark Forest Gordon Mitchell and Dan Vadis had starred in Mae West s touring stage review in the United States in the 1950s 20 Bodybuilders of Italian origin on the other hand would adopt English pseudonyms for the screen thus stuntman Sergio Ciani became Alan Steel and ex gondolier Adriano Bellini was called Kirk Morris 20 My Son the Hero 1962 by Duccio Tessari To be sure many of the films enjoyed widespread popularity among general audiences and had production values that were typical for popular films of their day Some films included frequent re use of the impressive film sets that had been created for Ben Hur and Cleopatra Although many of the bigger budget pepla were released theatrically in the US fourteen of them were released directly to Embassy Pictures television in a syndicated TV package called The Sons of Hercules Since few American viewers had a familiarity with Italian film heroes such as Maciste or Ursus the characters were renamed 20 and the films molded into a series of sorts by splicing on the same opening and closing theme song and newly designed voice over narration that attempted to link the protagonist of each film to the Hercules mythos These films ran on Saturday afternoons in the 1960s Peplum films were and still are often ridiculed for their low budgets and bad English dubbing The contrived plots poorly overdubbed dialogue novice acting skills of the bodybuilder leads and primitive special effects that were often inadequate to depict the mythological creatures on screen all conspire to give these films a certain camp appeal now In the 1990s several of them have been subjects of riffing and satire in the United States comedy series Mystery Science Theater 3000 However in the early 1960s a group of French critics mostly writing for the Cahiers du cinema such as Luc Moullet started to celebrate the genre and some of its directors including Vittorio Cottafavi Riccardo Freda Mario Bava Pietro Francisci Duccio Tessari and Sergio Leone 21 Not only directors but also some of the screenwriters often put together in teams worked past the typically formulaic plot structure to include a mixture of bits of philosophical readings and scraps of psychoanalysis reflections on the biggest political systems the fate of the world and humanity fatalistic notions of accepting the will of destiny and the gods anthropocentric belief in the powers of the human physique and brilliant syntheses of military treatises 22 With reference to the genre s free use of ancient mythology and other influences Italian director Vittorio Cottafavi who directed a number of peplum films used the term neo mythologism 23 Hercules series 1958 1965 Edit A poster for Hercules 1958 by Pietro Francisci starring Steve Reeves A series of 19 Hercules movies were made in Italy in the late 50s and early 60s The films were all sequels to the successful Steve Reeves peplum Hercules 1958 but with the exception of Hercules Unchained each film was a stand alone story not connected to the others The actors who played Hercules in these films were Steve Reeves followed by Gordon Scott Kirk Morris Mickey Hargitay Mark Forest Alan Steel Dan Vadis Brad Harris Reg Park Peter Lupus billed as Rock Stevens and Mike Lane In a 1997 interview Reeves said he felt his two Hercules films could not be topped by another sequel so he declined to do any more Hercules films 24 The films are listed below by their American release titles and the titles in parentheses are their original Italian titles with an approximate English translation Dates shown are the original Italian theatrical release dates not the U S release dates which were years later in some cases Hercules Le fatiche di Ercole The Labors of Hercules 1958 starring Steve Reeves Hercules Unchained Ercole e la regina di Lidia Hercules and the Queen of Lydia 1959 starring Steve Reeves Goliath and the Dragon La vendetta di Ercole The Revenge of Hercules 1960 starring Mark Forest as Hercules Hercules name was changed to Goliath when this film was dubbed in English and distributed in the U S Hercules Vs The Hydra Gli amori di Ercole The Loves of Hercules 1960 co starring Mickey Hargitay as Hercules and Jayne Mansfield Hercules and the Captive Women Ercole alla conquista di Atlantide Hercules at the Conquest of Atlantis 1961 starring Reg Park as Hercules alternate U S title Hercules and the Haunted Women Hercules in the Haunted World Ercole al centro della terra Hercules at the Center of the Earth 1961 directed by Mario Bava starring Reg Park as Hercules Hercules in the Vale of Woe Maciste contro Ercole nella valle dei guai Maciste vs Hercules in the Vale of Woe comedy starring Frank Gordon as Hercules 1961 Ulysses Against the Son of Hercules Ulisse contro Ercole Ulysses vs Hercules starring Mike Lane as Hercules 1962 The Fury of Hercules La furia di Ercole The Fury of Hercules starring Brad Harris as Hercules 1962 alternate U S title The Fury of Samson Hercules Samson and Ulysses Ercole sfida Sansone Hercules Challenges Samson starring Kirk Morris as Hercules 1963 Hercules Against Moloch Ercole contro Molock Hercules vs Molock starring Gordon Scott as Hercules 1963 a k a The Conquest of Mycenae Son of Hercules in the Land of Darkness Ercole l invincibile Hercules the Invincible starring Dan Vadis as Hercules 1964 this was originally a Hercules film that was re titled for inclusion in the U S syndicated TV package The Sons of Hercules Hercules vs The Giant Warriors il trionfo di Ercole The Triumph of Hercules starring Dan Vadis as Hercules 1964 alternate U S title Hercules and the Ten Avengers Hercules Against Rome Ercole contro Roma Hercules vs Rome starring Alan Steel as Hercules 1964 Hercules Against the Sons of the Sun Ercole contro i figli del sole Hercules vs the Sons of the Sun starring Mark Forest as Hercules 1964 Samson and His Mighty Challenge Ercole Sansone Maciste e Ursus gli invincibili Hercules Samson Maciste and Ursus The Invincibles starring Alan Steel as Hercules 1964 a k a Combate dei Gigantes or Le Grand Defi Hercules and the Tyrants of Babylon Ercole contro i tiranni di Babilonia Hercules vs the Tyrants of Babylon starring Rock Stevens as Hercules 1964 Hercules and the Princess of Troy no Italian title starring Gordon Scott as Hercules 1965 a k a Hercules vs the Sea Monster this U S Italian co production was made as a pilot for a Charles Band produced TV series that never materialized and it was later distributed as a feature film Hercules the Avenger Sfida dei giganti Challenge of the Giants starring Reg Park as Hercules 1965 this film was composed mostly of re edited footage from the two 1961 Reg Park Hercules films A number of English dubbed Italian films that featured the word Hercules in the title were not made as Hercules movies originally such as Hercules Against the Moon Men Hercules Against the Barbarians Hercules Against the Mongols and Hercules of the Desert were all originally Maciste films See Maciste section below Hercules and the Black Pirate and Hercules and the Treasure of the Incas were both re titled Samson movies See Samson section below Hercules Prisoner of Evil was actually a re titled Ursus film See Ursus section below Hercules and the Masked Rider was actually a re titled Goliath movie See Goliath section below None of these films in their original Italian versions involved the Hercules character in any way Likewise most of the Sons of Hercules movies shown on American TV in the 1960s had nothing to do with Hercules in their original Italian versions see also The Three Stooges Meet Hercules 1962 an American made genre parody starring peplum star Samson Burke as Hercules Goliath series 1959 1964 Edit The Italians used Goliath as the superhero protagonist in a series of adventure films pepla in the early 1960s He was a man possessed of amazing strength although he seemed to be a different person in each film After the classic Hercules 1958 became a blockbuster sensation in the film industry a 1959 Steve Reeves film Il terrore dei barbari Terror of the Barbarians was re titled Goliath and the Barbarians in the U S The film was so successful at the box office it inspired Italian filmmakers to do a series of four more films featuring a generic beefcake hero named Goliath although the films were not related to each other in any way the 1960 Italian peplum David and Goliath starring Orson Welles was not part of this series since that movie was just a historical retelling of the Biblical story The titles in the Italian Goliath adventure series were as follows the first title listed for each film is the film s original Italian title along with its English translation while the U S release title follows in bold type in parentheses Il terrore dei barbari Terror of the Barbarians 1959 Goliath and the Barbarians in the U S starring Steve Reeves as Goliath although he is referred to as Emiliano in the original Italian language version Goliath contro i giganti Goliath Against the Giants Goliath Against the Giants 1960 starring Brad Harris Goliath e la schiava ribelle Goliath and the Rebel Slave Tyrant of Lydia Against The Son of Hercules 1963 starring Gordon Scott Golia e il cavaliere mascherato Goliath and the Masked Rider Hercules and the Masked Rider 1964 starring Alan Steel note Goliath is referred to as Hercules in English dubbed prints Golia alla conquista di Bagdad Goliath at the Conquest of Baghdad Goliath at the Conquest of Damascus 1964 starring Rock Stevens aka Peter Lupus The name Goliath was also inserted into the English titles of three other Italian pepla that were re titled for U S distribution in an attempt to cash in on the Goliath craze but these films were not originally made as Goliath movies in Italy Both Goliath and the Vampires 1961 and Goliath and the Sins of Babylon 1963 actually featured the famed Italian folk hero Maciste in the original Italian versions but American distributors did not feel the name Maciste meant anything to American audiences Goliath and the Dragon 1960 was originally an Italian Hercules movie called The Revenge of Hercules but it was re titled Goliath and the Dragon in the U S since at the time Goliath and the Barbarians was breaking box office records and the distributors may have thought the name Hercules was trademarked by distributor Joseph E Levine Maciste series 1960 1965 Edit Main article Maciste Maciste in King Solomon s Mines 1964 by Piero Regnoli There were a total of 25 Maciste films from the 1960s peplum craze not counting the two dozen silent Maciste films made in Italy pre 1930 By 1960 seeing how well the two Steve Reeves Hercules films were doing at the box office Italian producers decided to revive the 1920s silent film character Maciste in a new series of color sound films Unlike the other Italian peplum protagonists Maciste found himself in a variety of time periods ranging from the Ice Age to 16th century Scotland Maciste was never given an origin and the source of his mighty powers was never revealed However in the first film of the 1960s series he mentions to another character that the name Maciste means born of the rock almost as if he was a god who would just appear out of the earth itself in times of need One of the 1920s silent Maciste films was actually entitled The Giant from the Dolomite hinting that Maciste may be more god than man which would explain his great strength The first title listed for each film is the film s original Italian title along with its English translation while the U S release title follows in bold type in parentheses note how many times Maciste s name in the Italian title is altered to an entirely different name in the American title Maciste nella valle dei re Maciste in the Valley of the Kings Son of Samson 1960 a k a Maciste the Mighty a k a Maciste the Giant starring Mark Forest Maciste nella terra dei ciclopi Maciste in the Land of the Cyclops Atlas in the Land of the Cyclops 1961 starring Gordon Mitchell Maciste contro il vampiro Maciste Vs the Vampire Goliath and the Vampires 1961 starring Gordon Scott Il trionfo di Maciste The Triumph of Maciste Triumph of the Son of Hercules 1961 starring Kirk Morris Maciste alla corte del gran khan Maciste at the Court of the Great Khan Samson and the Seven Miracles of the World 1961 starring Gordon Scott Maciste l uomo piu forte del mondo Maciste the Strongest Man in the World Mole Men vs the Son of Hercules 1961 starring Mark Forest Maciste contro Ercole nella valle dei guai Maciste Against Hercules in the Vale of Woe Hercules in the Vale of Woe 1961 starring Kirk Morris as Maciste this was a satire spoof featuring the comedy team of Franco and Ciccio Toto contro Maciste Toto vs Maciste no American title 1962 starring Samson Burke this was a comedy satirizing the peplum genre part of the Italian Toto film series and was never distributed in the U S it is apparently not even available in English Maciste all inferno Maciste in Hell The Witch s Curse 1962 starring Kirk Morris Maciste contro lo sceicco Maciste Against the Sheik Samson Against the Sheik 1962 starring Ed Fury Maciste il gladiatore piu forte del mondo Maciste the World s Strongest Gladiator Colossus of the Arena 1962 starring Mark Forest Maciste contro i mostri Maciste Against the Monsters Fire Monsters Against the Son of Hercules 1962 starring Reg Lewis Maciste contro i cacciatori di teste Maciste Against the Headhunters Colossus and the Headhunters 1962 starring Kirk Morris a k a Fury of the Headhunters Maciste l eroe piu grande del mondo Maciste the World s Greatest Hero Goliath and the Sins of Babylon 1963 starring Mark Forest Zorro contro Maciste Zorro Against Maciste Samson and the Slave Queen 1963 starring Alan Steel Maciste contro i mongoli Maciste Against the Mongols Hercules Against the Mongols 1963 starring Mark Forest Maciste nell inferno di Gengis Khan Maciste in Genghis Khan s Hell Hercules Against the Barbarians 1963 starring Mark Forest Maciste alla corte dello zar Maciste at the Court of the Czar Atlas Against The Czar 1964 starring Kirk Morris a k a Samson vs the Giant King Maciste gladiatore di Sparta Maciste Gladiator of Sparta Terror of Rome Against the Son of Hercules 1964 starring Mark Forest Maciste nelle miniere de re salomone Maciste in King Solomon s Mines Samson in King Solomon s Mines 1964 starring Reg Park Maciste e la regina de Samar Maciste and the Queen of Samar Hercules Against the Moon Men 1964 starring Alan Steel La valle dell eco tonante Valley of the Thundering Echo Hercules of the Desert 1964 starring Kirk Morris a k a Desert Raiders a k a in France as Maciste and the Women of the Valley Ercole Sansone Maciste e Ursus gli invincibili Hercules Samson Maciste and Ursus The Invincibles Samson and His Mighty Challenge 1964 starring Renato Rossini as Maciste a k a Combate dei Gigantes or Le Grand Defi Gli invicibili fratelli Maciste The Invincible Maciste Brothers The Invincible Brothers Maciste 1964 a k a The Invincible Gladiators starring Richard Lloyd as Maciste Maciste il Vendicatore dei Mayas Maciste Avenger of the Mayans has no American title 1965 Note this Maciste film was made up almost entirely of re edited stock footage from two older Maciste films Maciste contro i mostri and Maciste contro i cacciatori di teste so Maciste switches from Kirk Morris to Reg Lewis in various scenes this movie is very scarce since it was never distributed in the U S and is apparently not even available in English In 1973 the Spanish cult film director Jesus Franco directed two low budget Maciste films for French producers Maciste contre la Reine des Amazones Maciste vs the Queen of the Amazons and Les exploits erotiques de Maciste dans l Atlantide The Erotic Exploits of Maciste in Atlantis The films had almost identical casts both starring Val Davis as Maciste and appear to have been shot back to back The former was distributed in Italy as a Karzan movie a cheap Tarzan imitation while the latter film was released only in France with hardcore inserts as Les Gloutonnes The Gobblers These two films were totally unrelated to the 1960s Italian Maciste series Ursus series 1960 1964 Edit Main article Ursus film character Following Buddy Baer s portrayal of Ursus in the classic 1951 film Quo Vadis Ursus was used as a superhuman Roman era character who became the protagonist in a series of Italian adventure films made in the early 1960s When the Hercules film craze hit in 1959 Italian filmmakers were looking for other muscleman characters similar to Hercules whom they could exploit resulting in the nine film Ursus series listed below Ursus was referred to as a Son of Hercules in two of the films when they were dubbed in English in an attempt to cash in on the then popular Hercules craze although in the original Italian films Ursus had no connection to Hercules whatsoever In the English dubbed version of one Ursus film retitled Hercules Prisoner of Evil Ursus was actually referred to throughout the entire film as Hercules There were a total of nine Italian films that featured Ursus as the main character listed below as follows Italian title English translation of the Italian title American release title Ursus Ursus Ursus Son of Hercules 1960 a k a Mighty Ursus United Kingdom starring Ed Fury La Vendetta di Ursus The Revenge of Ursus The Vengeance of Ursus 1961 starring Samson Burke Ursus e la Ragazza Tartara Ursus and the Tartar Girl Ursus and the Tartar Princess 1961 a k a The Tartar Invasion a k a The Tartar Girl starring Joe Robinson Akim Tamiroff Yoko Tani directed by Remigio Del Grosso Ursus Nella Valle dei Leoni Ursus in the Valley of the Lions Valley of the Lions 1962 starring Ed Fury this film revealed the origin story of Ursus Ursus il gladiatore ribelle Ursus the Rebel Gladiator The Rebel Gladiators 1962 starring Dan Vadis Ursus Nella Terra di Fuoco Ursus in the Land of Fire Son of Hercules in the Land of Fire 1963 a k a Son of Atlas in the Land of Fire starring Ed Fury Ursus il terrore dei Kirghisi Ursus the Terror of the Kirghiz Hercules Prisoner of Evil 1964 starring Reg Park Ercole Sansone Maciste e Ursus gli invincibili Hercules Samson Maciste and Ursus The Invincibles Samson and His Mighty Challenge 1964 starring Yan Larvor as Ursus a k a Combate dei Gigantes or Le Grand Defi Gli Invincibili Tre The Invincible Three Three Avengers 1964 starring Alan Steel as UrsusSamson series 1961 1964 Edit A character named Samson was featured in a series of five Italian peplum films in the 1960s no doubt inspired by the 1959 re release of the epic Victor Mature film Samson and Delilah The character was similar to the Biblical Samson in the third and fifth films only in the other three he just appears to be a very strong man not related at all to the Biblical figure The titles are listed as follows Italian title its English translation U S release title in parentheses Sansone Samson Samson 1961 starring Brad Harris a k a in France as Samson Against Hercules Sansone contro i pirati Samson Against the Pirates Samson and the Sea Beast 1963 starring Kirk Morris Ercole sfida Sansone Hercules challenges Samson Hercules Samson and Ulysses 1963 starring Richard Lloyd Sansone contro il corsaro nero Samson Against the Black Pirate Hercules and the Black Pirate 1963 starring Alan Steel Ercole Sansone Maciste e Ursus gli invincibili Hercules Samson Maciste and Ursus The Invincibles Samson and the Mighty Challenge 1964 starring Nadir Baltimore as Samson a k a Samson and His Mighty Challenge Combate dei Gigantes or Le Grand Defi The name Samson was also inserted into the U S titles of six other Italian movies when they were dubbed in English for U S distribution although these films actually featured the adventures of the famed Italian folk hero Maciste Samson Against the Sheik 1962 Son of Samson 1960 Samson and the Slave Queen 1963 Samson and the Seven Miracles of the World 1961 Samson vs the Giant King 1964 and Samson in King Solomon s Mines 1964 were all re titled Maciste movies because the American distributors did not feel the name Maciste was marketable to U S filmgoers Samson and the Treasure of the Incas a k a Hercules and the Treasure of the Incas 1965 sounds like a peplum title but was actually a spaghetti Western The Sons of Hercules TV syndication package Edit Main article The Sons of Hercules Title card for the 1960s series The Sons of Hercules The Sons of Hercules was a syndicated television show that aired in the United States in the 1960s The series repackaged 14 randomly chosen Italian peplum films by unifying them with memorable title and end title theme songs and a standard voice over intro relating the main hero in each film to Hercules any way they could In some areas each film was split into two one hour episodes so the 14 films were shown as 28 weekly episodes None of the films were ever theatrically released in the U S The films are not listed in chronological order since they were not really related to each other in any way The first title listed below for each film was its American broadcast television title followed in parentheses by the English translation of its original Italian theatrical title Ursus Son of Hercules Ursus 1961 starring Ed Fury a k a Mighty Ursus in England Mole Men vs the Son of Hercules Maciste the Strongest Man in the World 1961 starring Mark Forest Triumph of the Son of Hercules The Triumph of Maciste 1961 starring Kirk Morris Fire Monsters Against the Son of Hercules Maciste vs the Monsters 1962 starring Reg Lewis Venus Against the Son of Hercules Mars God Of War 1962 starring Roger Browne Ulysses Against the Son of Hercules Ulysses against Hercules 1962 starring Mike Lane Medusa Against the Son of Hercules Perseus The Invincible 1962 starring Richard Harrison Son of Hercules in the Land of Fire Ursus In The Land Of Fire 1963 starring Ed Fury Tyrant of Lydia Against The Son of Hercules Goliath and the Rebel Slave 1963 starring Gordon Scott Messalina Against the Son of Hercules The Last Gladiator 1963 starring Richard Harrison The Beast of Babylon Against the Son of Hercules Hero of Babylon 1963 starring Gordon Scott a k a Goliath King of the Slaves Terror of Rome Against the Son of Hercules Maciste Gladiator of Sparta 1964 starring Mark Forest Son of Hercules in the Land of Darkness Hercules the Invincible 1964 starring Dan Vadis Devil of the Desert Against the Son of Hercules Anthar the Invincible 1964 starring Kirk Morris directed by Antonio Margheriti a k a The Slave Merchants a k a Soraya Queen of the DesertSteve Reeves pepla in chronological order of production Edit Main article Steve Reeves Steve Reeves in Hercules by Pietro Francisci 1958 Steve Reeves appeared in 14 pepla made in Italy from 1958 to 1964 and most of his films are highly regarded examples of the genre His pepla are listed below in order of production not in order of release The U S release titles are shown below followed by the original Italian title and its translation in parentheses Hercules 1958 Le fatiche di Ercole The Labors of Hercules actually filmed in 1957 released in Italy in 1958 released in the U S in 1959 Hercules Unchained 1959 Ercole e la regina di Lidia Hercules and the Queen of Lydia released in the U S in 1960 Goliath and the Barbarians 1959 Il terrore dei barbari Terror of the Barbarians The Giant of Marathon 1959 La battaglia di Maratona The Battle of Marathon The Last Days of Pompeii 1959 Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei The Last Days of Pompeii The White Warrior 1959 Hadji Murad il Diavolo Bianco Hadji Murad The White Devil directed by Riccardo Freda Morgan the Pirate 1960 Morgan il pirata Morgan the Pirate The Thief of Baghdad 1960 Il Ladro di Bagdad The Thief of Baghdad The Trojan Horse 1961 La guerra di Troia The Trojan War Duel of the Titans 1961 Romolo e Remo Romulus And Remus The Slave 1962 Il Figlio di Spartaco Son of Spartacus The Avenger 1962 La leggenda di Enea The Legend Of Aeneas a k a The Last Glory of Troy this was a sequel to The Trojan Horse Sandokan the Great 1963 Sandokan la tigre di Mompracem Sandokan the Tiger of Mompracem directed by Umberto Lenzi Pirates of Malaysia 1964 a k a Sandokan the Pirate of Malaysia a k a Pirates of the Seven Seas this was a sequel to Sandokan the Great directed by Umberto LenziOther non series Italian pepla EditThere were many 1950s and 1960s Italian pepla that did not feature a major superhero such as Hercules Maciste or Samson and as such they fall into a sort of miscellaneous category Many were of the Cappa e spada swashbuckler variety though they often feature well known characters such as Ali Baba Julius Caesar Ulysses Cleopatra the Three Musketeers Zorro Theseus Perseus Achilles Robin Hood and Sandokan The first really successful Italian films of this kind were Black Eagle 1946 and Fabiola 1949 Adventurer of Tortuga The 1964 starring Guy Madison Adventures of Mandrin The 1952 a k a Captain Adventure a k a Don Juan s Night of Love a k a The Affair of Madame Pompadour starring Raf Vallone and Silvana Pampanini Adventures of Scaramouche The 1963 a k a The Mask of Scaramouche starring Gerard Barray and Gianna Maria Canale Alexander The Great 1956 starring Richard Burton U S film with music score by Mario Nascimbene Ali Baba and the Sacred Crown 1962 a k a The Seven Tasks of Ali Baba starring Richard Lloyd Ali Baba and the Seven Saracens 1964 a k a Sinbad Against the Seven Saracens starring Gordon Mitchell Alone Against Rome 1962 a k a Vengeance of the Gladiators starring Lang Jeffries and Rossana Podesta Anthar the Invincible 1964 a k a Devil of the Desert Against the Son of Hercules starring Kirk Morris directed by Antonio Margheriti Antigone 1961 a k a Rites for the Dead starring Irene Papas a Greek production Arena The 1974 a k a Naked Warriors directed by Steve Carver and Joe D Amato starring Pam Grier and Margaret Markov a late entry in the genre Arms of the Avenger 1963 a k a The Devils of Spartivento The Fighting Legions starring John Drew Barrymore Atlas 1961 a k a Atlas the Winner of Athena directed in Greece by Roger Corman starring Michael Forest Attack of the Moors 1959 a k a The Kings of France Attack of the Normans 1962 a k a The Normans a k a The Vikings Attack starring Cameron Mitchell Attila 1954 directed by Pietro Francisci starring Anthony Quinn and Sophia Loren Avenger of the Seven Seas 1961 a k a Executioner of the Seas starring Richard Harrison and Michele Mercier Avenger of Venice The 1963 starring Brett Halsey and Gianna Maria Canale Bacchantes The 1961 starring Pierre Brice and Akim Tamiroff Balboa Spanish 1963 a k a Conquistadors of the Pacific Barabbas 1961 produced by Dino de Laurentiis starring Anthony Quinn filmed in Italy Battle of the Amazons 1973 a k a Amazons Women of Love and War a k a Beauty of the Barbarian directed by Alfonso Brescia Beatrice Cenci 1956 directed by Riccardo Freda Beatrice Cenci 1969 directed by Lucio Fulci Behind the Mask of Zorro 1966 a k a The Oath of Zorro Tony Russel Bible The 1966 a k a La Bibbia Dino de Laurentiis Ennio Morricone music filmed in Italy Black Archer The 1959 Black Devil The 1957 starred Gerard Landry Black Duke The 1963 starring Cameron Mitchell Black Eagle The 1946 a k a Return of the Black Eagle directed by Riccardo Freda Black Lancers The 1962 a k a Charge of the Black Lancers Mel Ferrer Brennus Enemy of Rome 1964 a k a Battle of the Valiant Gordon Mitchell Burning of Rome The 1963 a k a The Magnificent Adventurer Brett Halsey Caesar Against the Pirates 1962 Gordon Mitchell Caesar the Conqueror 1962 starring Cameron Mitchell Captain Falcon 1958 Lex Barker Captain from Toledo The 1966 Captain of Iron The 1961 a k a Revenge of the Mercenaries Barbara Steele Captain Phantom 1953 Captains of Adventure 1961 starring Paul Muller Gerard Landry Caribbean Hawk The 1963 Yvonne Monlaur Carthage in Flames 1960 Castillian The 1963 Cesare Romero Catherine of Russia 1963 directed by Umberto Lenzi Cavalier in the Devil s Castle 1959 Centurion The 1962 a k a The Conqueror of Corinth Challenge of the Gladiator 1965 Peter Lupus Cleopatra s Daughter 1960 a k a The Tomb of the Kings Debra Paget Colossus and the Amazon Queen 1960 Ed Fury and Rod Taylor Colossus of Rhodes The 1960 directed by Sergio Leone Conqueror of Atlantis 1965 a k a The Kingdom in the Sand Kirk Morris U S dubbed version calls the hero Hercules Conqueror of Maracaibo The 1961 Conqueror of the Orient 1961 starring Rik Battaglia Constantine and the Cross 1960 a k a Constantine the Great starring Cornel Wilde Coriolanus Hero without a Country 1963 a k a Thunder of Battle Gordon Scott Cossacks The 1959 Edmund Purdom The Count of Braggalone 1954 aka The Last Musketeer starring Georges Marchal Count of Monte Cristo The 1961 Louis Jourdan Damon and Pythias 1962 a k a The Tyrant of Syracuse Guy Williams David and Goliath 1960 Orson Welles Defeat of Hannibal The 1937 a k a Scipione l Africano Defeat of the Barbarians 1962 a k a King Manfred Desert Desperadoes 1959 Akim Tamiroff Desert Warrior 1957 a k a The Desert Lovers Ricardo Montalban Devil Made a Woman The 1959 a k a A Girl Against Napoleon Devil s Cavaliers The 1959 Diary of a Roman Virgin 1974 a k a Livia una vergine per l impero romano directed by Joe D Amato used stock footage from The Last Days of Pompeii 1959 and The Arena 1974 Dragon s Blood The 1957 25 a k a Sigfrido based on the legend of the Niebelungen special effects by Carlo Rambaldi Duel of Champions 1961 a k a Horatio and Curiazi Alan Ladd Erik the Conqueror 1961 a k a Gli Invasori The Invaders directed by Mario Bava starring Cameron Mitchell Esther and the King 1961 Joan Collins Richard Egan Executioner of Venice The 1963 Lex Barker Guy Madison Fabiola 1949 a k a The Fighting Gladiator Falcon of the Desert 1965 a k a The Magnificent Challenge starring Kirk Morris Fall of Rome The 1961 directed by Antonio Margheriti Fall of the Roman Empire The 1964 U S production filmed in Spain Sophia Loren Fighting Musketeers The 1961 Fire Over Rome 1963 Fury of Achilles The 1962 Gordon Mitchell Fury of the Pagans 1960 a k a Fury of the Barbarians Giant of Metropolis The 1961 Gordon Mitchell this peplum had a science fiction theme instead of fantasy Giant of the Evil Island 1965 a k a Mystery of the Cursed Island Peter Lupus Giants of Rome 1964 directed by Antonio Margheriti starring Richard Harrison Giants of Thessaly 1960 directed by Riccardo Freda Gladiator of Rome 1962 a k a Battle of the Gladiators Gordon Scott Gladiators Seven 1962 a k a The Seven Gladiators Richard Harrison Golden Arrow The 1962 directed by Antonio Margheriti Gold for the Caesars 1963 Jeffrey Hunter Golgotha 1935 a k a Behold the Man made in France Guns of the Black Witch 1961 a k a Terror of the Sea Don Megowan Hannibal 1959 Victor Mature Hawk of the Caribbean 1963 a k a The Caribbean Hawk Head of a Tyrant 1959 a k a Judith and Holophernes Helen of Troy 1956 starring Jacques Sernas Hero of Babylon 1963 a k a The Beast of Babylon vs the Son of Hercules Gordon Scott Hero of Rome 1964 a k a The Colossus of Rome Gordon Scott Herod the Great 1958 Huns The 1960 a k a Queen of the Tartars Invasion 1700 1962 a k a With Iron and Fire a k a With Fire and Sword a k a Daggers of Blood Ivanhoe the Norman Swordsman 1971 a k a La spada normanna directed by Roberto Mauri Invincible Gladiator The 1961 Richard Harrison Invincible Swordsman The 1963 The Iron Swordsman 1949 a k a Count Ugolino directed by Riccardo Freda Jacob The Man Who Fought With God 1963 Kampf um Rom 1968 a k a The Last Roman starring Laurence Harvey Honor Blackman Orson Welles Kindar the Invulnerable 1965 Mark Forest King of the Vikings 1960 a k a Prince in Chains The Knight of a Hundred Faces The 1960 a k a The Silver Knight a k a Knight of a Thousand Faces The starring Lex Barker Knights of Terror 1963 a k a Terror of the Red Capes Tony Russel Knight Without a Country 1959 a k a The Faceless Rider Knives of the Avenger 1967 a k a Viking Massacre directed by Mario Bava starring Cameron Mitchell Last Gladiator The 1963 a k a Messalina Against the Son of Hercules Last of the Vikings 1961 starring Cameron Mitchell Legions of the Nile 1959 a k a The Legions of Cleopatra Lion of St Mark The 1964 Gordon Scott Lion of Thebes The 1964 a k a Helen of Troy Mark Forest Loves of Salammbo The 1960 a k a Salambo Magnificent Gladiator The 1964 Mark Forest Marco Polo 1962 Rory Calhoun Marco the Magnificent 1965 Anthony Quinn Orson Welles Mars God of War 1962 a k a Venus Against the Son of Hercules Masked Conqueror The 1962 Masked Man Against the Pirates The 1965 Mask of the Musketeers 1963 a k a Zorro and the Three Musketeers starring Gordon Scott Massacre in the Black Forest 1967 starring Cameron Mitchell Messalina 1960 Belinda Lee Michael Strogoff 1956 a k a Revolt of the Tartars Mighty Crusaders The 1958 a k a Jerusalem Set Free Gianna Maria Canale Minotaur The 1960 a k a Theseus Against the Minotaur a k a The Warlord of Crete Miracle of the Wolves 1961 a k a Blood on his Sword starring Jean Marais Missione sabbie roventi Mission Burning Sands 1966 starring Renato Rossini directed by Alfonso Brescia Mongols The 1961 directed by Riccardo Freda starring Jack Palance Moses the Lawgiver 1973 aka Moses in Egypt starring Burt Lancaster Anthony Quayle 6 hour made for TV Italian British co production also released theatrically Musketeers of the Sea 1962 My Son The Hero 1961 a k a Arrivano i Titani a k a The Titans Mysterious Rider The 1948 directed by Riccardo Freda 26 Mysterious Swordsman The 1956 starring Gerard Landry Nero and the Burning of Rome 1953 a k a Nero and Messalina Night of the Great Attack 1961 a k a Revenge of the Borgias Night They Killed Rasputin The 1960 a k a The Last Czar Nights of Lucretia Borgia The 1959 Odyssey The 1968 a k a L Odissea Cyclops segment directed by Mario Bava Samson Burke played Polyphemus the Cyclops Old Testament The 1962 starred Brad Harris Perseus the Invincible 1962 a k a Medusa vs the Son of Hercules Pharaoh s Woman The 1960 Pia of Ptolomey 1962 Pirate and the Slave Girl The 1959 a k a Scimitar of the Saracen Lex Barker Pirate of the Black Hawk The 1958 Gerard Landry Pirate of the Half Moon 1957 Pirates of the Coast 1960 Lex Barker Pontius Pilate 1962 Basil Rathbone Prince with the Red Mask The 1955 a k a The Red Eagle starring Frank Latimore Prisoner of the Iron Mask The 1962 a k a The Revenge of the Iron Mask Pugni Pirati e Karate 1973 a k a Fists Pirates and Karate directed by Joe D Amato starring Richard Harrison a 1970s Italian spoof of pirate movies Queen for Caesar A 1962 Gordon Scott Queen of Sheba 1952 directed by Pietro Francisci Queen of the Amazons 1960 a k a Colossus and the Amazon Queen Queen of the Nile 1961 a k a Nefertiti Vincent Price Queen of the Pirates 1960 a k a The Venus of the Pirates Gianna Maria Canale Queen of the Seas 1961 directed by Umberto Lenzi Quo Vadis 1951 filmed in Italy Sergio Leone asst dir Rage of the Buccaneers 1961 a k a Gordon The Black Pirate starring Vincent Price Rape of the Sabine Women The 1961 a k a Romulus and the Sabines Roger Moore Red Cloak The 1955 Bruce Cabot Red Sheik The 1962 Revak the Rebel 1960 a k a The Barbarians Jack Palance Revenge of Black Eagle The 1951 Gianna Maria Canale Revenge of Ivanhoe The 1965 Rik Battaglia Revenge of Spartacus The 1965 a k a Revenge of the Gladiators Roger Browne Revenge of the Barbarians 1960 Revenge of the Black Eagle 1951 directed by Riccardo Freda Revenge of the Conquered 1961 a k a Drakut the Avenger Revenge of the Gladiators 1961 starring Mickey Hargitay Revenge of the Musketeers 1964 a k a Dartagnan vs the Three Musketeers starring Fernando Lamas Revolt of the Barbarians 1964 directed by Guido Malatesta Revolt of the Mercenaries 1961 Revolt of the Praetorians 1964 a k a The Invincible Warriors starring Richard Harrison Revolt of the Seven 1964 a k a The Spartan Gladiator starring Helga Line Revolt of the Slaves The 1960 Rhonda Fleming Robin Hood and the Pirates 1960 Lex Barker Roland the Mighty 1956 a k a Orlando directed by Pietro Francisci Rome Against Rome 1964 a k a War of the Zombies Rome 1585 1961 a k a The Mercenaries Debra Paget Rover The 1967 a k a The Adventurer starring Anthony Quinn Sack of Rome The 1953 a k a The Barbarians a k a The Pagans Samson and Gideon 1965 Fernando Rey Biblical film Sandokan Fights Back 1964 a k a Sandokan to the Rescue a k a The Revenge of Sandokan Sandokan vs the Leopard of Sarawak 1964 a k a Throne of Vengeance Saracens The 1965 a k a The Devil s Pirate a k a The Flag of Death starring Richard Harrison Saul and David 1964 Scheherazade 1963 starring Anna Karina Sea Pirate The 1966 a k a Thunder Over the Indian Ocean a k a Surcouf Hero of the Seven Seas Secret Mark of D Artagnan The 1962 Secret Seven The 1965 a k a The Invincible Seven Seven from Thebes 1964 Seven Rebel Gladiators 1965 a k a Seven Against All starring Roger Browne Seven Revenges The 1961 a k a The Seven Challenges a k a Ivan the Conqueror starring Ed Fury Seven Seas to Calais 1962 a k a Sir Francis Drake King of the Seven Seas Rod Taylor Seven Slaves Against the World 1964 a k a Seven Slaves Against Rome starring Roger Browne and Gordon Mitchell Seven Tasks of Ali Baba The 1962 a k a Ali Baba and the Sacred Crown Seventh Sword The 1962 Brett Halsey 79 A D the Destruction of Herculaneum 1962 Brad Harris Shadow of Zorro The 1962 Sheba and the Gladiator 1959 a k a The Sign of Rome a k a Sign of the Gladiator Anita Ekberg Siege of Syracuse 1960 Tina Louise Simbad e il califfo di Bagdad 1973 directed by Pietro Francisci Sins of Rome 1953 a k a Spartacus directed by Riccardo Freda Slave Girls of Sheba 1963 starring Linda Cristal Slave of Rome 1960 starring Guy Madison Slave Queen of Babylon 1963 Yvonne Furneaux Slaves of Carthage The 1956 a k a The Sword and the Cross Gianna Maria Canale not to be confused with Mary Magdalene see below Sodom and Gomorrah 1962 Rosanna Podesta U S Italian film shot in Italy co directed by Sergio Leone Son of Black Eagle 1968 Son of Captain Blood The 1962 Son of Cleopatra The 1965 Mark Damon Son of d Artagnan 1950 directed by Riccardo Freda Son of El Cid The 1965 a k a 100 Horsemen Mark Damon Son of the Red Corsair 1959 a k a Son of the Red Pirate Lex Barker Son of the Sheik 1961 a k a Kerim Son of the Sheik starring Gordon Scott Spartacus and the Ten Gladiators 1964 a k a Ten Invincible Gladiators starring Dan Vadis Spartan Gladiator The 1965 Tony Russel Story of Joseph and his Brethren The 1961 Suleiman the Conqueror 1961 Sword and the Cross The 1958 a k a Mary Magdalene Sword in the Shadow A 1961 starring Livio Lorenzon Sword of Damascus The 1964 a k a The Thief of Damascus Sword of El Cid The 1962 a k a The Daughters of El Cid Sword of Islam The 1961 Sword of the Conqueror 1961 a k a Rosamund and Alboino Jack Palance Sword for the Empire A 1965 a k a Sword of the Empire Sword of the Rebellion The 1964 a k a The Rebel of Castelmonte Swordsman of Siena 1962 a k a The Mercenary Sword of Vengeance 1961 a k a La spada della vendetta Sword Without a Country 1961 a k a Sword Without a Flag Tartars The 1961 starring Victor Mature Taras Bulba The Cossack 1963 a k a Plains of Battle Taur the Mighty 1963 a k a Tor the Warrior a k a Taur the King of Brute Force starring Joe Robinson Temple of the White Elephant 1965 a k a Sandok the Giant of the Jungle a k a Sandok the Maciste of the Jungle not a Maciste film however in spite of the alternate title Ten Gladiators The 1963 starring Dan Vadis Terror of the Black Mask 1963 a k a The Invincible Masked Rider Terror of the Red Mask 1960 starring Lex Barker Terror of the Steppes 1964 a k a The Mighty Khan Kirk Morris Tharus Son of Attila 1962 a k a Colossus and the Huns Ricardo Montalban Theodora Slave Empress 1954 directed by Riccardo Freda Thor and the Amazon Women 1963 starring Joe Robinson Three Hundred Spartans The 1963 starring Richard Egan U S film filmed in Greece using Italian screenwriters Three Swords for Rome 1965 starring Roger Browne Three Swords of Zorro The 1963 Tiger of the Seven Seas 1962 Treasure of the Petrified Forest The 1965 starring Gordon Mitchell Triumph of Robin Hood 1962 starring Samson Burke Triumph of the Ten Gladiators 1965 starring Dan Vadis Two Gladiators The 1964 a k a Fight or Die starring Richard Harrison Tyrant of Castile The 1964 starring Mark Damon Ulysses 1954 produced by Dino De Laurentiis starring Kirk Douglas and Anthony Quinn Virgins of Rome The 1961 a k a Amazons of Rome Vulcan Son of Jupiter 1962 a k a Vulcan Son of Jove Gordon Mitchell Richard Lloyd Roger Browne War Goddess 1973 a k a The Bare Breasted Warriors a k a Le guerriere dal seno nudo directed by Terence Young War Gods of Babylon 1962 a k a The Seventh Thunderbolt a k a The Seven Glories of Assur Warrior and the Slave Girl The 1958 a k a The Revolt of the Gladiators starring Gianna Maria Canale Warrior Empress The 1960 a k a Sappho Venus of Lesbos Kerwin Mathews Tina Louise White Slave Ship 1961 directed by Silvio Amadio Women of Devil s Island 1962 starring Guy Madison Wonders of Aladdin The 1961 starring Donald O Connor Zorikan the Barbarian 1964 starring Dan Vadis Zorro 1975 Alain Delon Zorro and the Three Musketeers 1963 a k a Mask of the Musketeers starring Gordon Scott Zorro in the Court of England 1970 starring Spiros Focas Zorro at the Court of Spain 1962 a k a The Masked Conqueror George Ardisson Zorro of Monterrey 1971 a k a El Zorro de Monterrey Carlos Quiney Zorro Rider of Vengeance 1971 Carlos Quiney Zorro s Last Adventure 1970 a k a La ultima aventura del Zorro Carlos Quiney Zorro the Avenger 1962 a k a The Revenge of Zorro Frank Latimore Zorro the Avenger 1969 a k a El Zorro justiciero 1969 starring Fabio Testi Zorro the Fox 1968 a k a El Zorro George Ardisson Zorro the Navarra Marquis 1969 Nino Vingelli Zorro the Rebel 1966 Howard Ross Zorro Against Maciste 1963 a k a Samson and the Slave Queen 1963 starring Pierre Brice Alan SteelGladiator films Edit Inspired by the success of Spartacus there were a number of Italian peplums that heavily emphasized the gladiatorial arena in their plots with it becoming almost a peplum subgenre in itself One group of supermen known as The Ten Gladiators appeared in a trilogy all three films starring Dan Vadis in the lead role Alone Against Rome 1962 a k a Vengeance of the Gladiators The Arena 1974 a k a Naked Warriors co directed by Joe D Amato starring Pam Grier Paul Muller and Rosalba Neri Challenge of the Gladiator 1965 starring Peter Lupus a k a Rock Stevens Fabiola 1949 a k a The Fighting Gladiator Gladiator of Rome 1962 a k a Battle of the Gladiators starring Gordon Scott Gladiators Seven 1962 a k a The Seven Gladiators starring Richard Harrison Invincible Gladiator The 1961 Richard Harrison Last Gladiator The 1963 a k a Messalina Against the Son of Hercules Maciste Gladiator of Sparta 1964 a k a Terror of Rome Against the Son of Hercules Revenge of Spartacus The 1965 a k a Revenge of the Gladiators starring Roger Browne Revenge of The Gladiators 1961 starring Mickey Hargitay Revolt of the Seven 1964 a k a The Spartan Gladiator starring Tony Russel and Helga Line Revolt of the Slaves 1961 Rhonda Fleming Seven Rebel Gladiators 1965 a k a Seven Against All starring Roger Browne Seven Slaves Against the World 1965 a k a Seven Slaves Against Rome a k a The Strongest Slaves in the World starring Roger Browne and Gordon Mitchell Sheba and the Gladiator 1959 a k a The Sign of Rome a k a Sign of the Gladiator Anita Ekberg Sins of Rome 1952 a k a Spartacus directed by Riccardo Freda Slave The 1962 a k a Son of Spartacus Steve Reeves Spartacus and the Ten Gladiators 1964 a k a Ten Invincible Gladiators Dan Vadis Spartan Gladiator The 1965 Tony Russel Ten Gladiators The 1963 Dan Vadis Triumph of the Ten Gladiators 1965 Dan Vadis Two Gladiators The 1964 a k a Fight or Die Richard Harrison Ursus the Rebel Gladiator 1963 a k a Rebel Gladiators Dan Vadis Warrior and the Slave Girl The 1958 a k a The Revolt of the Gladiators Gianna Maria CanaleAncient Rome Edit Brennus Enemy of Rome 1964 a k a Battle of the Valiant Gordon Mitchell Caesar Against the Pirates 1962 Gordon Mitchell Caesar the Conqueror 1962 Cameron Mitchell Rik Battaglia Carthage in Flames 1960 a k a Cartagine in fiamme directed by Carmine Gallone Centurion The 1962 a k a The Conqueror of Corinth Colossus of Rhodes The 1960 directed by Sergio Leone Constantine and the Cross 1960 a k a Constantine the Great Coriolanus Hero without a Country 1963 a k a Thunder of Battle Gordon Scott Diary of a Roman Virgin 1974 a k a Livia una vergine per l impero romano directed by Joe D Amato used stock footage from The Last Days of Pompeii 1959 and The Arena 1974 Duel of Champions 1961 a k a Horatio and Curiazi Alan Ladd Duel of the Titans 1962 a k a Romulus and Remus Steve Reeves Gordon Scott Fall of Rome The 1961 directed by Antonio Margheriti Fire Over Rome 1963 Giants of Rome 1963 directed by Antonio Margheriti starring Richard Harrison Gold for the Caesars 1963 Jeffrey Hunter Hannibal 1959 Victor Mature Hero of Rome 1964 a k a The Colossus of Rome Gordon Scott Kampf um Rom 1968 a k a The Last Roman starring Laurence Harvey Honor Blackman Orson Welles Last Days of Pompeii 1959 Steve Reeves Massacre in the Black Forest 1967 Cameron Mitchell Messalina 1960 Nero and the Burning of Rome 1955 a k a Nero and Messalina Quo Vadis 1951 assistant director Sergio Leone Rape of the Sabine Women The 1961 Roger Moore Revenge of Spartacus The 1965 Roger Browne Revenge of the Barbarians 1960 Revolt of the Praetorians 1965 Richard Harrison Rome Against Rome 1963 a k a War of the Zombies The Secret Seven 1965 a k a The Invincible Seven 79 A D the Destruction of Herculaneum 1962 Brad Harris Sheba and the Gladiator 1959 a k a The Sign of Rome a k a Sign of the Gladiator Anita Ekberg Sins of Rome 1952 a k a Spartaco directed by Riccardo Freda The Slave of Rome 1960 starring Guy Madison Slaves of Carthage The 1956 a k a The Sword and the Cross Gianna Maria Canale not to be confused with Mary Magdalene Theodora Slave Empress 1954 directed by Riccardo Freda Three Swords for Rome 1965 Roger Browne Virgins of Rome The 1961 a k a Amazons of RomeGreek mythology Edit The Avenger 1962 a k a Legend of Aeneas Steve Reeves Alexander The Great 1956 U S film with music score by Mario Nascimbene Antigone 1961 a k a Rites for the Dead a Greek production Bacchantes The 1961 Battle of the Amazons 1973 a k a Amazons Women of Love and War a k a Beauty of the Barbarian directed by Alfonso Brescia The Colossus of Rhodes 1961 directed by Sergio Leone Conqueror of Atlantis 1965 starring Kirk Morris Damon and Pythias 1962 Guy Williams Fury of Achilles 1962 Gordon Mitchell Giant of Marathon 1959 The Battle of Marathon Steve Reeves Giants of Thessaly 1960 directed by Riccardo Freda Helen of Troy 1956 directed by Robert Wise Hercules Challenges Samson 1963 a k a Hercules Samson and Ulysses Lion of Thebes The 1964 a k a Helen of Troy Mark Forest Mars God of War 1962 a k a Venus Against the Son of Hercules The Minotaur 1961 a k a Theseus Against the Minotaur a k a The Warlord of Crete My Son the Hero 1961 a k a Arrivano i Titani a k a The Titans Odyssey The 1968 Cyclops segment directed by Mario Bava Samson Burke played Polyphemus the Cyclops Perseus the Invincible 1962 a k a Medusa vs the Son of Hercules Queen of the Amazons 1960 a k a Colossus and the Amazon Queen Seven from Thebes 1964 Andre Lawrence Siege of Syracuse The 1962 Tina Louise Treasure of the Petrified Forest 1965 Gordon Mitchell the plot involves Amazons Trojan Horse The 1961 a k a The Trojan War Steve Reeves Ulysses 1954 starring Kirk Douglas and Anthony Quinn Vulcan Son of Jupiter 1962 a k a Vulcan Son of Jove Gordon Mitchell Richard Lloyd Roger Browne Warrior Empress The 1960 a k a Sappho Venus of Lesbos Kerwin Mathews Tina LouiseBarbarian and Viking films Edit Attack of the Normans 1962 a k a The Normans Cameron Mitchell Attila 1954 directed by Pietro Francisci Anthony Quinn Sophia Loren The Cossacks 1960 Defeat of the Barbarians 1962 a k a King Manfred Dragon s Blood The 1957 25 a k a Sigfrido based on the legend of the Niebelungen special effects by Carlo Rambaldi Erik the Conqueror 1961 a k a The Invaders directed by Mario Bava starring Cameron Mitchell Fury of the Pagans 1960 a k a Fury of the Barbarians Goliath and the Barbarians 1959 a k a Terror of the Barbarians Steve Reeves The Huns 1960 a k a Queen of the Tartars Invasion 1700 1962 a k a With Iron and Fire a k a With Fire and Sword a k a Daggers of Blood King of the Vikings 1960 a k a The Prince in Chains The Last of the Vikings 1961 starring Cameron Mitchell and Broderick Crawford Marco Polo 1962 Rory Calhoun Marco the Magnificent 1965 Anthony Quinn Orson Welles Michel Strogoff 1956 a k a Revolt of the Tartars The Mongols 1961 starring Jack Palance Revak the Rebel 1960 a k a The Barbarians Jack Palance Revolt of the Barbarians 1964 directed by Guido Malatesta Roland the Mighty 1956 directed by Pietro Francisci Saracens The 1965 a k a The Devil s Pirate a k a The Flag of Death The Seven Revenges 1961 a k a The Seven Challenges a k a Ivan the Conqueror starring Ed Fury Suleiman the Conqueror 1961 Sword of the Conqueror 1961 a k a Rosamund and Alboino Jack Palance Sword of the Empire 1964 Taras Bulba The Cossack 1963 a k a Plains of Battle The Tartars 1961 Victor Mature Orson Welles Terror of the Steppes 1963 a k a The Mighty Khan starring Kirk Morris Tharus Son of Attila 1962 a k a Colossus and the Huns Ricardo Montalban Zorikan the Barbarian 1964 Dan VadisSwashbucklers pirates Edit Adventurer of Tortuga 1965 starring Guy Madison Adventures of Mandrin The 1960 a k a Captain Adventure Adventures of Scaramouche The 1963 a k a The Mask of Scaramouche Gianna Maria Canale Arms of the Avenger 1963 a k a The Devils of Spartivento starring John Drew Barrymore At Sword s Edge 1952 dir by Carlo Ludovico Bragaglia Attack of the Moors 1959 a k a The Kings of France Avenger of the Seven Seas 1961 a k a Executioner of the Seas Richard Harrison Avenger of Venice The 1963 directed by Riccardo Freda starring Brett Halsey Balboa Spanish 1963 a k a Conquistadors of the Pacific Beatrice Cenci 1956 directed by Riccardo Freda Beatrice Cenci 1969 directed by Lucio Fulci Behind the Mask of Zorro 1966 a k a The Oath of Zorro Tony Russel Black Archer The 1959 Gerard Landry Black Devil The 1957 Gerard Landry Black Duke The 1963 Cameron Mitchell Black Eagle The 1946 a k a Return of the Black Eagle directed by Riccardo Freda Black Lancers The 1962 a k a Charge of the Black Lancers Mel Ferrer Captain from Toledo The 1966 Captain of Iron The 1962 a k a Revenge of the Mercenaries Barbara Steele Captain Phantom 1953 Captains of Adventure 1961 starring Paul Muller and Gerard Landry Caribbean Hawk The 1963 Yvonne Monlaur Castillian The 1963 Cesare Romero U S Spanish co production Catherine of Russia 1962 directed by Umberto Lenzi Cavalier in Devil s Castle 1959 a k a Cavalier of Devil s Island Conqueror of Maracaibo The 1961 The Count of Braggalone 1954 aka The Last Musketeer starring Georges Marchal Count of Monte Cristo The 1962 Louis Jourdan Devil Made a Woman The 1959 a k a A Girl Against Napoleon Devil s Cavaliers The 1959 a k a The Devil s Riders Gianna Maria Canale Dick Turpin 1974 a Spanish production El Cid 1961 Sophia Loren Charlton Heston U S Italian film shot in Italy Executioner of Venice The 1963 Lex Barker Guy Madison Fighting Musketeers The 1961 Giant of the Evil Island 1965 a k a Mystery of the Cursed Island Peter Lupus Goliath and the Masked Rider 1964 a k a Hercules and the Masked Rider Alan Steel Guns of the Black Witch 1961 a k a Terror of the Sea Don Megowan Hawk of the Caribbean 1963 Invincible Swordsman The 1963 The Iron Swordsman 1949 a k a Count Ugolino directed by Riccardo Freda Ivanhoe the Norman Swordsman 1971 a k a La spada normanna directed by Roberto Mauri Knight of a Hundred Faces The 1960 a k a The Silver Knight starring Lex Barker Knights of Terror 1963 a k a Terror of the Red Capes Tony Russel Knight Without a Country 1959 a k a The Faceless Rider Lawless Mountain The 1953 a k a La montana sin ley stars Zorro Lion of St Mark The 1964 Gordon Scott Mark of Zorro 1975 made in France Monica Swinn Mark of Zorro 1976 George Hilton Masked Conqueror The 1962 Mask of the Musketeers 1963 a k a Zorro and the Three Musketeers starring Gordon Scott Michael Strogoff 1956 a k a Revolt of the Tartars Miracle of the Wolves 1961 a k a Blood on his Sword starring Jean Marais Morgan the Pirate 1960 Steve Reeves Musketeers of the Sea 1960 Mysterious Rider The 1948 directed by Riccardo Freda 26 Mysterious Swordsman The 1956 starred Gerard Landry Nephews of Zorro The 1968 Italian comedy with Franco and Ciccio Night of the Great Attack 1961 a k a Revenge of the Borgias Night They Killed Rasputin The 1960 a k a The Last Czar Nights of Lucretia Borgia The 1959 Pirate and the Slave Girl The 1959 Lex Barker Pirate of the Black Hawk The 1958 Pirate of the Half Moon 1957 Pirates of the Coast 1960 Lex Barker Prince with the Red Mask The 1955 a k a The Red Eagle Prisoner of the Iron Mask The 1961 a k a The Revenge of the Iron Mask Pugni Pirati e Karate 1973 a k a Fists Pirates and Karate directed by Joe D Amato starring Richard Harrison a 1970s Italian spoof of pirate movies Queen of the Pirates 1961 a k a The Venus of the Pirates Gianna Maria Canale Queen of the Seas 1961 directed by Umberto Lenzi Rage of the Buccaneers 1961 a k a Gordon The Black Pirate starring Vincent Price Red Cloak The 1955 Bruce Cabot Revenge of Ivanhoe The 1965 Rik Battaglia Revenge of the Black Eagle 1951 directed by Riccardo Freda Revenge of the Musketeers 1963 a k a Dartagnan vs the Three Musketeers Fernando Lamas Revenge of Spartacus The 1965 Roger Browne Revolt of the Mercenaries 1961 Robin Hood and the Pirates 1960 Lex Barker Roland the Mighty 1956 directed by Pietro Francisci Rome 1585 1961 a k a The Mercenaries Debra Paget set in the 1500s Rover The 1967 a k a The Adventurer starring Anthony Quinn The Sack of Rome 1953 a k a The Barbarians a k a The Pagans set in the 1500s Samson vs the Black Pirate 1963 a k a Hercules and the Black Pirate Alan Steel Samson vs the Pirates 1963 a k a Samson and the Sea Beast Kirk Morris Sandokan Fights Back 1964 a k a Sandokan to the Rescue a k a The Revenge of Sandokan Guy Madison Sandokan the Great 1964 a k a Sandokan the Tiger of Mompracem Steve Reeves Sandokan the Pirate of Malaysia 1964 a k a Pirates of Malaysia a k a Pirates of the Seven Seas Steve Reeves directed by Umberto Lenzi Sandokan vs the Leopard of Sarawak 1964 a k a Throne of Vengeance Guy Madison Saracens The 1965 a k a The Devil s Pirate a k a The Flag of Death starring Richard Harrison Sea Pirate The 1966 a k a Thunder Over the Indian Ocean a k a Surcouf Hero of the Seven Seas Secret Mark of D artagnan The 1962 Seven Seas to Calais 1961 a k a Sir Francis Drake King of the Seven Seas Rod Taylor Seventh Sword The 1960 Brett Halsey Shadow of Zorro 1962 Frank Latimore Sign of Zorro The 1952 Sign of Zorro it 1963 a k a Duel at the Rio Grande Sean Flynn Son of Black Eagle 1968 Son of Captain Blood 1962 Son of d Artagnan 1950 directed by Riccardo Freda Son of El Cid The 1965 Mark Damon Son of the Red Corsair 1959 a k a Son of the Red Pirate Lex Barker Son of Zorro 1973 Alberto Dell Acqua Sword in the Shadow A 1961 starring Livio Lorenzon Sword of Rebellion The 1964 a k a The Rebel of Castelmonte Sword of Vengeance 1961 a k a La spada della vendetta Swordsman of Siena The 1961 a k a The Mercenary Sword Without a Country 1960 a k a Sword Without a Flag Taras Bulba The Cossack 1963 a k a Plains of Battle Terror of the Black Mask 1963 a k a The Invincible Masked Rider Terror of the Red Mask 1960 Lex Barker Three Swords of Zorro The 1963 a k a The Sword of Zorro Guy Stockwell Tiger of the Seven Seas 1963 Triumph of Robin Hood 1962 starring Samson Burke Tyrant of Castile The 1964 Mark Damon White Slave Ship 1961 directed by Silvio Amadio The White Warrior 1959 a k a Hadji Murad the White Devil Steve Reeves Women of Devil s Island 1962 starring Guy Madison Zorro 1968 a k a El Zorro a k a Zorro the Fox George Ardisson Zorro 1975 Alain Delon Zorro and the Three Musketeers 1963 Gordon Scott Zorro at the Court of England 1969 Spiros Focas as Zorro Zorro at the Court of Spain 1962 a k a The Masked Conqueror Georgio Ardisson Zorro of Monterrey 1971 a k a El Zorro de Monterrey Carlos Quiney Zorro Rider of Vengeance 1971 Carlos Quiney Zorro s Last Adventure 1970 a k a La ultima aventura del Zorro Carlos Quiney Zorro the Avenger 1962 a k a The Revenge of Zorro Frank Latimore Zorro the Avenger 1969 a k a El Zorro justiciero 1969 Fabio Testi Zorro the Navarra Marquis 1969 Nadir Moretti as Zorro Zorro the Rebel 1966 Howard Ross Zorro Against Maciste 1963 a k a Samson and the Slave Queen 1963 starring Pierre Brice Alan SteelBiblical Edit Barabbas 1961 Dino de Laurentiis Anthony Quinn filmed in Italy Bible The 1966 Dino de Laurentiis John Huston filmed in Italy David and Goliath 1960 Orson Welles Desert Desperadoes 1956 plot involves King Herod Esther and the King 1961 Joan Collins Richard Egan Head of a Tyrant The 1959 Herod the Great 1958 Edmund Purdom Jacob the Man Who Fought with God 1964 Giorgio Cerioni Mighty Crusaders The 1957 a k a Jerusalem Set Free Gianna Maria Canale Moses the Lawgiver 1973 aka Moses in Egypt Burt Lancaster Anthony Quayle 6 hour made for TV Italian British co production also released theatrically Old Testament The 1962 Brad Harris Pontius Pilate 1962 Jean Marais The Queen of Sheba 1952 directed by Pietro Francisci Samson and Gideon 1965 Fernando Rey Saul and David 1963 Gianni Garko Sodom and Gomorrah 1962 Rosanna Podesta U S Italian film shot in Italy Story of Joseph and his Brethren The 1960 Sword and the Cross The 1958 a k a Mary Magdalene Gianna Maria CanaleAncient Egypt Edit Cleopatra s Daughter 1960 starring Debra Paget Legions of the Nile 1959 starring Linda Cristal Pharaoh s Woman The 1960 with John Drew Barrymore Queen for Caesar A 1962 Gordon Scott Queen of the Nile 1961 a k a Nefertiti Vincent Price Son of Cleopatra 1964 Mark DamonBabylon the Middle East Edit Ali Baba and the Seven Saracens 1962 a k a Sinbad Against the 7 Saracens 27 starring Gordon Mitchell Anthar The Invincible 1964 a k a Devil of the Desert Against the Son of Hercules starring Kirk Morris directed by Antonio Margheriti Desert Warrior 1957 a k a The Desert Lovers Ricardo Montalban Falcon of the Desert 1965 a k a The Magnificent Challenge starring Kirk Morris Golden Arrow The 1962 directed by Antonio Margheriti Goliath at the Conquest of Baghdad 1964 a k a Goliath at the Conquest of Damascus Peter Lupus Goliath and the Rebel Slave 1963 a k a The Tyrant of Lydia vs The Son of Hercules Gordon Scott Goliath and the Sins of Babylon 1963 a k a Maciste the World s Greatest Hero Mark Forest Hercules and the Tyrants of Babylon 1964 Hero of Babylon 1963 a k a The Beast of Babylon vs the Son of Hercules Gordon Scott Kindar the Invulnerable 1965 Mark Forest Rosalba Neri 28 Missione sabbie roventi Mission Burning Sands 1966 starring Renato Rossini directed by Alfonso Brescia Red Sheik The 1962 Scheherazade 1963 starring Anna Karina Seven Tasks of Ali Baba The 1962 a k a Ali Baba and the Sacred Crown starring Richard Lloyd Slave Girls of Sheba 1963 starring Linda Cristal Slave Queen of Babylon 1962 Yvonne Furneaux Son of the Sheik 1961 a k a Kerim Son of the Sheik starring Gordon Scott Sword of Damascus The 1964 a k a The Thief of Damascus Sword of Islam The 1961 a k a Love and Faith an Italian Egyptian co production Thief of Baghdad The 1961 Steve Reeves War Gods of Babylon 1962 a k a The Seventh Thunderbolt Wonders of Aladdin The 1961 Donald O ConnorThe second peplum wave the 1980s EditAfter the peplum gave way to the spaghetti Western and Eurospy films in 1965 the genre lay dormant for close to 20 years Then in 1982 the box office successes of Jean Jacques Annaud s Quest for Fire 1981 Arnold Schwarzenegger s Conan the Barbarian 1982 and Clash of the Titans 1981 film 1981 spurred a second renaissance of sword and sorcery Italian pepla in the five years immediately following Most of these films had low budgets focusing more on barbarians and pirates so as to avoid the need for expensive Greco Roman sets The filmmakers tried to compensate for their shortcomings with the addition of some graphic gore and nudity Many of these 1980s entries were helmed by noted Italian horror film directors Joe D Amato Lucio Fulci Luigi Cozzi etc and many featured actors Lou Ferrigno Miles O Keeffe and Sabrina Siani Here is a list of the 1980s pepla Adam and Eve 1983 a k a Adamo ed Eva la prima storia d amore contains stock footage from One Million Years B C 1966 Ator the Fighting Eagle 1983 a k a Ator the Invincible starring Miles O Keeffe and Sabrina Siani directed by Joe D Amato Ator 2 The Blade Master 1985 a k a Cave Dwellers starring Miles O Keefe directed by Joe D Amato Ator 3 Iron Warrior 1986 a k a Iron Warrior starring Miles O Keeffe directed by Alfonso Brescia Joe D Amato disowned this entry in the Ator saga since it was done without his involvement Ator 4 Quest for the Mighty Sword 1989 a k a Quest for the Mighty Sword starring Eric Allan Kramer as the son of Ator Laura Gemser and Marisa Mell directed by Joe D Amato Barbarian Master 1984 a k a Sangraal the Sword of Fire a k a Sword of the Barbarians starring Sabrina Siani The Barbarians 1987 a k a The Barbarians and Company semi comedy starring Peter and David Paul directed by Ruggero Deodato The Cantabrians 1980 a k a Los Cantabros directed by Paul Naschy in Spain Conqueror of the World 1983 a k a I padroni del mondo Fathers of the World a k a Master of the World a barbarian movie set in prehistoric times directed by Alberto Cavallone Conquest 1983 a k a Conquest of the Lost Land starring Sabrina Siani directed by Lucio Fulci Hercules 1983 starring Lou Ferrigno and Sybil Danning directed by Luigi Cozzi Hercules 2 1984 a k a The Adventures of Hercules starring Lou Ferrigno directed by Luigi Cozzi Hundra 1983 Italian Spanish Red Sonja ripoff directed by Matt Cimber 29 The Invincible Barbarian 1982 a k a Gunan the Warrior a k a Gunan King of the Barbarians starring Sabrina Siani directed by Franco Prosperi Ironmaster 1983 a k a The War of Iron co starring Luigi Montefiori directed by Umberto Lenzi The Seven Magnificent Gladiators 1983 starring Lou Ferrigno and Dan Vadis She 1982 starring Sandahl Bergman and Gordon Mitchell Sinbad of the Seven Seas 1988 starring Lou Ferrigno directed by Luigi Cozzi Thor the Conqueror 1983 directed by Tonino Ricci The Throne of Fire 1983 starring Sabrina Siani directed by Franco Prosperi Yor the Hunter from the Future 1983 starring Reb Brown directed by Antonio Margheriti a barbarian film that has science fiction elements in the story A group of so called porno peplum films were devoted to Roman emperors especially but not only to Caligula and Claudius spouse Messalina Caligula 1979 directed by Tinto Brass A Filha de Caligula The Daughter of Caligula 1981 directed by Ody Fraga made in Brazil Caligula and Messalina 1981 directed by Bruno Mattei Bacanales Romanas My Nights with Messalina 1982 directed in Spain by Jaime J Puig stars Ajita Wilson Nerone and Poppea 1982 directed by Bruno Mattei Caligula The Untold Story 1982 directed by Joe D Amato starring Laura Gemser and Gabriele Tinti Orgies of Caligula 1984 a k a Caligula s Slaves a k a Roma l antica chiave dei sensi directed by Lorenzo OnoratiSee also Edit Film portal Italy portalCinema of Italy Greco Roman antiquity Middle Ages The Bible in filmReferences Edit Patrick Lucanio With Fire and Sword Italian Spectacles on American Screens 1958 1968 Scarecrow Press 1994 ISBN 0810828162 a b O Brien D 2014 Classical Masculinity and the Spectacular Body on Film The Mighty Sons of Hercules Springer ISBN 9781137384713 Retrieved 14 February 2019 a b Kinnard Roy Crnkovich Tony 2017 Italian Sword and Sandal Films 1908 1990 McFarland p 1 ISBN 9781476662916 Retrieved 14 February 2019 Bondanella Peter Pacchioni Federico 2017 A History of Italian Cinema Bloomsbury Publishing USA p 166 ISBN 9781501307645 Retrieved 14 February 2019 Della Casa Steve Giusti Marco 2013 Il Grande Libro di Ercole Edizione Sabinae Page 194 ISBN 978 88 98623 051 Kino kolossal Herkules Maciste amp Co Eintrag letterboxd com Retrieved 19 March 2021 Cineforum in Italian 29 1 6 Federazione italiana cineforum 1989 62 Retrieved 14 February 2019 a href Template Cite journal html title Template Cite journal cite journal a Cite journal requires journal help Pomeroy Arthur J 2008 Then it Was Destroyed by the Volcano The Ancient World in Film and on Television Bloomsbury Academic p 67 ISBN 9780715630266 Retrieved 14 February 2019 Nikoloutsos Konstantinos P 2013 Ancient Greek Women in Film OUP Oxford p 139 ISBN 9780199678921 Retrieved 14 February 2019 Bayman Louis 2011 Directory of World Cinema Italy Intellect Books p 177 ISBN 9781841504001 Retrieved 14 February 2019 Diak Nicholas 2018 The New Peplum Essays on Sword and Sandal Films and Television Programs Since the 1990s McFarland p 195 ISBN 9781476631509 Retrieved 14 February 2019 Ritzer Ivo Schulze Peter W 2016 Genre Hybridisation Global Cinematic Flow Schuren Verlag p 65 ISBN 9783741000416 Retrieved 14 February 2019 Klein Amanda Ann Palmer R Barton 2016 Cycles Sequels Spin offs Remakes and Reboots Multiplicities in Film and Television University of Texas Press ISBN 9781477308196 Retrieved 6 February 2019 Cornelius Michael G 2011 Of Muscles and Men Essays on the Sword and Sandal Film McFarland p 15 ISBN 9780786489022 Michelakis Pantelis Wyke Maria Pucci Giuseppe 2013 The Ancient World in Silent Cinema Cambridge University Press pp 247 261 ISBN 9781107016101 Retrieved 11 February 2019 Pryor Thomas M Ben Hur to Ride for Metro Again New York Times December 8 1952 Jon Thurber Steve Reeves Mr Universe Who Became Movie Strongman Dies 4 May 2000 latimes com Retrieved 19 March 2021 Frumkes Roy ed July 1994 An Interview with Steve Reeves The Perfect Vision Magazine Vol 6 no 22 p 73 Frayling Christopher Spaghetti Westerns Cowboys and Europeans from Karl May to Sergio Leone I B Tauris 2006 a b c d Hughes Howard 2011 Cinema Italiano The Complete Guide from Classics to Cult Bloomsbury Academic p 2 ISBN 9781848856080 Retrieved 15 February 2019 Brunetta Gian Piero 2004 Cent anni di cinema italiano in Italian Laterza p 329 ISBN 9788842073468 Retrieved 14 February 2019 Brunetta Gian Piero 2004 Cent anni di cinema italiano in Italian Laterza pp 329 330 ISBN 9788842073468 Retrieved 14 February 2019 frammenti di letture filosofiche e briciole di psicanalisi meditazioni sui massimi sistemi politici sul destino del mondo e dell umanita concezioni fatalistiche di accetazione della volonta del destino e degli dei fiducia antropocentrica nella potenza fisica e sintesi fulminee di trattatistica militare Winkler Martin M 2009 Troy From Homer s Iliad to Hollywood Epic John Wiley amp Sons p 14 ISBN 9781405178549 Retrieved 14 February 2019 Labbe Rod Steve Reeves Demi God on Horseback Films of the Golden Age a b Kinnard Roy Crnkovich Tony 2017 Italian Sword and Sandal Films 1908 1990 McFarland ISBN 1476662916 a b Roberto Chiti Roberto Poppi Enrico Lancia Dizionario del cinema italiano I film Gremese 1991 ISBN 8876055487 Roberto Poppi Mario Pecorari Dizionario del cinema italiano I film Gremese Editore 2007 ISBN 8884405033 Hughes Howard 30 April 2011 Cinema Italiano The Complete Guide from Classics to Cult ISBN 9780857730442 http www tcm turner com tcmdb title 78700 Hundra dead link Further reading EditDiak Nicholas editor The New Peplum Essays on Sword and Sandal Films and Television Programs Since the 1990s McFarland and Company Inc 2018 ISBN 978 1 4766 6762 1 Richard Dyer The White Man s Muscles in R Dyer White London Routledge 1997 ISBN 0 415 09537 9 David Chapman Retro Studs Muscle Movie Posters from Around the World Portland Collectors Press 2002 ISBN 1 888054 69 7 Herve Dumont L Antiquite au cinema Verites legendes et manipulations Nouveau Monde 2009 ISBN 2 84736 434 X Florent Fourcart Le Peplum italien 1946 1966 Grandeur et decadence d une antiquite populaire 2012 CinExploitation ISBN 291551786X Maggie Gunsberg Heroic Bodies The Culture of Masculinity in Peplums in M Gunsberg Italian Cinema Gender and Genre Houndsmill Palgrave Macmillan 2005 ISBN 0 333 75115 9 Patrick Lucanio With Fire and Sword Italian Spectacles on American Screens 1958 1968 Scarecrow Press 1994 ISBN 0810828162 Irmbert Schenk The Cinematic Support to Nationalist ic Mythology The Italian Peplum 1910 1930 in Natascha Gentz and Stefan Kramer eds Globalization Cultural Identities and Media Representations Albany NY State University of New York Press 2006 ISBN 0 7914 6684 1 Stephen Flacassier Muscles Myths and Movies Rabbit s Garage 1994 ISBN 0 9641643 0 2External links EditFilmsThe Avenger by Georgia Rivalta Steve Reeves stars as Aeneas Hercules Unchained Pietro Francisci director The Giant of Metropolis starring Gordon Mitchell Umberto Scarpelli director Hercules and the Tyrants of Babylon Domenico Paolella dir Images and discussionThe Many Faces of Hercules at Brian s Drive In Theatre PEPLVM Images de l Antiquite par Michel Eloy in French Cinema amp Histoire L Antiquite au Cinema in French by Herve Dumont Vincent Price B Movies Film Noir Bela Lugosi Boris Karloff Peter Cushing Christopher Lee Barbara Steele horror sci fi B westerns sword amp sandal source of peplum DVD s Something Weird Video source of peplum DVD s Santo And Friends filmography of Mexican muscleman films Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Sword and sandal amp oldid 1149527678, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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