Do you long for the days when heroes were so strong and invincible they could kill several bad guys with a single hurl of a spear? The Peplum Channel celebrates those days with three examples of “the human kebab” from vintage, Italian-made sword and sandal movies.
ARVE error: need id and provider
Today’s Trillion Dollar Movie, Slave Queen of Babylon, stars Yvonne Furneaux as Semiramis, queen of ancient Assyria. Reputed to be the world’s most beautiful woman, all manner of myths and legends have been ascribed to her over the ages. Some credited her with designing the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, although the Greek historian Diodorus Siculus noted they were built long after Semiramis reigned. It’s also been said she invented the chastity belt, while Protestant minister Alexander Hislop assailed her for fomenting deviltry by devising polytheism and “goddess worship.”
Her rare combination of beauty and power certainly made her a recurring figure in literature — ranging from works by John Milton to William Faulkner — and cinema, including this 1963 sword-and-sandal epic made in Italy but featuring an international cast. Born in France, but working primarily in Great Britain, Furneaux was always a stunning actress but this is perhaps her most alluring role. In some ways, she reprises her 1959 appearance in Hammer Films’ remake of The Mummy, where she played Princess Ananka, a High Priestess from ancient Egypt resurrected from her mausoleum. But Furneaux has more room to maneuver as Semiramis, plotting to seize the Assyrian throne by outfoxing all of the men around her, as well as defending the kingdom against a host of external enemies.
She’s devious, unscrupulous, manipulative, and also, ravishing enough to get away with it. Her one weakness: She falls in love with the rival King Kir of the Dardanians, played by German-born actor John Ericson, seen on scores of American TV shows including Rawhide, General Hospital, CHiPs and Fantasy Island. This costume adventure has largely been forgotten, which is a shame — because the action is fierce, the drama often sweeping and the costumes and sets quite opulent. Hope you enjoy, and do return again next Friday for another Trillion $ Movie.
ARVE error: need id and provider
Today’s Trillion Dollar Movie is Hercules in the Haunted World, also sometimes known as Hercules in the Center of the Earth. This 1961 film, shot in Italy, is perhaps the most psychedelic Hercules movie ever made. 
That’s not surprising, considering it was directed by Mario Bava, Italy’s most accomplished horror filmmaker. Here, he places as much emphasis on sorcery as swordplay, mixing a healthy dosage of the macabre with the expected muscle-bound action.
Hercules’ mission: To journey to the underworld, Hades to be exact, to retrieve the Stone of Forgetfulness, so a curse can be lifted from the fair Princess Deianira. The diabolical sorcerer Lyco stands in Hercules’ way. He has placed the princess in a trance, so he could grab power and the throne. In a rarity for one of Bava’s low-budget features, he snared an A-list acting talent, Christopher Lee, to play the menacing villain. True, Lee’s voice is dubbed and he doesn’t get a lot of screen time, but when’s he on, he’s snarlingly good.
Otherwise, there are several exciting episodes associated with Hercules’ quest. He consults with oracles, battles a sadistic rock creature and braves hellish lakes of fire, as he descends deeper into Pluto’s lair. Reg Park, the British bodybuilder and Arnold Schwarzenegger’s closest mentor, plays the hero. Park only appeared in five movies, four times as Hercules. He’s no match for Steve Reeves, but he’s not entirely wooden, either.
In the end, what distinguishes this film are Bava’s haunting visuals. Besides directing, he also served as cinematographer and special effects maven, so the look of the picture is entirely his doing. Enjoy and do return again next Friday for another Trillion $ Movie.
Today’s Trillion $ Movie — Sappho, Venus of Lesbos — stars Ginger from Gilligan’s Island (Tina Louise) along with scores of scantily clad women. Now, if that’s not enough enticement to watch the movie, you’ve got ice water coursing through your veins, not blood.
Inexplicably released in the United States as The Warrior Empress, this 1960 Italian import was one of 300 sword and sandal epics rushed into production in a three-year span following the success of Hercules, with Steve Reeves. Sappho, Venus of Lesbos doesn’t boast any Hercules wannabes, let alone bare-chested men. But Kerwin Mathews, fresh from playing the lead in The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad, resurfaces as an earnest and energetic hero, the type usually aided by Hercules. In the absence of same, Mathews’ Phaon relies for help instead from Louise’s Sappho, billed in the film’s tagline as “the world’s boldest beauty.” She doesn’t bear much resemblance to the historic poetess of yore, but who watches peplum classics for their intellectual content?
Warming up for Gilligan’s Island, she lives in an “island” along a seacoast, cut off from the mainland by a moat. Inside this protected enclave lives a sorority of fetching vestal virgins who parade around in sheer nightgowns. Again, little of this is historically accurate, but who cares? Phaon literally falls into this compound, and falls in love with Sappho, pitting him in a grudge match against Hyperbius (an excellent Riccardo Garrone), the man to whom she is pledged.
Otherwise, this epic touches all of the expected bases. It’s got snarling lions, dueling chariots, an uprising against a greedy king, skullduggery at sea, and enough swordplay to fill an entire Star Wars trilogy. The lush musical score by Angelo Francesco Lavagnino adds grace notes. Enjoy, and do return again next Friday for another Trillion $ Movie.
ARVE error: need id and provider
A masked Yvonne De Carlo appears in 1958’s The Sword and the Cross, an Italian-made peplum that paved the way for more Biblical adaptations by featuring several characters from the Bible — Mary Magdalene (De Carlo), as well as Pontius Pilate and Lazarus. The Canadian-born De Carlo (real name: Margaret Yvonne Middleton) appeared in more than 100 films, and played Lily Munster for three seasons on the TV comedy The Munsters. This is but one of many clips and full movies you’ll find on the SapphoPeplum channel on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/SapphoPEPLUM?feature=watch
ARVE error: need id and provider
Today’s Trillion Dollar Movie, Goliath and the Sins of Babylon, stars muscle man Mark Forest as the heroic Goliath going up against the Babylonian empire on behalf of the enslaved nation of Nephyr. The Babylonians are pernicious conquerors. Each year, they demand that Nepyr surrender the kingdom’s 30 most beautiful virgins to serve as concubines and sacrificial lambs. This galls Goliath and his band of renegades, who lead a rebellion to free the virgins and overthrow Babylon’s evil King Calphus.
Goliath and the Sins of Babylon is one of the most lavish examples of the much-maligned “peplum” genre, consisting of Italian-made sword and sandal epics set in ancient times. Many of these movies involve mythological heroes and supernatural beasts. This 1963 picture doesn’t go down that path. Goliath is courageous and beefy, but otherwise, not endowed with unearthly strength.
Still, the action scenes are above-par, including a dangerous chariot race and a barnstorming naval battle. The Brooklyn-born Forest (real name: Lou Degni) is more charismatic than the stiff studs usually cast in this genre, and the film boasts other appealing elements — comic interludes with a dwarf and a tense rollout after Goliath is captured, pinned to a rack and forced to dodge a barrage of deadly spears.
Altogether, before building a new career as a fitness trainer and opera singer, Forest played in about a dozen “peplum” movies, among them Hercules Against the Mongols and The Lion of Thebes. One interesting aside: The character he portrayed was known as Maciste in the original Italian version but transformed into Goliath in the English-dubbed version, distributed by American International Pictures. Enjoy, and do return next Friday for another Trillion $ Movie.
https://www.bitchute.com/video/rKAM3CvSvwfP/
