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Sword and sandal

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D. W. Griffith set out to depict the splendor of ancient Babylon in Intolerance.
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D. W. Griffith set out to depict the splendor of ancient Babylon in Intolerance.

Sword and sandal films (or "peplums") are a cinematic genre of adventure or fantasy films that have subjects set in Biblical or classical antiquity, often with contrived plots based very loosely on mythology or history. Most movies based on Greco-Roman history and mythology, or the surrounding cultures of the same era (Egyptians, Assyrians, Etruscans, Minoans), etc. are sword and sandal epic films. The greatest productions of this film genre were made between 1958 and 1964, but peplums have experienced a recent renaissance. Broadly considered, this category could encompass such diverse films as Ben-Hur, Cleopatra, Titus, " Braveheart", "Gladiator", "King Arthur" or The Ten Commandments. In this sense, it is one of the oldest movie genres; the original Ben-Hur was made by Sidney Olcott in 1907; the 1914 silent film Cabiria was important in the development of the art of cinematography, and was one of the first sword-and-sandal films to make use of a massively-muscled actor, Batolomeo Pagano. Another name for the genre is peplum, from a Latin word for a sort of tunic that was easy to make and favoured by the costume departments for these films.

This poster from a 1961 Maciste film illustrates many people's expectations from films of this genre.
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This poster from a 1961 Maciste film illustrates many people's expectations from films of this genre.

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More specifically, however, the "sword and sandal" film genre usually refers to a low-budget Italian movie on a gladiatorial, Biblical or mythological subject, often with a professional body-builder in the principal role; the genre occupied much of the popular segment of Italy's movie industry from 1960-1964, before the invention of the spaghetti western. Gladiators were perennial favourite subjects, as were the adventures of Hercules, Goliath, Samson, Ursus, Jason and the Argonauts, or Italy's perennial favorite legendary strongman Maciste. The fad began with the 1958 release of Hercules, starring American bodybuilder Steve Reeves. This spawned the 1959 sequel Hercules Unchained, and literally dozens of low-budget imitations starring other bodybuilder stars such as Reg Park, Gordon Scott, Mark Forest, Dan Vadis, and Alan Steel (aka Sergio Ciani).

The absurd plots, out-of-synch dialogue, wooden acting of the muscleman heroes, and primitive special effects that were often woefully inadequate to depict the legendary creatures on-screen, all conspire to give these films a certain camp appeal now. This, and the beefcake factor, made the films' unintended humour notorious in the gay community. To be sure, however, many of the films enjoyed widespread popularity among very general audiences, and had production values that were typical for popular films of the day. Several have been subjects of the Mystery Science Theater 3000 treatment. Although many of the bigger budget peplums were released theatrically in the USA, fourteen of them were released directly to American television in a syndicated TV series called The Sons of Hercules, the films receiving newly-designed prologue narrations that desperately attempted to link whoever the hero of the film was to the Hercules mythos; these films ran on Saturday afternoons in the 1960s.

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The Italian HERCULES Film Series (1957-1965)

A series of 19 Italian Hercules movies were made in the late 50's/ early 60's. The actors who played Hercules in these films were Steve Reeves, Gordon Scott, Kirk Morris, Mickey Hargitay, Mark Forest, Alan Steel, Dan Vadis, Brad Harris, Reg Park, Rock Stevens and Michael Lane. The films are listed below by their American release titles, and the titles in parentheses are the original Italian titles (if they were different).

A number of English-dubbed Italian films that featured the Hercules name in their title were never intended to be Hercules movies by their Italian creators. None of these films in their original Italian versions were connected to the Hercules character in any way. Likewise, most of the "Sons of Hercules" movies shown on American TV in the 1960's had nothing to do with Hercules in their original Italian incarnations.

The Italian MACISTE Film Series (1960-1965)

There were a total of 25 Maciste films from the 1960s sword-and-sandal revival. The first title listed for each film is the film's original Italian title along with its translation, while the U.S. release title follows in parentheses (note how many times Maciste's name in the Italian title is altered to a totally different character's name in the American release titles):

The Italian URSUS Film Series (1961-1964)

Ursus was a super-human Biblical/ Roman character who was used as the hero in a series of Italian adventure films made in the 1960's. Ursus was referred to as a "Son of Hercules" in several of the films when they were dubbed in English (in an attempt to cash in on the then-popular Italian Hercules film series), although in the original Italian films, Ursus had no connection to Hercules whatsoever. In the English-dubbed version of one film ("Hercules, Prisoner of Evil"), Ursus was actually referred to throughout the entire film as "Hercules".

There were a total of 9 Italian sword-and-sandal films that featured Ursus as the main character, as follows:

The Italian SAMSON Film Series (1961-1964)

The Samson character was featured in a series of 5 sword-and-sandal adventure films made in Italy in the 1960's, as follows: (The Italian title & its translation is followed by the altered U.S. release title if it was different)

The name Samson was later inserted into the American titles of 6 other Italian sword-and-sandal movies when they were dubbed in English for distribution in the USA, although these films actually featured the adventures of the famed Italian 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 retitled "Maciste" movies, because the American distrubtors didn't feel the name Maciste in the titles would be marketable to U.S.A. filmgoers.

"Samson and the Treasure of the Incas" (aka Hercules and the Treasure of the Incas, 1965) is listed in some reference books as a peplum, but the film was apparently set in South America during the time period of the Old West, and the film doesn't appear to be a sword-and-sandal.

The Italian GOLIATH Film Series (1960-1964)

The Italians used Goliath as an action superhero in a series of Biblical adventure films (peplums) in the early 1960's. He was possessed of amazing strength, and the films were similar in theme to their Hercules and Maciste movies. After the classic "HERCULES" (1957) became a blockbuster sensation in the film industry, a 1959 Steve Reeves film ("Terror of the Barbarians") was retitled "Goliath and the Barbarians" in the USA, and the film was so successful at the box office, it inspired Italian filmmakers to do a series of 4 films featuring a beefcake hero named Goliath. (The 1960 Italian film "DAVID AND GOLIATH" starring Orson Welles was not part of this series, as it was a straightforward adaptation of the original Biblical story).

The titles in the Italian "Goliath" peplum series were as follows:

The name "Goliath" was later inserted into the film titles of 3 other Italian muscleman movies that were retitled for distribution in the USA 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 superhero Maciste in the original Italian versions, but American distributors didn't feel the name Maciste had any meaning to American audiences. "Goliath and the Dragon" (1960) was originally an Italian Hercules movie called "The Revenge of Hercules", and it is a mystery to this day why U.S. distributors didn't market the film under that title, since Hercules films always tended to do much better at the box office than "Goliath" movies.

The Sons of Hercules (TV Syndication Package)

The Sons of Hercules was a syndicated television show that aired in the United States of America in the 1960s. The series repackaged 14 Italian sword-and-sandal films by giving them a memorable theme song and a standard intro relating the lead character in each film to the Greek demigod Hercules any way they could. The films are not in chronological order, as they are not really connected to each other plotwise. The first title listed for each film was its American television title, followed by the translation of the original Italian title in parentheses:

Italian GLADIATOR Movies from the 1960s

Complete list of Peplums starring STEVE REEVES

Other Classic Sword-and-Sandal Films (1960's)

There were many 1960's Italian sword-and-sandal films that did not feature a major superhero (such as Hercules, Maciste or Samson), and as such fall into a sort of miscellaneous category. Here is a list of the best-known titles:

Later Sword-and-Sandal Films from the 1980's

After the peplums gave way to the spaghetti western in 1965, the genre lay dormant for close to 20 years. Then in 1982, the box-office success of Arnold Schwarzenegger's "CONAN THE BARBARIAN" spurred a second renaissance of Italian peplums in the five years immediately following. Most notable among them were the four ATOR films, starring Miles O'Keefe in the lead role. Most of these films were of terrible quality due to painfully low budgets, and the filmmakers tried to compensate for their shortcomings with the addition of graphic gore and nudity. Here is a list of the best of the '80s peplums:

Bibliography

Additional references

External links

 

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
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