fwmurnau Mark Forest's personal favorite of his films is one of the best Italian sword & sandal films of the 1960s. Superior writing and direction, and handsome Egyptian sets and costumes, make it seem like a wonderful comic book come to life. Forest, in great shape, has never been better or been better-photographed. Furneaux capably heads a strong supporting cast.The story finds the Pharaoh Rameses in love with Helen of Troy (Furneaux), who prefers Aryan (Forest), her beefy bodyguard. A mythological mix-up, but it's one of the genre's strongest, most logical and compelling stories.A film like this, in an unfaded print with strong bright colors, makes one wonder if some of these films aren't actually better than they seem in their ludicrously-dubbed American TV versions. If this had been made by Fassbinder, David Lynch or some other fashionable director, it might be acclaimed as an avant garde masterpiece.

PrincessAnanka Mark Forest was probably the most magnificent of all the Hercules heroes, even more so than the God-like Steve Reeves. In his farewell movie, "Lion of Thebes," Forest has never looked more incredible, with his phenomenal torso on full display and his beautifully expressive face--sensuous lips, slanted eyes, chiseled features--all photographed to maximum advantage. Starting out as a physique model, Lou Degni from the Bronx, Forest went on to win Mr. America and it was only fitting that he was brought in on the coattails of the beautiful Reeves to make his share of muscle movies. No one had pecs as enormous as Forest or a ridged stomach that was justly famous. HIs whole torso was a work of wonder and thankfully, we have him on film during his peak to show the world just how phenomenal a speciman of manhood he was. Probably his best movie, "Kindar the Invincible" is included in the 50-movie package, "Warriors", that has ALL the musclemen who portrayed Hercules, Atlas, Samson and so on. But it was Mark Forest and his extraordinary torso and charisma that makes your mouth drop when he appears nearly naked except for a brief loincloth in most of his film work. He conveys a smoldering sensuality lacking in Reeves and you envy the number of actresses who had love scenes with him and were able to squeeze those powerful shoulders and arms. If Hollywood had any brains at that time, Forest would have been a Number One leading man. Male beauty, such as that enjoyed by Reeves and Forest, comes along only once in a century and in these vastly enjoyable "sword and sandal" entertainments, we can enjoy them forever. And wish we had movie heroes today who come anywhere close to Forest and Reeves.

prosopopeia One of the approximately 300 Italian peplum (sword and sandals) films made between 1957 and 1965, Lion of Thebes is unusual for a number of reasons: one, there is actually something like a coherent story rather than a simple collection of "strongman set pieces"; two, there is actually a fair amount of dialogue, and the acting is rather better than usual--one almost has the impression that the muscleman (Aryan) cares about what is happening; three, the film is a little more ethically ambiguous than usual: the good woman (Helen) and the "bad" woman (Naïs) actually want the same thing; the "usurper" is actually the proper heir to the throne; the wicked counselor is evil, but actually wants to save Thebes from its weak and careless leader. Peplums tend to range from laughably bad to simply agonizingly bad--this one's actually okay.

MARIO GAUCI This is another above-average peplum and one that's actually a follow-up to Ferroni's own THE Trojan HORSE (1961), since it follows the exploits of Helen Of Troy after the fall of that city; the earlier film had already had a sequel, THE AVENGER (1962), made by other hands but again featuring Steve Reeves in the role of Aeneas (who doesn't show up here)! Anyway, for an obviously low-budget spectacle (with flashback footage borrowed from HORSE), the film certainly looks good - courtesy of cinematographer Angelo Lotti, who later shot the Jess Franco masterpiece VENUS IN FURS (1968)! - while the plot is filled with amusing suspense trappings: secret passageways, dungeons, a duel to the death by a snake-infested fountain, intrigues, murders, a coveted treasure, a nick-of-time escape for the heroine - strapped to a stone slab - from being crushed to death by a descending massive piece of machinery, etc.The cast, too, is peppered with familiar faces: he-man hero Mark Forest (whose favorite role this was, according to the "DVD Drive-in" review of Trimark Home Video's 7-film set THE ADVENTURES OF HERCULES!) doesn't alter the expression of his face much during the course of the film but, at least, he fares better here than in the earlier laugh-fest GOLIATH AND THE DRAGON (1960); Yvonne Furneaux appears as Helen Of Troy and, given that the film is largely set in Egypt, I couldn't help being reminded of her role in the classic Hammer horror THE MUMMY (1959); Massimo Serato and Alberto Lupo provide a double dose of (sometimes) ripe villainy; and Rosalba Neri (yet again) as the current Pharaoh's jilted fiancée but who takes her rival Furneaux's defences, against usurper Serato, when Helen Of Troy is accused of murdering the Egyptian ruler - and suffers the consequences for her actions!