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:So, do you like movies about gladiators?- — Peter Graves, in Airplane! ( 1980)
200px D. W. Griffith set out to depict the splendor of ancient Babylon in Intolerance.
Sword and sandal films 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 ( EgyptiansAncient Egypt (also see Ancient Egyptian) was the civilization of the Nile Valley between about 3000 BC and the conquest of Egypt by Alexander the Great in 332 BC. As a civilization based on irrigation it is the quintessential example of an hydraulic empi, AssyriaThis article concerns the ancient Mesopotamian kingdom. For the modern-day peoples in northern Iraq and neighboring areas, see Assyrian. Assyria a country named after its original capital city, Asshur on the Tigris, was originally a colony of Babylonia, ans, EtruscansThe Etruscan civilization existed in Etruria and the Po valley in the northern part of what is now Italy, prior to the formation of the Roman Republic. The Etruscans were a non- Indo-European people who inhabited northern and central Italy before 800 BC., Minoans), etc. are sword and sandal epic film s. The greatest productions of this film genre were made during the 1950sCenturies: 19th century 20th century 21st century Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s Years: 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 Events and trends Technology United States tests the first fusion bomb., but it has experienced a recent renaissance. Broadly considered, this could compass such diverse films as Ben-HurBen-Hur is the fictional story of Judah Ben-Hur, a Judean aristocrat who, during the reign of the Roman Emperor Augustus, is enslaved through the betrayal of his Roman friend Messala. Embittered and vengeful after regaining his freedom, he is redeemed aft, CleopatraCleopatra is the name of several movies about the last Egyptian queen of the same name. Movies of this title were released in 1912, 1917, 1920, 1934, 1963, and 1999. 1917 Film The 1917 Fox film was directed by J. Gordon Edwards and starred Theda Bara in t, Titus, 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. Another name for the genre is peplum, from a Latin word for a sort of tunic, 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 the genre.
More specifically, however, the "sword and sandal" film genre usually refers to a low-budget Italian movie on a gladiatorial or mythological subject; for the genre occupied much of the less pretentious segment of Italy's movie industry before the invention of the spaghetti western. Gladiators were perennial favourite subjects, as were the adventures of Hercules, Jason and the Argonauts, or the more recent legendary strongman Machiste. The fad began with the 1959 release of Hercules, starring American bodybuilder Steve Reeves. This spawned the 1960 sequel Hercules Unchained , among literally dozens of low-budget imitations starring other bodybuilder stars such as Reg Park or Alan Steele .
The absurd plots, out-of-synch dialogue, wooden acting of the muscleman heroes, and pitifully primitive special effects that were utterly inadequate to depict the legendary creatures on-screen, all conspired to give these films a certain camp appeal. This, and the beefcake factor, made the films' unintended humour notorious in the gay community. Several have been subjects of the Mystery Science Theater 3000 treatment. A movie series and syndicated television show called The Sons of Hercules was made from a number of different films; this ran in the 1970s.
