Peplum Films
The Peplum (or pepla plural), also known as Sword-and-Sandal, is a genre of largely Italian-made Historical or Biblical Epics (costume dramas) that dominated the Italian film industry from 1958 to 1965, eventually being replaced in 1965 by the "Spaghetti Western". The pepla attempted to emulate, or compete with, the big-budget Hollywood Historical Epics of the time, such as Spartacus, Samson and Delilah and The Ten Commandments (just as the Spaghetti westerns were imitations of the Hollywood Western). The terms "peplum" (referring to the togas or robes which the ancient Romans wore) and "sword-and-sandal" were used in a condescending way by film critics. Italian director Vittorio Cottafavi called the genre "Neo-Mythology".
Read more about Peplum Films: Background, The Maciste Silent Film Series (1914–1927), Sound Film Era, Hercules Series (1957–1965), Maciste Series (1960–1965), Ursus Series (1961–1964), Samson Series (1961–1964), Goliath Series (1960–1964), The Sons of Hercules (TV Syndication Package), Steve Reeves Pepla (in Chronological Order of Production), Other (non-series) Italian Pepla, Sword-and-sandal Films From The 1980's, Non-Italian Pepla
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“Does art reflect life? In movies, yes. Because more than any other art form, films have been a mirror held up to society’s porous face.”
—Marjorie Rosen (b. 1942)