Jungfrauen von Rom

Good looking spectacle with a cast of tens. You can see that actors are playing both sides in what amounts to a Euro-western set in the ancient world. Its Etruscans vs Romans with the woman taken hostage after they dressed as Roman soldiers after their side lost. The dialog is stupid and the romances wobble any hope of a decent story. Its the kind of film that almost seems good but isn't so seems much worse as a result. I've seen it twice by accident and I hope never to see it again.

I really love the crack another viewer made about casting the urbane Louis Jourdan as a barbarian warrior. Was not Cary Grant available? I could not possibly top that.

Other than ludicrous casting Amazons Of Rome is a passably interesting peplum picture concerning those events in early Roman history when it was just trying to survive as a city against some very nasty Etruscans who rule the countryside. The legendary hero Horatio is played by Italian actor Ettore Manni who did more than a few of these kind of films.

While Horatio is trying to regroup and retrain an army, the women of Rome take to the field led by the aristocratic Sylvia Sims. It's there that she meets Jourdan. If they can make peace, is it possible for the rest?

The Etruscan leader is played by Julien Chevrier who would like a permanent peace, but has some folks who are looking for glory and conquest and as long as they get it doesn't matter how much blood is spilled.

Poor Louis Jourdan, he looks like he is annoyed that a table at Maxim's isn't ready.

This is a well-made historical actioner with the most memorable performance being given by Ettore Manni, who is much more comfortable in this early Roman period than either of his costars Sims or Jourdan. Manni, as in so many of his other films, steals the whole show. In this case he's the heroic and ill-fated Horatio who dies defending the bridge.

Amazingly, this is the third "Amazon Women" film I've watched in a month but, unlike the others, this is a relatively serious undertaking and, in any case, the American title is misleading - but, then, probably so is the Italian one, which translates to "THE VIRGINS OF ROME"! When it was shown on late-night Italian TV, I had never heard of it but was willing to give it a try considering the talent involved (director Cottafavi and stars Louis Jourdan, Sylvia Syms and Michel Piccoli) - but also due to the fact that French director Bertrand Tavernier, apparently, considers this one of his favorite films!

Distressingly, I came across very few reviews of the film and these were all-too-brief; besides, the only other two comments on the IMDb aren't very favorable! Despite the scratchy print with washed-out colors that was shown on TV, I'm glad I taped it because it turned out to be one of the most satisfying peplums I've ever watched and, consequently, the film ought to be much better known! Besides, it allowed me to understand a bit better Cottafavi's cult reputation (given the type of films he dabbled in!) - though, apparently, he was replaced after 3 weeks by Bragaglia because Cottafavi couldn't see eye to eye with star Jourdan (though the change in director didn't effect the film in any perceptible way).

I had only watched four Cottafavi films prior to this: the modern-day melodrama NEL GORGO DEL PECCATO (1954) and the following peplums - GOLIATH AND THE DRAGON (1960), HERCULES AND THE CAPTIVE WOMEN (1961) and I CENTO CAVALIERI (1964; perhaps the director's best work and which I was lucky to watch, along with the hilariously awful GOLIATH, at the 2004 Venice Film Festival with lead Mark Damon in attendance!). Likewise, I had seen four by Bragaglia - three of them starring the popular Italian comic Toto' and, eons ago, HANNIBAL (1960) - another one of his peplums and which was co-directed by Edgar G. Ulmer!

The casting of the two leads is surprising, but they certainly number among the most talented ever featured in this type of film: Jourdan is quite amusing as the leader of the barbarian horde who's seen constantly, and nonchalantly, munching on fruit - even when leading his men into battle!; the beautiful Syms adds grace and intelligence to the film - but, apart from Nicole Courcel (who is also pretty good as an unusually sympathetic villainess, sharing a secondary love interest with Piccoli!), is the only female character who is developed in any substantial way. The battle scenes - highlighted by a running duel between Jourdan and a one-eyed Roman general played by genre regular Ettore Manni - are nicely handled, though mainly relegated to the opening and closing moments of the film.

I recently saw AMAZONS OF ROME on cable. The first thing that stood out was the look. The quality of the transfer was truly beautiful: pristine and sharp. The lighting, the background sky, the sets, the costumes, everything looked authentic and gorgeous. Credit should go to cinematographer Marc Fossard. It looked like it was filmed yesterday. Much better looking than 90% of Peplums made during that time, including the stilted and dull THE 300 SPARTANS. With that said, the story is lifeless. It lacks urgency. Is it a comedy or a drama? The whole thing looks like a bad sex comedy. Sorta like GIDGET GOES TO WAR. Or THE COLOSSUS & THE AMAZON QUEEN.

But the film's biggest liability was casting Louis Jourdan as a Barbarian. What, Cary Grant wasn't available? I'm certain producers hired Jourdan in order to get financing for the film but it was a big mistake. He's simply too debonair to be a Barbarian. Sylvia Syms looks like Julie Andrews before Julie Andrews made her first movie. The best actor in the whole thing is Ettore Manni. Totally believable in anything he does, certainly in Sword & Sandal films. What a great, overlooked actor.

It's a shame the production team for this film wasn't involved in a more action oriented or serious story. The looked of it all would have rocked even more if it hadn't been involved with such a lightweight story.