Brenno - Der Herr des Schreckens

391 B. C. The city of Rome is threatened by various Celtic tribes led by the Gaul Brenno (Gordon Mitchell), who acts with unrestrained brutality; they take over the Roman town of Clusium. The Romans expecting the worst hurdle on to one of the seven hills of Rome: the Capitoline Hill.

Under the leadership of the still young Quintus Fabius (Tony Kendall) the shocked Romans defend themselves against the impending defeat. Love in the form of the beautiful Nissia (Ursula Davis) is kidnapped by the stone faced Chieffain. He plans to marry her.

Brennus, the enemy of Rome is a well-plotted sword and Sandal extravaganza that has convincing battle scenes, impressive visuals such as towns left smouldered and the fields full of massacred dead. It's a solid and intense story- of course, it benefits greatly due to Gordon Mitchell who pulls all the stops as the wicked leader of Gaul. He's truly believable and nasty. Tony Kendall does very well as the Roman Soldier who goes up against him. The finale where they fight is lengthy and exciting.

Brennus, Enemy of Rome (aka Battle of the Valiant) is several cuts above most films in its genre. The well drawn characters and intricate plot are mostly responsible for its superiority, not to mention the fact that most of the story is historically accurate. A brisk pace with lots of action account for more of its success. But primarily it is the two main characters so well portrayed with superior acting by the fierce Gordon Mitchell (Brennus) and the handsome, urbane Tony Kendall as Quintus Fabius. All these elements add up to a rousing tale that will keep viewers enthralled culminating in a grand duel mano a mano by the principals. It is hard to believe that Kendall was not cast in more roles of this sort, he looks perfect for the part of a patrician military officer and is entirely natural and comfortably credible in acting the part. Mitchell, of course, did many roles of this sort and was at his best in them. Brennus is one of his best; see also "The Fury of Achilles" and "Julius Caesar Against the Pirates" for two more of his best. Films such as these are both exciting and entertaining, sometimes even educational like this one. A resurgence of them would be welcome.

BRENNUS takes various elements from Livy's history of the Gauls' attack on Rome, plus Plutarch's biography of Camillus, and cleverly remixes them to fashion a ripping yarn of an adventure movie. The banishment of the Roman general Camillus, the controversy over the spoils of Veii, the involvement of the Fabius brothers, the flight of the Vestal virgins from Rome, the barbarian who tugs the beard of a Roman elder, the honking of the sacred geese, and even Brennus's scornful "Woe to the vanquished!" as he heaps his sword onto the scales, are all from the historical record.

To be sure, the historical accounts are a bit more complicated and far less flattering to the Romans, but this variant is exactly the sort of heroic tale an ancient balladeer might have come up with to flatter his hosts at a Fabius family banquet. (Our hero is the dashing young Quintus Fabius, appealingly played by Tony Kendall.)

As for the barbarous Brennus, the more I see of Gordon Mitchell, the more I respect him as an actor. He makes a terrific villain; when he declares that he'll enter Rome with his new bride's head impaled on his sword, I believe it! Mitchell was equally impressive playing a tortured hero (see THE FURY OF ACHILLES and GIANT OF THE METROPOLIS).

No luck so far in finding this sword and sandal classic on DVD, alas. I managed to track down a VHS tape, but it was from a degraded full-screen print in black and white. I'd love to see this in full color and widescreen.

I saw "Brennus, Enemy of Rome" quite some time ago and it was one of the first Italian Sword & Sandal flicks i ever saw. The dubbing is always an eyesore with Italian films, but this particular film seemed a cut above many other low budget movies in the same genre. Gordon Mitchell is the title character (Brenno/Brennus) who historically did lay siege to Rome. Gordon manages to look imposing (in part due to his muscled physique!) as he scowls at everybody he encounters in the film and fills the screen by prowling like a big cat. There is more story and less action than this kind of film usually has which is not a bad thing. The Roman nobles appear suitably refined and cerebral compared to the barbarians and their direct action approach which is why i liked this film.

Although the cult Italian TV program "Fuori Orario" (which translates to "After Hours") shown every weekend during night-time is usually taken up by rare art-house stuff, occasionally it lowers its standards to include a tribute to the native journeymen which passed through the portals of Cinema throughout its 116-year history; one such contender was Giacomo Gentilomo and, after 2 satisfactory encounters with his mostly unknown work – THE LAST OF THE VIKINGS and, just last week, GOLIATH AGAINST THE VAMPIRES (both 1961 and of the peplum variety) – this is yet another above-average example in the same mould and which was released in the U.K. under the misleading title BATTLE OF THE SPARTANS.

Since the budget allocated to such pseudo-historical fare was typically on the low side, barbarian conqueror Brennus' marauding march on Rome is often economically depicted via battle montages with star Gordon Mitchell's scowling features superimposed over them! Following the willful exile to a peaceful retirement in the countryside of disillusioned Roman hero Massimo Serato (disgusted by the egotistical political machinations of self-serving Senators), it is left for the likes of leading man Tony Kendall (as one of a band of three brothers) to oppose Brennus; eventually, two of them (and Serato's own young adopted son) are killed which, naturally enough, paves the way for the banished legionnaire's return to (and fateful intervention in) the ultimate salvation of his beloved Rome.

The usual quota of tried-and-tested elements such as damsels-in-distress and duplicitous but ultimately ill-fated senators are to be found here as well but, frankly, the one single incident in the entire film that has remained with me a full 10 days since I saw it is the uproarious sequence of Mitchell 'invading' the heroine's tent and, after taking a sip from the first vessel he finds lying about, he enquires whether it is some rare wine due to the odd taste it has…to which she nonchalantly informs him that what he just drank had been her new perfume!