Le gladiateur de Rome

Those looking for brutal fights to the death in a Roman gladiatorial arena will most likely be extremely disappointed by peplum classic Gladiator of Rome: the only scene of gladiators fighting each other is a rather tame training session in which muscle-bound warrior Marcus (Gordon Scott) shows off his undefeatable sword-swinging skills (after having his muscles lightly oiled by comedic sidekick Pompilio, played by Pietro De Vico).

How Marcus came to be a gladiator, and how he eventually breaks free of his bonds, is a tragic tale that is part Ben Hur, part Spartacus, part Quo Vadis and part every other sword and sandal film/Biblical epic you've ever seen: the self-appointed protector of Silesian princess Nisa (Wandisa Guida), Marcus whisks the pretty royal away from her homeland after her father is violently usurped by King Uras. In Italy (currently under the rule of the cruel emperor Caracalla), the pair of fugitives find themselves sold into slavery, working for the family of Roman soldier Valerio (Roberto Risso), who falls in love with the princess, unaware of her true lineage. Before Valerio is able to ask his mother and father to free Nisa and Marcus from bondage, his parents are accused of being Christians by Caracalla and killed, the slaves sent to work on the building of a new road. When Valerio learns of this, he vows revenge on those responsible and sets out to find Nisa and her guardian. Also searching for the princess: General Astarte (Piero Lulli), an ambassador from Silesia who has been ordered to kill the girl.

Aided by beautiful serving wench Aglae (Ombretta Colli), Valerio organises an escape attempt for Nisa and Marcus, which fails; Marcus's punishment is to be blinded by hot pokers, but he is spared this fate by Roman governor Anio (Charles Borromel), who takes Marcus and Nisa back to his home, where the princess is put to work as a serving girl, and the strong-man as a gladiator. On discovering where Nisa has been sent, Valerio asks Anio's wife Prisca (Eleonora Vargas) to take pity and free the slaves, but she refuses. When Nisa is accused of being a Christian, and is thrown in prison (to await a nasty fate in the jaws of a hungry lion), Marcus rallies his gladiator pals and arranges an escape (which is more successful this time around). Learning that his slaves and prisoners have absconded, Anio and his soldiers go in pursuit and a battle ensues. Nisa and Marcus are recaptured and tied to wooden crosses to be burnt alive, but before the fires can be lit, Valerio and the surviving gladiators attack. Outnumbered, things look grim for Valerio and his pals until, in a really contrived happy ending, new emperor Macrinus shows up (Caracalla having been assassinated by a disaffected soldier) and, recognising Marcus as the man who saved his life earlier in the film, grants freedom to all of the slaves. Hurrah!

The few battle scenes in Gladiator of Rome are well handled, and star Scott is impressive as Marcus, the ex-Tarzan actor still possessing a formidable physique, but all of the lovey-dovey stuff, which makes up much of the movie, really makes matters drag. Excellent widescreen cinematography ensures that the film is nice to look at, but pretty pictures don't compensate for the dull stuff. And with that ridiculous sappy ending, the film simply isn't a great example of the genre - just a passable one.

After making six Tarzan movies in the 1950s, Gordon Scott re-located to Europe where he continued his career in a series of sword-and-sandal adventures -- most notably "Duel of the Titans" in which he went pec-to-pec with Steve Reeves. While a somewhat lesser effort, "Gladiator of Rome" is still a satisfying piece of entertainment, though it suffers from the miscalculation of having two heroines. There's the blonde princess-turned-slavegirl whom Scott is pledged to defend and then there's the brunette barmaid whom he's said to fall in love with. (The romantic angle here is weak and unconvincing.) Combining these two women into one character might have made for a stronger plot.

However, "Gladiator of Rome" does deliver on what its audience wants to see. Gordon Scott, for example, never wears a shirt and thus is bare-chested from first scene to last. At about age 34, Scott was just a mere shade past his physical prime here, and he looks convincingly heroic in all the various actions he's asked to perform. As you'd expect, he's also put into the required bondage-and-torture positions. In the first, he's chained flat against a wall and threatened with hot irons designed to put out his eyes. In the second, he's chained to an X-shaped cross with the makings of a bonfire piled up below him. Curiously, while his legs are spread apart on the cross, thus making him especially vulnerable to that fire, his arms are not chained to the cross but are bound behind his back.

These bondage scenes are far more striking and memorable than the movie's few scenes of gladiator combat. In fact, the only arena scenes we're shown are when Scott is in training to become a gladiator and this training occurs at a small, provincial arena far from the magnificence of Rome. Thus, "Gladiator of Rome" may be an impressive title on the marquee but it's not really an accurate summation of the movie's contents.

A word of praise for Roberto Risso, the young Roman who's in love with the princess-turned-slavegirl. Despite formidable competition from Gordon Scott, he dares to do a bare-chest scene of his own. This courage on his part makes up for the fact that his physique is not at all impressive.

Emperor Caracalla is ruling the Roman Empire with a rod of iron and it's his excessive brutality that sees "Marcus" (Gordon Scott) forced into the life of a gladiator. Initially, he was a bodyguard for the fleeing princess "Nisa" (Wandisa Guida) before they were sold into their first unsavoury predicament. Their new owner "Valerio" (Roberto Risso) is a decent enough man, though, and even a bit keen on his new captive but before they can be freed the emperor orders the execution of his parents and so the couple are swiftly forced into a life of hard labour. The furious "Valerio" has sworn vengeance on those who slaughtered his parents, but he is also determined to marry the young "Nisa" and so tracks them down hoping to help them to escape. That doesn't exactly go to plan but with death looming, the Governor (Charles Borromel) takes them to work in his household where "Marcus" is to be trained as a gladiator. All the while, we know that "Astarte" (Piero Lulli) has been dispatched from her homeland of Silesia with orders to kill her before she can accede to it's recently usurped throne. Things don't get any safer for the pair when "Nisa" is accused of being a Christian and it's unlikely she will get the same lion as Daniel got. Now it is down to "Marcus" to rally his highly trained colleagues whilst he hopes more disaffected troops can arrive from the tenth legion to save their bacon and set up a grand denouement in the Coliseum. Now this hasn't much originality to it, but boy does it pack a lot into one hundred minutes of mythology, murder and mayhem. If only someone had bothered to write it a little better and spend more time directing with more finesse, then it could have been a good solid adventure. As it is, though, it's all a bit sloppy and derivative with Gordon Scott even more wooden that the cross he might be nailed to and there's simply not enough action to accompany the various episodes in the colourful adventures of "Marcus" and "Nisa". It is a good idea and probably looked fine on paper, but the execution is lacklustre, sorry.

More or less u know what u will find in a peplum film. the genre which started in Italy in late 50s with reeve's classic Hercules film and grew with more than....300 films until the late 60s when spaggeti westerns took over causing peplum (sword and sandal genre) to decline. the peplum films are divided in two categories. those who are not so much worth the time and those which have some value. this film is belonging in the 2nd category. we get a lot of politics in the time of the cruel emperor Caracalla (211-217) and we even get to see for the first time in a movie the only official roman emperor who was promoted to the throne while he was serving as leader of the praetorians before the assassination of Caracalla. yes...i'm talking about macrinus who ruled for a brief period from martch 217 to the summer of 218 before he was defeated and executed by the Syrian legions who promoted the mad boy emperor elagavalus to the throne cause he was the supposed illegal son of Caracalla. Anyways if u like this B Movie genre then this movie is for you.

One reviewer here said Gordon Scott was the only player in the cast with any charisma. That's because he was the only cast member voicing himself with his own garsh golly Oregonian twang in the English version, EVERYONE else is so lacklusterly dubbed that, despite the intricate intrigues, plots, counterplots, brutal violence and passionate romance of the story, the monotone droning of the English translation could literally drone you to sleep!

Seen in the original Italian, it's actually a very engrossing historical drama chockful of elements that constituted the glory of Rome, at its best and worst.

If you want to see Gordon Scott in English, with all his usual muscles, he won't disappoint. Just be prepared to snooze thru the droning till the action wakes you up. But if you're willing to forgo his distinctive twang in favor of an otherwise fully rewarding movie experience, see it in the original Italian. . .