Il colosso di Roma

In the U.S., very few films have been made about Rome that were not set in the time of Julius Caesar or shortly thereafter. Hollywood's sword and sandal epics mostly have a Christian theme, which makes it difficult to get into earlier Roman history (Spartacus was probably the first exception to this rule, and encountered some resistance in Hollywood because it did not have Jesus in it).

It's interesting to see at least one picture that not only takes place before the time of Caesar and Christ, but is set when Rome was only one city among many on the Italian peninsula, and had just ousted the hated King Tarquin and formed the Republic.

However, this is not a historical film; it's peplum, and while the production values aren't rock bottom, the acting and characterizations are cardboard. I can only imagine what the dialogue was like in Italian, but with wooden English dubbing it's very campy. I got a few good laughs out of it at first.

I haven't seen many films of this genre, having missed most of the Hercules movies of the 60s. It's amusing up to a point, but as the film goes on, it gets somewhat boring.

One thing's for sure: if I'd seen this movie when I was ten years old, I would have loved it. At that age, I went for anything with Romans and swordfights in it. So at least, this flick brought back some childhood memories.

In this movie Gaius Mucius Scaevola, the heroic general goes down in history by being remembered by his act of bravery. When captured bythe Etruscans in 508 BC he puts his right hand, his sword hand, into the flames rather than become a traitor. That meant he had to use his left hand from then on and "Scaevola" today means " left handed" in Italian. Mucius saves his beloved Clelia from the tyrant Tarquinius, the last king of Rome who he kills in a duel and saves the newly Roman republic from their Etruscan overlords. This by far a better " Sword & Sandal movie with a love story, plenty of action, battles with spectacular scenery surrounding a historical backstage. Our hero Mucius, (Gordon Scott) played Tarzan in five films of the Tarzan series between 1955 and 1960. bcarruthers-76500

This Italian sword and sandal film tells a story from the early history of Rome. It's about the transition to the Roman Republic. It was directed by Giorgio FERRONI, who also made WHO BREAKS...PAYS (1975) with Brad HARRIS and Giancarlo PRETE.

In 510 B. C. In the 4th century BC, the Etruscan king Lucius Tarquinius Superbus (Massimo SERATO) is expelled from Rome, which of course he cannot tolerate. He seeks support from his colleague King Porsenna (Roldano LUPI) in order to recapture Rome together. But the Romans are very motivated to defend their new freedom. The hardened fighter Gaius Mucius (Gordon SCOTT) sets out to eliminate the opposing kings. When that goes wrong, he holds his right fist into the fire and is henceforth nicknamed Scaevola (left-handed). Of course, that's not the end of the story, because Mucius, who is only left-handed, is still urgently needed...

After leaving Hollywood, Gordon SCOTT made one sword and sandal film after another at Rome's CINECITTA. This is quite successful in the numerous fight scenes, but offers too few surprises to be remembered for a long time. Gabriella PALLOTTA, Gabriele ANTONINI and Maria Pia CONTE can be seen in other roles.

I am in agreement with the reviewer who says that most peplum pictures involving the Roman Empire start with the era of Julius Caesar and go through the pagan and Christian eras and then the fall. There are very few involving the original kingdom which was simply Rome and its suburbs and the Republic that came from it.

Modern historians are not in general agreement as to what constitutes myth and what constitutes fact in the early days. Two stories of the early Republic are combined into one film in Hero Of Rome starring former Tarzan Gordon Scott.

Scott plays Mucius Scaveola, the last name translated means left handed. He became such for an act of incredible bravura. When he went into the camp of the Etruscan king who was besieging Rome and missed assassinating him. When captured and ordered to be put to death, Mucius thrust his right hand, his sword hand into a flame and held it there for several seconds. The Etruscan king was so impressed he set him free.

The second story is the overthrow of King Tarquinis the seventh and last king of Rome. Tarquinis simply went into exile and out of history like Francois Villon or Jean Lafitte. But here the two stories are combined and as these stories are legend, the Italian filmmakers just did a little legend combining.

According to Wikipedia the Roman history Livy is the source for all of this. No other sources survive so his word has to be taken. Nevertheless Scott does a good job and Hero Of Rome is definitely a cut above the glut of peplum pictures from the early Sixties.

The king Tarquinio is banished from Roma . Mucio Scevola (Gordon Scott) married to Clelia goes to Porsena's headquarter and demonstrates his courage by burning himself a hand , for that reason is named Scevola (the left-handed) . Tarquinio (Massimo Serato) unites to Lars Porsena (Roldano Lupi) , king of Etruscos . They ask to Romans as hostages a group of young women (Gabriella Pallota , Maria Pia Conte). But Aronte(Antonini) , Porsena's son , enamored to Valena (Pia Conte) frees her and she passes the river Tiber . Meantime , Scevola hides his hand into an iron glove and begins the fighting .

This is an enjoyable sword and sandals movie with historical backstage , action , a love story , battles and spectacular scenarios . Gordon Scott is top-notch , as the historic hero who finds many dangerous situations while attempting to save Rome and his true love , Clelia , of several risks . Strong and robust Gordon Scott was a magnificent muscle-man . He was one along with Ed Fury , Brad Harris , Kirk Morris , Reg Park , Mark Forest , among others , whom to seek fame and fortune acting absurdly as muscle mythological figures , but anybody topped Steve Reeves and Gordon Scott in popularity . He played another historical character : ¨Coroliano , hero without country¨ with battle stock shots taken from this one and directed again by Giorgo Ferroni , a Peplum expert (Conquest of Micenas , Trojan war) . The motion picture is based on true events but has not prospect historical . The real deeds are the following : Tarquino(534-509, B.C.) was the seventh and last king of Roma and he governs tyrannically . The rape of Lucrecia by his son caused a riot and he was overthrown , the Roman Republic was proclaimed and he actually disappeared . Rating : Better than average Peplum fodder and better than most Sword and Sandals movies , thanks to Gordon Scott and slick direction by Giorgo Ferroni .