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Sheba and the Gladiator

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Sheba and the Gladiator
French film poster
Directed by
Screenplay by
Story by
  • Francesco De Feo
  • Sergio Leone
  • Giuseppe Mangione
  • Guido Brignone[1]
Produced byEnzo Merolle[1]
Starring
Cinematography
Edited byNino Baragli[1]
Music byAngelo Francesco Lavagnino[1]
Production
companies
  • Giomer Film
  • Lux Film
  • Societe Cinematographicque Lyre
  • Tele Film GmbH
  • Dubrava Film
  • Filmiski Studio[1]
Release dates
  • 5 March 1959 (1959-03-05) (Italy)
  • 2 October 1959 (1959-10-02) (West Germany)
Running time
98 minutes[1]
Countries
  • Italy
  • France
  • West Germany
  • Yugoslavia[1]

Sheba and the Gladiator or Sign of the Gladiator (Italian: Nel Segno di Roma) is a 1959 historical drama film loosely pertaining to the Palmyrene Empire and its re-annexation back into the Roman Empire.

Cast

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Production

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Sheba the Gladiator was shot in 1958.[2] Director Guido Brignone fell ill during the production on the film leading to two other directors to enter the production to help complete it: Michelangelo Antonioni and Riccardo Freda.[3] For Antonioni, he visited Brignone in the hospital and reported on what he filmed and received instructions for the next day.[3] Freda was in charge shooting the battle scenes which he did with cinematographer Mario Bava and Antonioni working with cinematographer Luciano Trasatti shooting the indoor scenes.[3] Other people credited to the film included Sergio Leone as a screenwriter.[3]

Mimmo Palmara commented that Antonioni "couldn't care less" about the film and "didn't direct the actors."[2] Freda had an argument with Palmara and unsuccessfully tried to court Chelo Alonso on set.[2]

Release

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Sheba and the Gladiator was distributed in Italy on March 5, 1959.[1][2] It was released in West Germany as Im Zeichen Roms on 2 October 1959.[4]

American International Pictures acquired the American rights to the film and re-titled it Sign of the Gladiator (Sign of Rome "was a pretty dismal title" according to Samuel Z. Arkoff[5]) and cut 18 minutes from the original running time.[6] There was no gladiator in the film so they redubbed it to change the general played by Jacques Sernas into a gladiator.[5]

It was released in September 1959 in the United States.[2] American International Pictures added an end title song called "Xenobia" sung by Bill Lee which was released on AIP Records.[7] The film grossed a total of $1.25 million in rentals.[8] "We did quite well with the picture" said Samuel Z Arkoff.[5]

Kine Weekly called it a "money maker" at the British box office in 1960.[9]

See also

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References

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Citations

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Curti 2017, p. 296.
  2. ^ a b c d e Curti 2017, p. 169.
  3. ^ a b c d Curti 2017, p. 168.
  4. ^ "Im Zeichen Roms" (in German). Filmportal.de. Retrieved January 30, 2019.
  5. ^ a b c Strawn, Linda May (1975). "Samuel Z. Arkoff". In McCarthy, Todd; Flynn, Charles (eds.). Kings of the Bs : working within the Hollywood system : an anthology of film history and criticism. E. P. Dutton. p. 264.
  6. ^ McGee, Mark (1996). Faster and Furiouser: The Revised and Fattened Fable of American International Pictures. McFarland. p. 154.
  7. ^ Smith, Gary A. American International Pictures: The Golden Era. Bear Manor Media. p. 117.
  8. ^ "Rental Potentials of 1960", Variety, 4 January 1961 p 47. Please note figures are rentals as opposed to total gross.
  9. ^ Billings, Josh (15 December 1960). "It's Britain 1, 2, 3 again in the 1960 box office stakes". Kine Weekly. p. 9.

Sources

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  • Curti, Roberto (2017). Riccardo Freda: The Life and Works of a Born Filmmaker. McFarland. ISBN 978-1476628387.
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