Since the times of silent movies, epic films have been made in the ancient ages. Some of them adapted stories from the Bible or ancient mythologies, especially Greek and Roman.
Hercules, Ursus, Maciste, Goliath, Perseus, gladiators, and amazons, all these characters found their place and their moment to shine, especially in the decade of the 60s on “sword and sandal” films, also known as “Peplums” or “muscleman epics”
Sword and sandal films (or peplums from a Latin word for a sort of tunic that was easy to make and favored by the costume departments for these films) are a genre of adventure or fantasy films that have subjects set in Biblical or ancient ages, often with contrived plots based very loosely on mythology or history. Most movies are based on Greco-Roman history and mythology, or the surrounding cultures of the same era (Egyptians, Assyrians, Etruscans, Minoans) The greatest productions of this film genre were made between 1958 and 1964.
Hollywood industry made epic films like “Quo Vadis” (1951)”Ben-Hur”(1959) “Spartacus”(1960) or “Cleopatra” (1962). Most of them were filmed in Italy and Spain.
Legions of low-budget films followed the American big epic spectacles, often using the remains of costumes and props.
Most of those cheap spectacles were also filmed in Italy and Spain as co-productions.
You can see miniatures, matte paintings, colorful scenarios, men in rubber monster suits, and some full-size creatures. For today’s audience standards most of these effects look campy, but there are some interesting miniature and matte paintings and also some of the first animatronics monsters, mostly made by Italian artists like Carlo Rambaldi, who years later became one of the most well-known creature makers for films.
I have not been able to find much information about the pioneers of special effects in Italian cinema, but one of them is Eugenio Bava, father of the famous director Mario Bava.
Eugenio worked as a cinematographer, title creator, effects and model artist , and eventually glass painter, and even as an occasional director.
His son Mario Bava was an outstanding cinematographer, special effect maestro and film director. He learned these artistic crafts with his father, and made use of perspective tricks like foreground miniatures and glass paintings, and very often use the trick of cutting and pasting a photo on glass to create a complete landscape or decoration with a building or landscape element.
Amedeo Gigli worked for about 8 years with Mario Bava painting making glass and matte painting tricks. But he left cinema for commercial illustration.
Comic artist Silio Romagnoli made some storyboard and illustration works in Dino de Laurentiis movies and in one of them “The Bible” he was in charge of the matte paintings.
But in most of the Italian movies, the work of these tricks remained without credit.
In the sixties, especially in films of the “peplum” or "sword and sandal" genre, matte paintings and miniatures were used very often . In most of these cases they were made by two non-Italian artists. The Polish-born painter Joseph Nathanson, who learned the technique in London, working in the matte painting department of Shepperton Studios since the late forties, moved to Rome in the early fifties and became the matte painter in charge of Cinecitta.
The other was the Spaniard Emilio Ruiz. He was discovered by the Italian producers at the beginning of the co-productions in Spain in the late fifties. Emilio Ruiz was quickly known by the Italian producers and was required in films of all genres, traveling to Italy very often.
Apart from these artists, there were other cases in which scenic painters or special effects artists did occasional matte paintings. It is also very likely that an Italian art director did some of these paintings himself.
This place is dedicated to the Special effects in these movies, usually made on a low budget, but with lots of enthusiasm, and imagination.
1954
- Attila (Pietro Francisci) (Matte paintings: Ivor Beddoes)
- Teodora, imperatrice di Bisanzio/ Theodora, Slave Empress(Riccardo Freda)
1956
- Mio Figlio Nerone/Nero’s Mistress (Steno) (Fotografic effects: Mario Bava/Matte painter: Amedeo Gigli)
-1958
- Le fatiche di Ercole /Hercules /Labors of Hercules /(Pietro Francisci) (Dir Photography FX: Mario Bava/Matte painting:Amedeo Gigli)
- Rebelión de los gladiadores/The Warrior and the Slave Girl (Vittorio Cottafavi) ( Matte shots: Emilio Ruiz)
1959
- Los ultimos dias de pompeya/The last days of Pompeii. (Mario Bonnard) (Matte shots: Emilio Ruiz )
- Sheba and the gladiator / Nel segno di roma(Guido Brignone) (Matte shots: Joseph Natanson)
- Hercules unchained / Ercole e la regina de Lidia/ ( Pietro Francisci) (Dir Photography FX: Mario Bava/Matte painter: Amedeo Gigli) )
- Goliath and the barbarian /Terror dei barbari/ (Carlo Campogalliani)
- La battaglia di Maratona/ Giant of Marathon (George Tourneur) (Fotografic effects: Mario Bava/ Matte painting: Amedeo Gigli)
- Cartagine in fiame/Carthage in Flames ( Carmine Gallone)
1960
- Erode il grande /Herod the great (Viktor Tourjansky) (Matte shots: Joseph Natanson)
- La regina delle Amazzoni /Colossus and the Amazon queen (Vittorio Sala)(Matte shots: Joseph Natanson)
- Vengeance of Hercules /Goliat and the dragon (Vittorio Cottafavi) (FX animation: Jim Danforth)
- Las legiones de cleopatra /legion of the Nile (Vittorio Cottafavi)(Matte shots: Emilio Ruiz)
- Giants of Tesalia/ I giganti della Tessaglia (Ricardo Freda) (Creature FX: Carlo Rambaldi)
- David e Golias/ David and Goliath ( Ferdinado Baldi)(FX: Carlo Rambaldi)
- Gli amore di ercole /The loves of Hercules(Carlo Ludovico Bragaglia)(Creature FX Carlo Rambaldi)
- L’assedio Di Siracusa /Siege of Syracuse (Pietro Francisci)(Matte shots: Joseph Natanson)
- Salambo /The Loves of Salammbo (Sergio Grieco)
- Il sepolcro dei re / Cleopatra’s Daughter(Fernando Cerchio)
- La regina dei tartari / The Huns (Sergio Grieco) (Matte shots: Emilio Ruiz)
1961
- El coloso de Rodas / Il Colosso di Rodi (Sergio Leone) (Matte shots: Emilio Ruiz)
- Trionfo di Maciste /Triumph of the son of Hercules ( Tanio Bocio/Amerigo Anton)(Matte shots: Joseph Natanson)
- Teseo contra Minotauro/The Minotaur (Silvio Amadio) (Matte shots: Joseph Natanson/(Creature FX: Carlo Rambaldi)
- Atlas against the cyclops ( Antonio Leonviola)(Matte shots: Joseph Natanson/(Creature FX: Carlo Rambaldi)
-Goliath contro i giganti/Goliath Against the Giants (Guido Malatesta) (Creatures FX: Carlo Rambaldi)
-Hercules in the Center of the Earth /Hercules Vs the vampires /Hercules in the Haunted World (Mario Bava, Franco Prosperi)
- Hercules conquest Atlantis /Hercules and the captive woman / (Vittorio Cottafavi)
- La reina del Nilo / Nefertiti, Regina del Nilo (Fernando Cerchio)
- I tartari /The Tartars (Ferdinando Baldi)
- Il gigante di Metropolis /The giant of Metropolis (Umberto Scarpelli) (matte shots: Joseph Natanson)
- Costantino il grande/ Constantine and the Cross (Lionello De Felice)(Matte shots: Joseph Natanson)
- Il gladiatore invincibile/ The Invincible Gladiator(Alberto de Martino) (matte shots: Emilio Ruiz)
- Maciste, l’uomo più forte del mondo/Mole Men Against the Son of Hercules (Antonio Leonviola)
- Maciste alla corte del Gran Khan/ Samson and the 7 Miracles of the World (Riccardo Freda) (Matte shots: Emilio Ruiz)
- Francis of Assisi (Michael Curtiz) (matte shots: Joseph Natanson)
- La schiava di Roma/ Slave of Rome (Sergio Grieco, Franco Prosperi)(Matte shots: Emilio Ruiz)
- Le vergini di Roma/ Amazons of Rome (Carlo Ludovico Bragaglia, Vittorio Cottafavi) (Matte shots: Emilio Ruiz)
1962
- Los siete espartanos / seven gladiators (Pedro Lazaga)(Matte shots: Emilio Ruiz)
-Giulio Cesare, il conquistatore delle Gallie / Caesar the ConquerorTanio Boccia =Amerigo Anton)(Matte shots: Joseph Natanson)
- Una Regina per Cesare/A Queen for Caesar ( Víktor Tourjansky)(Matte shots: Emilio Ruiz)
- Maciste contro i Mostri/ Fire Monsters Against the Son of Hercules (Guido Malatesta) (creature FX: Carlo Rambaldi)
-Vulcano, figlio di Giove/ Vulcan, Son of Giove (Emimmo Salvi)
- Ponzio Pilato / Pontius Pilate (Gian Paolo Callegari)
- Marte dio della guerra/The Son of Hercules vs. Venus (Marcello Baldi)
- Los titanes/ Arrivano i titani /The titans (Duccio Tesari)(Matte shots: Emilio Ruiz, Joseph Natanson)
- Giuseppe venduto dai fratelli/The Story of Joseph and His Brethren (Irving Rapper, Luciano Ricci)(Matte shots: Joseph Natanson)
- L’ira di Achille/Fury of Achilles ( Marino Girolami)(Matte shots: Joseph Natanson)
1963
- Maciste contro i Mongoli / Hercules Against the Mongols
- Los invencibles / Invencible seven. (A. de Martino)(Matte shots: Emilio Ruiz)
- Perseo l´invencibile /Medusa vs. the Son of Hercules/El valle de los hombres de piedra (Alberto De Martino) (Dir FX Amando De Osorio/ Cretures FX Carlo Rambaldi/ Matte shots: Emilio Ruiz)
- Brenno il nemico di Roma/Brennus, Enemy of Rome (Giacomo Gentilomo)
- Giacobbe, l’uomo che lottò con Dio/ Jacob: The Man Who Fought with God (Marcello Baldi)(Matte shots: Joseph Natanson)
- Le gladiatrici / Thor and the Amazon Women (Antonio Leonviola)
- L’eroe di Babilonia/The Beast of Babylon Against the Son of Hercules (Siro Marcellini)(Matte shots: Joseph Natanson)
1964
- Combate de gigantes/Ercole, Sansone, Maciste e Urus gli invecibili (Giogio Capitáni)(Matte shots: Emilio Ruiz)
- El valle del ecco tonante /Hercules of the desert (Tanio Bosccio=Amerigo Antón)
-Maciste en el infierno de Gengis Khan /Hercules Against the Barbarians (Domenico Paolella)
- Hercules contra los hijos del sol /Hercules Against the Sons of the Sun(Osvaldo Civirani)
- Ercole sfida Sansone/ Hercules, Samson & Ulysses (Pietro Francisci)
- Ursus il terrore del kirghisie /Hercules, Prisoner of Evil (Antonio Margueriti=Anthony Dawson)
- Ercole l’invincibile/Hercules the Invincible (Alvaro Mancori)
- I predoni della steppa/Terror of the Steppes (Tanio Boccia)
- Maciste nelle miniere del re salomone/ Samson in King Solomon’s Mines (Piero Regnoli)
- Maciste gladiatore di Sparta/The Terror of Rome Against the Son of Hercules (Mario Caiano)
- Il conquistatore di Atlantide/The Conqueror of Atlantis (Alfonso Brescia)
- I grandi condottieri/ Great Leaders of the Bible ( Marcello Baldi)
- Anthar l’invincibile/Devil of the Desert Against the Son of Hercules (Antonio Margheriti)
- Il triunfo di Ercole/Hercules vs. the Giant Warriors (Albert Di Martino) (Matte shots: Emilio Ruiz)
- Una spada per l’impero/ Sword of the Empire (Sergio Grieco) (Matte shots: Emilio Ruiz)