Nel segno di Roma (1959)

Director:

Guido Brignone

Writers:

Francesco Thellung (writer) and
Francesco De Feo (writer) ...

Release Date:

23 September 1959 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | Romance | War

Tagline:

SEE! THE DESTRUCTION OF A MIGHTY PAGAN EMPIRE

Plot:

Zenobia, Queen of Palmira, revolts against Rome and defeats the Roman troops... But she makes a big mistake when she falls in love with enemy officer Marco Valerio. |

Plot Keywords:

Kidnapping | Intrigue | Peplum | Peacock | Beautiful Woman

Cast

Anita Ekberg	...	Zenobia, Queen of Palmira
Georges Marchal	...	Marcus Valerius, Roman Consul
Folco Lulli	...	Zemanzius, Zenobia's Prime Minister
Chelo Alonso	...	Erica, Zemanzius' Favourite and Dancer
Gino Cervi	...	Aurelianus, Emperor of Rome
Jacques Sernas	...	Julianus, Roman Centurian
Lorella De Luca	...	Bathsheba, the Vestal
Alberto Farnese	...	Marcello
Paul Muller	...	Slave Master
Mimmo Palmara	...	Lator
Alfredo Varelli	...	Vithos
Sergio Sauro	...	Flavio
Arturo Bragaglia
Remo De Angelis

Also Known As:

Im Zeichen Roms (West Germany)
La regina del deserto
Sheba and the Gladiator (USA)
Sign of Rome
Sign of the Gladiator (USA)
Sotto il segno di Roma
Sous le signe de Rome (France)

Runtime:

98 min | West Germany:92 min | UK:85 min

Country:

Italy | France | West Germany | Yugoslavia

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Globus-Dubravafilm, Zagreb, Croatia

Company:

Glomer Film

Trivia:

The producers were unsatisfied with some of the action footage, and Michelangelo Antonioni, at the time a respected second-unit director, was called in for reshoots.

Half a century later, is it worth?

I believe it is. Even reduced in it's intended length, the film has a number of curious elements to make it worth while even today. It was one of the first great productions from the "peplum" film industry, in this case in association with German, French, and Jugoslav studios. The army action relied entirely on men and horses, and also the war machines and traps that are here quiet realistic - catapults and multi-spear throwers, mainly (Stalin Organs, avant la lettre). Then, for arty fans, this is a good way to see where did Michelangelo Antonioni start perfecting his interior shots of dialogue; if you watch the German video copy (one of the best colors and editing around) without knowing the language (as I did), you'll notice that the interior shots are never boring - although you get to see some very poor "Egyptian" wall paintings... Finally, the two most prominent topics for most male viewers: Anita Ekberg riding a horse in mini-skirt, wearing daring low-cut evening dresses, and getting her man with a kiss, and a vengeful spear; Chelo Alonso proving in 4 minutes (longer, in the original version) how to be the focus of attention of the film industry with just one choreography... She mixes hand movements from Indian dance, with minimalist ballet and Turkish belly-dance to a perfection; she was famous as a dancer when discovered by film-makers, and with good reason.