Sheba and the Gladiator (1959)
"Nel segno di Roma" (original title)

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.

Director:

Guido Brignone

Writers:

Francesco Thellung, Francesco De Feo,

Stars:

Anita Ekberg, Georges Marchal, Folco Lulli

Cast

Complete credited 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

Storyline

Zenobia, Queen of Palmira, revolts against Rome and defeats the Roman troops under the command of the consul Marcus Valerius. Forced into slavery and tortured in the cross, Marcus manages to escape, and come to the presence of the queen, offering her his services. They fall in love, which complicates his task, and his loyalty towards Rome. Marcus will help the Romans to conquer her territory, but he will also save her life from a coup led by the treacherous Zemanzius.

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Plot Keywords:

love | catapult | bare chested male | grindstone | treason | 

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Taglines:

Explodes With Wondrous Spectacle in Color Scope

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Romance | War

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Details

Country:

Italy France West Germany Yugoslavia

Language:

Italian

Release Date:

23 September 1959 (USA)

Also Known As:

Sign of the Gladiator

Filming Locations:

Globus-Dubravafilm, Zagreb, Croatia

Company Credits

Production Co:

Glomer Film, Lux Film, Societé Cinématographique Lyre

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording)

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Officials at American International decided that "Sign of the Gladiator" was a more exciting title than "Sign of Rome," even though there are no gladiators in the film. They simply had one of the characters make reference to "gladiator" in a line of the dubbed dialog,

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Quotes

Zenobia, Queen of Palmira: [referring to Marcus Valerius] Unchain him and bring him here.
[after an unsuccessful interview]
Zenobia, Queen of Palmira: Take him back to the cross!

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Connections

Referenced in Schlock! The Secret History of American Movies (2001)

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Soundtracks

"Xenobia"
(end title song, US dubbed version)
(1959)
Music by Dominic Frontiere
Lyrics by Milton Raskin
Sung by Bill Lee
Played by the Al Simms Sextet

User Reviews

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.