La rivolta degli schiavi (1960)

User Rating:

4.7/10   

Director:

Nunzio Malasomma

Writers:

Daniel Mainwaring (English dialogue)
Stefano Strucchi (writer)

Release Date:

June 1961 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure

Tagline:

WANTON . . . TEMPTRESS . . . She put the torch to an empire of sin!

Plot Keywords:

Dungeon | Early Christians | Saint Sebastian | Roman Empire | Whipping

Cast

Rhonda Fleming	...	Fabiola
Lang Jeffries	...	Vibio
Darío Moreno	...	Massimiano
Ettore Manni	...	Sebastian
Wandisa Guida	...	Agnese
Gino Cervi	...	Fabio
Fernando Rey	...	Valerio
Serge Gainsbourg	...	Corvino
José Nieto	...	Sesto
Benno Hoffmann	...	Pretoriano
Rainer Penkert	...	Massimo
Antonio Casas	...	Tertulio
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Van Aikens	...	Iface
Dolores Francine	...	Liubaia
Burt Nelson	...	Catulo
Julio Peña	...	Torquato
Rafael Rivelles	...	Rutilio

Also Known As:

Die Sklaven Roms (West Germany)
La rebelión de los esclavos (Spain)
Revolt of the Slaves (USA) (new title)

Runtime:

USA:102 min | UK:101 min | France:90 min

Country:

Spain | Italy | West Germany

Language:

Italian | German

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

West Germany:16 (nf) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15

Company:

Ambrosiana Cinematografica

Quotes:

Vibio: [to Claudia who's come to watch his flogging] Ah, mistress, why don't you come closer? It's hard to see blood drawn from that distance.

Movie Connections:

Version of Fabiola (1918)

Vibio saves the day but ruins the movie

Revolt of the Slaves is loosely based on a famous novel called Fabiola written by Cardinal Wiseman in the 1850s. It strays drastically from the original story, keeping some of the same characters (in particular the martyrs Sebastian and Agnes), and some of the same scenes, but downplaying martyrdom as a whole, and trying to make a movie that could be called "Vibio saves the Christians." The "Vibio" character is not part of the Fabiola story. He is introduced as a slave who is also a Christian, but he isn't about to be a martyr. He rescues Christians a number of times throughout the movie. Action scenes are everywhere in this movie, and every one of them is added--none are from the book.

I loved the book Fabiola, and I found this to be a deconstruction of it, not only in story but in philosophy. The screenwriters had some sympathy for the Christians, and portrayed them somewhat positively, but wanted to make them safe and happy in this world. If you know anything about the Diocletian persecution, Christians were anything but safe in those days. Faith is present in some of the characters, and it comes in handy, but physical combat seems to be the preferred mode of doing business. This movie had potential, but it was just Hercules vs. the pagan Romans.