The Last Days of Pompeii (1959 film)
Encyclopedia
The Last Days of Pompeii (1959
) is an Italian
sword and sandal
action film, starring Steve Reeves
, Christine Kaufmann
and Fernando Rey
, and directed by Sergio Leone
. Mario Bonnard, the original director, fell ill on the first day of shooting, so Leone and the scriptwriters finished the film.
The film is characterized by its beautiful CinemaScope
framing, an unexpectedly lavish look, and is one of the many films produced at the Cinecittà
studios in Rome during the 1960s as part of the "peplum" sword and sandal
craze, originally launched by Pietro Francisci
's 1958 film Le fatiche di Ercole, released as Hercules in the United States by Joseph E. Levine
.
The film is also interesting as an early example of Leone's work, which would soon become internationally popular with his series of spaghetti westerns starring Clint Eastwood
. In his use of widescreen
, as well as his penchant for colorful violence and outlandish plot twists, Leone displays a visual flair that would soon propel him to directorial fame.
1959 in film
The year 1959 in film involved some significant events, with Ben-Hur winning a record 11 Academy Awards.-Events:* The Three Stooges make their 190th and last short film, Sappy Bull Fighters....
) is an Italian
Cinema of Italy
The history of Italian cinema began just a few months after the Lumière brothers had patented their Cinematographe, when Pope Leo XIII was filmed for a few seconds in the act of blessing the camera.-Early years:...
sword and sandal
Sword and sandal
The Peplum , also known as Sword-and-Sandal, is a genre of largely Italian-made Historical or Biblical Epics that dominated the Italian film industry from 1957 to 1965, eventually being replaced in 1965 by the "Spaghetti Western"...
action film, starring Steve Reeves
Steve Reeves
Stephen L. Reeves was an American bodybuilder and actor. At the peak of his career, he was the highest-paid actor in Europe.-Childhood:...
, Christine Kaufmann
Christine Kaufmann
Christine Maria Kaufmann is a German actress. In 1961 she won the Golden Globe Award for New Star Of The Year - Actress, the only German to be so honoured....
and Fernando Rey
Fernando Rey
Fernando Casado Arambillet , best known as Fernando Rey, was a Spanish film, theatre, and TV actor, who worked in both Europe and the United States...
, and directed by Sergio Leone
Sergio Leone
Sergio Leone was an Italian film director, producer and screenwriter most associated with the "Spaghetti Western" genre.Leone's film-making style includes juxtaposing extreme close-up shots with lengthy long shots...
. Mario Bonnard, the original director, fell ill on the first day of shooting, so Leone and the scriptwriters finished the film.
The film is characterized by its beautiful CinemaScope
CinemaScope
CinemaScope was an anamorphic lens series used for shooting wide screen movies from 1953 to 1967. Its creation in 1953, by the president of 20th Century-Fox, marked the beginning of the modern anamorphic format in both principal photography and movie projection.The anamorphic lenses theoretically...
framing, an unexpectedly lavish look, and is one of the many films produced at the Cinecittà
Cinecittà
Cinecittà is a large film studio in Rome that is considered the hub of Italian cinema.-History:The studios were founded in 1937 by Benito Mussolini and his head of cinema Luigi Freddi for propaganda purposes, under the slogan "Il cinema è l'arma più forte"...
studios in Rome during the 1960s as part of the "peplum" sword and sandal
Sword and sandal
The Peplum , also known as Sword-and-Sandal, is a genre of largely Italian-made Historical or Biblical Epics that dominated the Italian film industry from 1957 to 1965, eventually being replaced in 1965 by the "Spaghetti Western"...
craze, originally launched by Pietro Francisci
Pietro Francisci
Pietro Francisci was an Italian film director, best remembered for the film Hercules which inspired the sword and sandal boom of the late 1950s and early 1960s. Born in Rome, his career took a distinct turn for the worse after he directed the science-fiction film 2+5 Missione Hydra, released in...
's 1958 film Le fatiche di Ercole, released as Hercules in the United States by Joseph E. Levine
Joseph E. Levine
Joseph E. Levine was an American film producer.He was born in Boston, Massachusetts. His Embassy Pictures Corporation was an independent studio and distributor responsible for such films as Hercules , The Carpetbaggers, Harlow, The Graduate, A Bridge Too Far and The Lion in Winter.Levine is famous...
.
The film is also interesting as an early example of Leone's work, which would soon become internationally popular with his series of spaghetti westerns starring Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastwood
Clinton "Clint" Eastwood, Jr. is an American film actor, director, producer, composer and politician. Eastwood first came to prominence as a supporting cast member in the TV series Rawhide...
. In his use of widescreen
Widescreen
Widescreen images are a variety of aspect ratios used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ratio greater than the standard 1.37:1 Academy aspect ratio provided by 35mm film....
, as well as his penchant for colorful violence and outlandish plot twists, Leone displays a visual flair that would soon propel him to directorial fame.