Nudity in 1960s Peplum - Part 1 ♀

Whereas nudity was not uncommon in Continental Horror of the early 1960s, in such films as ‘L’Ultima Preda del Vampiro,’ ‘La Danza Macabra,’ some of the German Krimi Horrors, and the early Gothics of Jesus Franco, it wasn’t until the later 60s and the 70s that it became allmost an indispensible ingredient. Still, as it was, these fleeting bits of nudity were often only seen in French, Belgian or occassionally German releases, and this often in versions that were specifically created for these more liberal markets, as Catholic Italy and Spain under dictator Franco were considerably less open-minded on these matters. Now these elements could simply be scenes featuring nudity that could be cut, or even ‘unclothed’ scenes that were specifically shot with more liberal markets in mind. Yet, when one considers the Eurowestern and particularly Peplum, Continental 1960s subgenres that were often considered Sunday matinee material, and thus attracted a younger public, glimpses of bared anatomy were considerably more rare. Of course, these sword and sandal films were filled with gorgeous women in revealing costumes, and they were often seen bathing or found taking nude swims in the fabulous Cascate di Monte Gelato, but the nudity here was rather suggested then it was shown, obscured by the water or well-positioned branches. But, as we will see in the following article, there were occaccional surprises to be found.

We will start with an image taken from Joseph Lo Duca’s ‘L’Erotisme au Cinéma III’ (1962, J.J. Pauvert, Paris), the third part in a series of small format French booklets focusing on nudity and eroticism in cinema. The image as shown on page 82 of the booklet is credited ‘La Terreur des Barbares,’ which is the French release title of ‘Il terrore dei barbari’ (1959). The Italian title in the caption, on the other hand, is miscredited to Giuseppe Vari’s ‘[La]Vendetta dei Barbari’ (1960), a movie that does not even feature Livio Lorenzon. The only other option would be ‘La furia dei barbari’ (Toryok, 1960), which does feature Lorenzon but since he is wearing a completely different outfit in that movie than pictured in the magazine, it is safe to assume that the image is indeed from ‘Il terrore dei barbari.’ Yet it is not featured in any version I have encountered so far, and is possibly taken from a ‘Continental’ or ‘unclothed’ version. Still, it might simply just be a promotional shot for a magazine like Continental Film Review. In the movie, the ‘scene’ would probably fit in with the orgiastic revelry before, during or after Chelo Alsonso’s first dance, since, as you can tell from the image below, it features Lorenzon in close proximity to the white robed (check the pattern) Bruce Cabot, the ruler on the red throne.

The images below are from a slightly risqué sequence featured only in a rare European release of ‘Il terrore dei barbari.’ The maiden draped over the shoulder of a barbarian during the raid on Verona sequence shows a glimpse of the side of her breast, and, apart from her tiny thong, she is obviously wearing very little underneath the flimsy red garment. Particularly interesting is the last of the three captures, in which, just before the scene cuts away, a barbarian seems to be on the verge of ripping off another girl’s dress. Since I only saw a small clip of this scene, I don’t know if the footage is longer in this version, but one might assume that a more risqué and revealing version exists.

The next year, in 1960, another peplum featuring the lovely Chelo Alonso, ‘Maciste nella valle dei Re’ (1960) featured, in its original Italian release - and in the French export version as well - a surprising but brief glimpse of nudity. Needless to say this was cut from the English dubbed release, ‘The Son of Samson,’ even though that version keeps most of the film’s intense scenes of violence. Of interest is that, because of a slightly different aspect ratio, the French version lingers quite a bit longer on the nudity.

Along with a veritable barrage of flimsy gowns and revealing outfits, and the almost see-through white dress of the nubile maiden sacrificed at the start of the film, there there is some fleeting nudity to be found in the same year’s ‘Teseo contro il Minotauro,’ as, during the Chirone’s violent raid on the village, one of his hired brigands tears the gown of a village girl, revealing her breasts for an instant.

1960 also saw Anne Heywood’s Fulvia, wearing nothing but a see-through gauzy voile and black panties dragged off to be sacrificed in ‘Cartagine in fiamme’, giving the audience a few glimpses of her breasts during her struggle, anding with her held aloft, in long shot and sans gauze.

Of course, with all the flimsy dresses and the gauzy thin fabrics of the chitons and peplos, often loose-fitting and free flowing, at other times, depending on the ‘voluptuousness’ of the wearer, tightly draped, there were bound to be some unintended glimpses because of wardrobe malfunctions, or nipple slips. So does Tina Louise inadvertently and accidentally expose a nipple after being pushed onto the ship’s deck in ‘L’assedio di Siracusa’ (1960), and fiesty Jeanne Valérie gives us the tiniest of glimpses during her love scene in ‘Salambo’ (1960), while Ornella Vanoni accidentally flashes her left nipple as it peeks out of her torn top in ‘Romolo e Remo’ in 1961.

Of course, so far, all these moments of nudity were only minor or short. But 1961’s ‘Il Ratto delle Sabine’ goes all in, at least in the version specifically shot for the French market, ‘L’Enlèvement des Sabines.’ As the new founded city of Rome consists of only men, Romulus has the citizens raid the Sabine people to steal their women. This sequence, played mostly for laughs, is expanded heavily in the French version, featuring numerous bare breasted maidens as they are grabbed by the Romans. It’s all good, slapstick fun in this hugely enjoyable and delirious peplum.

In 1962, two different endings were shot for ‘Una Regina per Cesare,’ a clothed version in which Pascale Petit is dressed in an albeit flimsy blue wrap as she appears from the rolled out carpet, and an unclothed version in which she rolls out fully nude. The clothed version ends with Caesar looking down on her sitting up before the films fades into the end title. The alternate version is longer. Here, Caesar looks down on her, but now she is lying on her back, naked, although her arms are crossed in front of her, obscuring her breasts. This version then cuts to a long shot, which shows her sitting up, seen from the back and she then slowly stands up, giving us a good look at her fully naked backside.

Considerably more lavish in its exposure of female anatomy was 1964’s ‘Maciste nelle Miniere di Re Salomone.' Set in Africa, and akin to most jungle adventures starting with the pre-code Tarzan movies, this adventurous tale features quite an amount of indigenous nudity with several bare breasted native girls in the village sequences.

To be continued...