Sword-and-sandal, also known as peplum, is a subgenre of largely Italian-made historical, mythological, or biblical epics mostly set in the Greco-Roman antiquity or the Middle Ages. These films attempted to emulate the big-budget Hollywood historical epics of the time, such as Samson and Delilah (1949), Quo Vadis (1951), The Robe (1953), The Ten Commandments (1956), Ben-Hur (1959), Spartacus (1960), and Cleopatra (1963). These films dominated the Italian film industry from 1958 to 1965, eventually being replaced in 1965 by spaghetti Western and Eurospy films.
Emilio Salgari was an Italian writer of action adventure swashbucklers and a pioneer of science fiction.
Carlo Rustichelli was an Italian film composer whose career spanned the 1940s to about 1990. His prolific output included about 250 film compositions, as well as arrangements for other films, and music for television.
Sandokan is a fictional late 19th-century pirate created by Italian author Emilio Salgari. His adventures first appeared in publication in 1883. Sandokan is the hero of 11 adventure novels. Within the series, Sandokan is known throughout the South China Sea as the "Tiger of Malaya".
Ray Danton was an American radio, film, stage, and television actor, director, and producer whose most famous roles were in the screen biographies The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond (1960) and The George Raft Story (1962). He was married to actress Julie Adams from 1954 to 1981.
Adalberto "Bitto" Albertini (1924–1999) was an Italian film director and screenwriter.
Aldo Bufi Landi was an Italian film actor. He appeared in more than 100 films between 1947 and 2013.
Franca Bettoia is an Italian actress known for her role as Ruth Collins in the film The Last Man on Earth.
Luigi Capuano was an Italian film director and screenwriter. Born in Naples, he directed 43 films between 1947 and 1971. He sometimes used the pseudonym Lewis King.
Alberto Farnese was an Italian actor. He appeared in more than 80 films and television shows from 1951 to 1989. He starred in the film Whom God Forgives, which won the Silver Bear Extraordinary Prize of the Jury award at the 7th Berlin International Film Festival.
Ferdinando Poggi, often credited as Nando Poggi, was an Italian born actor active between 1958 and 1985. Best known for his role as Castor in the 1963 film Jason and the Argonauts, he also acted in and was stunt coordinator for Clash of the Titans as well as several Italian language films.
The Lion of St. Mark is a 1963 Italian adventure film co-written and directed by Luigi Capuano.
Giulio Marchetti was an Italian stage, film and television actor and presenter.
Orphan of the Ghetto is a 1954 Italian historical melodrama film directed by Carlo Campogalliani. It is based on a novel of the same name by Carolina Invernizio.
Giancarlo Bartolini Salimbeni (1916–2000) was an Italian film art director and costume designer.
The Tigers of Mompracem is a 1970 Italian-Spanish historical adventure film directed by Mario Sequi and starring Ivan Rassimov, Claudia Gravy and Andrea Bosic. It is an adaptation of the 1900 novel of the same name by Emilio Salgari featuring his hero, the Malayan pirate Sandokan.
Sandokan to the Rescue is a 1964 historical adventure film directed by Luigi Capuano and starring Ray Danton, Guy Madison and Franca Bettoia. It was made as a co-production between Italy and West Germany. It is based on the 1907 novel Sandokan to the Rescue by Emilio Salgari featuring the character of Sandokan a Malayan pirate.
Sandokan to the Rescue is a 1907 adventure novel by the Italian writer Emilio Salgari. It is the seventh in his series featuring the nineteenth century Malayan pirate Sandokan. It is also known by the alternative title The Reckoning.
The Two Tigers is a 1941 Italian historical adventure film directed by Giorgio Simonelli and starring Massimo Girotti, Luigi Pavese and Sandro Ruffini. It is based on the 1904 novel The Two Tigers by Emilio Salgari, featuring the character of Sandokan. It was made back-to-back with another Sandokan adventure Pirates of Malaya.
