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.
Ice Cold in Alex is a 1958 British war film set during the Western Desert campaign of World War II based on the novel of the same name by Christopher Landon. Directed by J. Lee Thompson and starring John Mills, the film was a prizewinner at the 8th Berlin International Film Festival. Under the title Desert Attack, a shortened, 79-minute version of the film was released in the United States in 1961. Film critic Craig Butler later referred to the shortened versions as nonsensical.
Albert R.N. is a 1953 British war film directed by Lewis Gilbert and starring Jack Warner, Anthony Steel and Robert Beatty.
The New Barbarians is a 1983 Italian post-apocalyptic action film directed by Enzo G. Castellari, written by Castellari and Tito Carpi, and starring Giancarlo Prete and George Eastman. The plot takes place in 2019, following a nuclear holocaust, where two loners among the remains of the starving human race protect a group of pilgrims from a vicious gang bent on genocide.
Sea of Sand is a 1958 British war film starring Richard Attenborough, John Gregson and Michael Craig. The film, which was directed by Guy Green, is about a patrol of the Long Range Desert Group (LRDG) during the North African Campaign in the Second World War. It was shot on location in the Kingdom of Libya.
Concorde Affaire '79, also known as The Concorde Affair, is a 1979 Italian action thriller directed by Ruggero Deodato and written by Ernesto Gastaldi and Renzo Genta. Released in the same year as The Concorde ... Airport '79 and featuring actor Joseph Cotten, who appeared in Airport '77, the film was an attempt by producers to take advantage of the success of the Airport film franchise of the 1970s.
Contraband is a 1980 poliziotteschi film directed by Lucio Fulci.
Cannibal Apocalypse is a 1980 action horror film directed by Antonio Margheriti and starring John Saxon, Elizabeth Turner, Giovanni Lombardo Radice, Cinzia De Carolis, Tony King and Ramiro Oliveros. The film combines the cannibal film genre with a forerunner of Margheriti's Vietnam War films.
Anzio, also known as The Battle for Anzio, is a 1968 Technicolor war film in Panavision, an Italian and American co-production, about Operation Shingle, the 1944 Allied seaborne assault on the Italian port of Anzio in World War II. It was adapted from the book Anzio by Wynford Vaughan-Thomas, who had been the BBC war correspondent at the battle.
Number One is an Italian crime-thriller film directed by Gianni Buffardi in 1973. It starred Renzo Montagnani, Luigi Pistilli, Claude Jade, Chris Avram, Guido Mannari, and Massimo Serato. The film is loosely based on a real-life story detailing crime and drugs in the Rome underground. After the film quickly disappeared from public view in 1973 due to political censorship, it was restored in 2021 and had its theatrical re-release and world premiere on television. It was distributed internationally by Variety Distribution.
The Black Tent is a 1956 British war film directed by Brian Desmond Hurst and starring Donald Sinden, Anthony Steel, Anna Maria Sandri, André Morell and Donald Pleasence. It is set in North Africa, during the Second World War and was filmed on location in Libya.
Venantino Venantini was an Italian film actor. He was the father of Victoria Venantini and Luca Venantini and appeared in more than 140 films between 1954 and 2018.
The Captive City is a 1962 Italian English-language war film directed by Joseph Anthony and starring David Niven, Lea Massari and Ben Gazzara. It is based on the 1955 novel The Captive City by John Appleby. The film was released in the US as Conquered City by American International Pictures as a double feature with The Day the Earth Froze.
The Big Restaurant is a French comedy thriller film from 1966, directed by Jacques Besnard, written by Jean Halain and Louis de Funès and starring Louis de Funès and Bernard Blier. The film is known under the titles The Restaurant or The Big Restaurant, What's Cooking in Paris (U.S.), El gran restaurante (Spain), Das große Restaurant, Oscar hat die Hosen voll, Grand restaurant pana Septima (Czechoslovakia) and Chi ha rubato il presidente? (Italy).
The Greatest Battle is a 1978 Euro War film co-written and directed by Umberto Lenzi and starring an all-star ensemble cast, including Giuliano Gemma, Helmut Berger, Stacy Keach, Ray Lovelock, Samantha Eggar, Henry Fonda, Evelyn Stewart and John Huston. The Italian-West German-Yugoslavian co-production was produced by Mino Loy and Luciano Martino for Titanus. It was also released under the titles The Biggest Battle and Battle Force.
War of the Robots is a 1978 Italian science fiction film directed by Alfonso Brescia. It was released internationally as Reactor. The plot follows an alien civilization, which facing eminent extinction, kidnaps two famous genetic scientists from Earth. A troop of soldiers is dispatched to combat the humanoid robots and rescue the victims.
Giovani e belli is a 1996 Italian comedy film directed by Dino Risi at his last film. It is loosely based on Poveri ma belli, directed by the same Risi in 1957.
The Steel Lady is a 1953 American action film directed by Ewald André Dupont starring Rod Cameron and Tab Hunter. In the film, four Americans are stranded in the deserts of North Africa. They discover a buried German tank dating to World War II, and they attempt to cross the desert with it. But they are attacked by Bedouins, who want to retrieve stolen jewels from the tank.
Hate Is My God is a 1969 Italian-West German Spaghetti Western film directed by Claudio Gora.
Warriors Five is a 1962 black and white Italian-French-Yugoslavian international co-production war film directed by Leopoldo Savona and starring Jack Palance, Giovanna Ralli, and Serge Reggiani. It is set during World War II. It was released in the US by American International Pictures as a double feature with Samson and the Seven Miracles of the World.
