Synopsis
SEE! 10,000 NORSEMEN CHARGE THE VALLEY OF BLOOD
Zenobia, Queen of Palmira, revolts against Rome and defeats the Roman troops, but she makes a big mistake when she falls in love with enemy officer Marco Valerio.
Sign of the Gladiator
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Alternative Titles
Sheba and the Gladiator, Sign of Rome, La regina del deserto, O Escudo Romano, Sous le signe de Rome, The Sign of the Gladiator, Bajo el signo de Roma, Im Zeichen Roms, В ознаменование Рима, Sous le Signe de Rome, 罗马冤家, Pod znakiem Rzymu
Releases by Date
Theatrical
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ItalyT
23 Sep 1959
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USA
Releases by Country
Italy
05 Mar 1959
- TheatricalT
USA
23 Sep 1959
- Theatrical
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No gladiators, no signs. But nevermind, because as the poster explains, "The Screen Explodes with wonderous spectacle bigger than anything you've ever seen!" I can only assume they are referring to Anita Ekberg as Queen Zenobia. It's always a shock to see Anita, a full figured, voluptuous, pin-up beauty the likes of which Hollywood has discarded today in its never ending quest for thinner, more athletic, heroines. Who in the world decided that abs were the new beauty requirement? I'd like to speak to the manager, please.
The poster also advertises "The Orgy of the Pagan Slaves!" and you know what that means - yes, that's right, a good floor show while everyone sits on couches drinking from goblets and…
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Another troubled production where Mario Bava 'came to the rescue' with uncredited camera and special effects work, Nel segno di Roma is the product of five different screenwriters and three directors - and unfortunately it really does show. According to Bava biographer Tim Lucas, credited director Guido Brignone fell seriously ill during production and ended up being replaced by none other than Michelangelo Antonioni (who chose not to tarnish his name by taking any credit for the assignment). For his part, Antonioni was reputedly "not up to the task" of directing the film's battle scenes, so on top of that original replacement Riccardo Freda was brought in to take over directorial duties for the action sequences. Though not the credited…
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Awash with... naw, positively *blazing with* all the expected peplum virtues.
The villain's brightly lacquered nails almost steal the whole show.
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I don't have much experience with peplum (Italian sword and sandal flix) so had to rely on what I had access to via streaming and this one was it! Originally planning on Goliath and the Dragon, I found the Prime streaming version to be in Spanish so needed a quick substitute and I found this one. With Anita Ekberg in a lead, it couldn't be that bad. I also noticed Riccardo Freda in the opening credits. Anyway, I found this to be pretty engaging. There're plots and subplots and believable deception that of course ends up with real love. OK, some of that is a little hoaky and I was a little sad to see where Ekberg's Queen Zenobia ended up, after being such a strong willed woman, caring for and leading her people, but that's the Roman Empire for ya.
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Watched as part of The 2024 Cult Movie ChallengeWeek 8: Peplum Week
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[English dub]
AUC 970*
Gladiator turned consul-general,* pale white Anita Ekberg posing as a Middle Eastern princess,* flat love stories intertwined with flatter political intrigue; and a giant mess off-screen translating directly to the screen itself.* The film starts with the narrator saying that "Marcus Aurelius" had to contend with Palmyra in "217 A.D."—which should say enough about how interested it is in historical authenticity.
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So here's a spoiler: there are no gladiators in this movie. Sign of Rome was apparently not an interesting enough title. according to the American company that acquired the distribution rights for the U.S.. So they went with a totally misleading one instead.
This is a peplum film that, since it didn't have the huge budget some of its Hollywood counterpart movies had, may seem kind of un-epic in comparison. But outside of lacking massive, ornate sets and hordes of extras for battle scenes, this doesn't really lag behind very much in plot or execution. In fact, I rather preferred this over some of the overblown Hollywood equivalents, like Cleopatra, in some ways. The opulence and grandeur of the sets…
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Sign of the Gladiator is also known as Sign of Rome, which maybe makes a little more sense since there isn't a gladiator anywhere in this movie. This is an average Italian peplum film with a better than average cast. The two French giants of the genre, Georges Marchal and Jacques Sernas, are the male leads. Marchal plays a Roman consul who goes on a spy mission to Palmyra. After being captured and forced into slavery, he offers his military expertise to his captor, Queen Zenobia (Anita Ekberg), and not surprisingly falls in love with her. But is he really on the side of Palmyra, or is he acting as a double agent for Rome?
Director Guido Brignone fell ill…
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As I have said many times, when it comes to bad movies, the most interesting things are usually the ones that aren't actually on the screen. Sign of the Gladiator (I've seen multiple titles for this one ... Nel segno di Roma is the original title, and in the U.S. it's also known as Sheba and the Gladiator ... did I mention there are no gladiators in this movie?) has Sergio Leone's name among many listed as writers. Director Guido Brignone got sick during the making of the film, and Michelangelo Antonioni did some uncredited work while Brignone was unable to be on set.
"Peplum" is another way of saying "sword-and-sandal", and you know the genre even if you've never…
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Not a terrible peplum, but somehow despite its grandiose tale the delivery manages to be bit too sedate for much of its short runtime - though the action packed finale does deserve a mention. It looks good both in sets and scenery, plus Anita Ekberg gets considerable screen time and makes use of it well so its not all bad.
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not really sure what was going on based off of the auto translate youtube subtitles but ms ekberg can, respectfully, get it xoxo
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Peplum romance emulating Hollywood style. Epic and with interesting intrigue, but too wordy and slow (excluding the hero's slavery sequence - brilliant yet relatively short - one has to wait until the very end of the film to see some real peplum action).
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