Italian Locandina
Le sette folgori di Assur (aka War Gods of Babylon), directed in color by Silvio Amadio, is another sword-and-sandal epic for Jocelyn, shot in Italy at a time when those films were very popular. The film starts with a village being raided and destroyed with Mirra (Jocelyn, as Jackie Lane) being one of the few survivors. Her father was killed in the attack. A seer named Zoroastro (Arnoldo Foa) takes her to Ninevah, which is ruled by King Sardanapolo (Howard Duff). Sardanapolo's nephew, Sammash (Luciano Marin), falls madly in love with Mirra at first sight. Sammash is named King of Babylon by his brother, as Babylon is controlled by the Assyrians of Ninevah, and he intends for the beautiful Mirra to be his queen. Complications ensue, however, when Sammash learns that Sardanapolo and Mirra are in love with each other.
Sammash goes to Babylon with Mirra, intending to exact revenge on his brother for stealing Mirra's love from him. The generals of Babylon, however, view Sammash as weak, and one of them, Arbace (Giancarlo Sbragia), plots against both Sammash and Sardanapolo. Sammash goes ahead with one party moving to attack Ninevah, while the other generals are gathering their forces. Arbace arranges for the soldiers in the party to kill Sammash, behead him, and send the head to Sardanapolo in Ninevah. He also arranges for a note to be returned to Babylon with the body, indicating that Sardanapolo has committed the murder, which enrages the forces of Babylon. Now, Arbace has both sides swearing to exact revenge on the other over the death of Sammash.
The final portion of the film plays out as the two warring armies battle it out. Mirra returns to Ninevah to take revenge on Sardanapolo but learns of the deception and is reunited with him. Ultimately, the gods take their revenge on Sardanapolo and Ninevah for having been ignored, as the waters of the Tigris River rise in a flash flood to destroy the city. Sardanapolo and Mirra perish together, arm in arm.
As I've said before, the Italian sword-and-sandal epics are not my cup of tea, although I am very fond of Italian cinema of the 1960's and 1970's. At just under 88 minutes, this one doesn't overstay its welcome, and the battle scenes are well-done. Those scenes, along with a number of other scenes, have many extras, horses, etc. to give the film somewhat of an "epic" feel. The flooding sequence in Ninevah is well done for the time, even though a few of the shots have special effects that are not well done and look particularly hokey. A couple of shots where rooms in the city suddenly fill up while people are in them, stand out as being really well done.
Amadio would go on to a respectable directorial output in Italy over the next twenty years, including the giallos Amuck and Smile Before Death at the height of that genre. I am not familiar with the work of the Italian actors in the film, though all seem to give decent, if not exceptional performances. Mireille Darc is listed in the opening credits, although I did not spot her in the film, nor does IMDB show her as being among the cast. Darc, went on to have a successful career in the 1960's and 1970's, mostly in her native France. Duff, an American actor, is a familiar face to U.S. viewers, as he had a long and successful career on TV in America. People of my generation probably remember him most from the TV show Flamingo Road that ran from 1980 to 1982.
As for our girl, Jocelyn, this was another opportunity for her to get some good experience and a lot of screen time in an Italian film that would likely be screened in some English-speaking countries. The actors clearly mouthed their lines in English (at least most of them did), but I would not swear that Jocelyn did her own English dubbing. Most of the time, it does not sound like her to me. The voice sounds a bit too high-pitched, but I could be wrong. Finding information about the voice dubbing in Italian films is difficult, at best. Yet again, Jocelyn is the most attractive female in the cast, and her hair is full-on red this time (and long). Her skin looks fairer than normal, downright pale at times compared to the other actors. I think that she gave a good performance and fit the role well. A couple of thoughts that I had while watching this movie:
As with several of Jocelyn's other films in the early 1960's, I would have probably enjoyed the film more as a young boy watching on a Saturday afternoon than as an adult. I would put this one in the category of being worth a viewing if you're a Jocelyn fan, but don't fret if you never get around to watching this one. You haven't missed too much.
Shot around Rome in the summer of 1962, the film premiered in Italy on November 24, 1962. I have seen no indication of a U.S. theatrical release, but the film was shown on U.S. television through the years.
Here is a publicity photo from the set. The back of it says, "Jackie Lane the beautiful english actress, married to a rich american business man, is actually in Rome to film in 'The thunderbolt of Assur' a biblic story, during the Babilonese period. This morning the charming actress invited, cameramen, journalists to a lunch, in a little village near Rome, where most of the outside scenes will be turned, and hold a press-conference." (dated July 1962) [Note: They appear to have confused Jocelyn with Mara, since Mara was the one married to a Texas businessman at that time.]
Here is another Italian press photo that appears to have been from the same period while working on the film (the hairstyle looks exactly the same):
A U.S. TV still:
Region 1 DVD:
As for our girl, Jocelyn, this was another opportunity for her to get some good experience and a lot of screen time in an Italian film that would likely be screened in some English-speaking countries. The actors clearly mouthed their lines in English (at least most of them did), but I would not swear that Jocelyn did her own English dubbing. Most of the time, it does not sound like her to me. The voice sounds a bit too high-pitched, but I could be wrong. Finding information about the voice dubbing in Italian films is difficult, at best. Yet again, Jocelyn is the most attractive female in the cast, and her hair is full-on red this time (and long). Her skin looks fairer than normal, downright pale at times compared to the other actors. I think that she gave a good performance and fit the role well. A couple of thoughts that I had while watching this movie:
First, it's become apparent to me that Jocelyn is quite petite. I have never seen a height listed for her,
but it's clear in a few scenes in some of her films that she is a petite lady. Since her mother was about 5' 2 1/2" and her father was 5' 6", my presumption is that she is probably about 5' 3" give or take an inch. Second, Jocelyn seems much more natural on screen when she has a petulant sulk than when she smiles. Often, it seems that her smiles are a bit forced.
As with several of Jocelyn's other films in the early 1960's, I would have probably enjoyed the film more as a young boy watching on a Saturday afternoon than as an adult. I would put this one in the category of being worth a viewing if you're a Jocelyn fan, but don't fret if you never get around to watching this one. You haven't missed too much.
Shot around Rome in the summer of 1962, the film premiered in Italy on November 24, 1962. I have seen no indication of a U.S. theatrical release, but the film was shown on U.S. television through the years.
Here is a publicity photo from the set. The back of it says, "Jackie Lane the beautiful english actress, married to a rich american business man, is actually in Rome to film in 'The thunderbolt of Assur' a biblic story, during the Babilonese period. This morning the charming actress invited, cameramen, journalists to a lunch, in a little village near Rome, where most of the outside scenes will be turned, and hold a press-conference." (dated July 1962) [Note: They appear to have confused Jocelyn with Mara, since Mara was the one married to a Texas businessman at that time.]
Here is another Italian press photo that appears to have been from the same period while working on the film (the hairstyle looks exactly the same):
A U.S. TV still:
Region 1 DVD:
An Italian two-panel poster and fotobustas:
A Belgian poster:
A French poster:
An Argentinian still:
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