L'ultimo gladiatore

Albert Valentin ,who co-wrote the screenplay,was one of the most brilliant directors of the French cinema in the German Occupation: "La Vie De Plaisir" and "Marie -Martine" -which featured a "backwards story" long before "memento" .After the war,he was blacklisted and had to content himself with screenplays.

All that such a man wrote cannot be completely silly.It's obvious he did not care a little bit about the muscle man (the actor is awful) and his bland fiancée (played by bleached brunette Marilu Tolo)who,most of the times ,work behind the scenes.Certainly the sinful characters ,Messaline and Caligula are riveting and colorfully conceived.When these roles are brought to center focus -which is often-,the movie becomes a delicious camp spectacle.Dig this Messaline's line "that smoke!I can't see them roast!" .

It's odd that such an educated man as Valentin could sometimes write such nonsense (it's not legal,given the Church (sic) law!(in 41 A.D.!) ) or make Glaucus -a name borrowed from "the last days of Pompei",which becomes "Hercules" in the French version;it's an Italian /French co-production- the son of the king of the Celts (the Romans called "Gallics")whereas the Gaul was Roman since 52 B.C.

Bloody gladiatorial games are the only moments when the hero "shines".Most of the time ,he is overtaken by the events and it is the villains who walk away with the honors,for sin is perhaps more interesting than virtue.

Messaline has a (milk?) bath à la "sign of the cross" and dies a la Mankiewicz's "Cleopatra" .What a mess!