{{Infobox film | name = Sheba and the Gladiator | image = Nel Segno di Roma.jpg | alt = | caption = French film poster | native_name = <!-- {{Infobox name module|language|title}} or {{Infobox name module|title}} --> | director = {{plainlist|*[[Guido Brignone]] * [[Michelangelo Antonioni]]}} | producer = Enzo Merolle{{sfn|Curti|2017|p=296}} | writer = | screenplay = {{plainlist|* Francesco De Feo * [[Sergio Leone]] * [[Giuseppe Mangione]] * [[Guido Brignone]]{{sfn|Curti|2017|p=296}}}} | story = {{plainlist|* Francesco De Feo * Sergio Leone * Giuseppe Mangione * Guido Brignone{{sfn|Curti|2017|p=296}}}} | based_on = <!-- {{Based on|title of the original work|creator of the original work|additional creator(s), if necessary}} --> | starring = {{plainlist|* [[Anita Ekberg]] * [[Georges Marchal]] * [[Folco Lulli]] * [[Chelo Alonso]]}} | music = [[Angelo Francesco Lavagnino]]{{sfn|Curti|2017|p=296}} | cinematography = {{plainlist|* Luciano Trasatti * [[Mario Bava]]{{sfn|Curti|2017|p=296}}}} | editing = [[Nino Baragli]]{{sfn|Curti|2017|p=296}} | production_companies = {{plainlist|* Giomer Film * [[Lux Film]] * Societe Cinematographicque Lyre * Tele Film GmbH * Dubrava Film * Filmiski Studio{{sfn|Curti|2017|p=296}}}} | distributor = <!-- or: | distributors = --> | released = {{Film date|df=yes|1959|3|5|Italy|1959|10|2|West Germany}} | runtime = 98 minutes{{sfn|Curti|2017|p=296}} | country = {{plainlist|* Italy * France * West Germany * Yugoslavia{{sfn|Curti|2017|p=296}}}} | language = | budget = | gross = }}
'''''Sheba and the Gladiator''''' or '''''Sign of the Gladiator''''' ({{langx|it|Nel Segno di Roma}}) is a 1959 [[list of historical drama films|historical drama film]] loosely pertaining to the [[Palmyrene Empire]] and its re-annexation back into the [[Roman Empire]].
==Cast== * [[Anita Ekberg]] as [[Zenobia]] * [[Georges Marchal]] as Consul Marcus Valerius * [[Folco Lulli]] as Zemanzius * [[Chelo Alonso]] as Erica * [[Gino Cervi]] as [[Aurelian]] * [[Jacques Sernas]] as Julianus *[[Lorella De Luca]] as Batsheba *[[Alberto Farnese]] as Marcello *[[Mimmo Palmara]] as Lator
==Production== ''Sheba the Gladiator'' was shot in 1958.{{sfn|Curti|2017|p=169}} Director [[Guido Brignone]] fell ill during the production on the film leading to two other directors to enter the production to help complete it: [[Michelangelo Antonioni]] and [[Riccardo Freda]].{{sfn|Curti|2017|p=168}} For Antonioni, he visited Brignone in the hospital and reported on what he filmed and received instructions for the next day.{{sfn|Curti|2017|p=168}} Freda was in charge shooting the battle scenes which he did with cinematographer [[Mario Bava]] and Antonioni working with cinematographer Luciano Trasatti shooting the indoor scenes.{{sfn|Curti|2017|p=168}} Other people credited to the film included [[Sergio Leone]] as a screenwriter.{{sfn|Curti|2017|p=168}}
[[Mimmo Palmara]] commented that Antonioni "couldn't care less" about the film and "didn't direct the actors."{{sfn|Curti|2017|p=169}} Freda had an argument with Palmara and unsuccessfully tried to court [[Chelo Alonso]] on set.{{sfn|Curti|2017|p=169}}
==Release== ''Sheba and the Gladiator'' was distributed in Italy on March 5, 1959.{{sfn|Curti|2017|p=296}}{{sfn|Curti|2017|p=169}} It was released in West Germany as ''Im Zeichen Roms'' on 2 October 1959.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.filmportal.de/film/im-zeichen-roms_1d929eaa23394c558dc19db54dc1981e|publisher=[[Filmportal.de]]|title=Im Zeichen Roms|access-date=January 30, 2019|language=German}}</ref>
[[American International Pictures]] acquired the American rights to the film and re-titled it ''Sign of the Gladiator'' (''Sign of Rome'' "was a pretty dismal title" according to [[Samuel Z. Arkoff]]<ref name="king"/>) and cut 18 minutes from the original running time.<ref name="AIP">{{cite book|first=Mark|last=McGee|title=Faster and Furiouser: The Revised and Fattened Fable of American International Pictures|publisher=McFarland|year=1996|page=154}}</ref> There was no gladiator in the film so they redubbed it to change the general played by Jacques Sernas into a gladiator.<ref name="king">{{cite book|page=264|title=Kings of the Bs : working within the Hollywood system : an anthology of film history and criticism|editor-first1=Todd|editor-first2=Charles|editor-last1=McCarthy|editor-last2=Flynn|year=1975 |publisher=E. P. Dutton |chapter=Samuel Z. Arkoff|first=Linda May|last=Strawn}}</ref>
It was released in September 1959 in the United States.{{sfn|Curti|2017|p=169}} American International Pictures added an end title song called "Xenobia" sung by Bill Lee which was released on AIP Records.<ref>{{cite book|first=Gary A.|last=Smith|title=American International Pictures: The Golden Era|publisher=Bear Manor Media|page=117}}</ref> The film grossed a total of $1.25 million in rentals.<ref>"Rental Potentials of 1960", ''Variety'', 4 January 1961 p 47. Please note figures are rentals as opposed to total gross.</ref> "We did quite well with the picture" said [[Samuel Z Arkoff]].<ref name="king"/>
''Kine Weekly'' called it a "money maker" at the British box office in 1960.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://archive.org/details/sim_kine-weekly_1960-12-15_523_2776/page/n7/mode/1up|last=Billings|first=Josh|magazine=Kine Weekly|date=15 December 1960|page=9|title=It's Britain 1, 2, 3 again in the 1960 box office stakes}}</ref>
==See also== *[[List of historical drama films]] *[[List of films set in ancient Rome]] *[[Crisis of the Third Century]]
== References ==
===Citations=== {{reflist}}
===Sources=== {{Refbegin}} * {{cite book |last=Curti |first=Roberto |title=Riccardo Freda: The Life and Works of a Born Filmmaker |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-1476628387 |year=2017 }} {{Refend}}
==External links== * {{IMDb title|0051985|Sheba and the Gladiator}}
{{Guido Brignone}} {{Sergio Leone}}
[[Category:1959 films]] [[Category:1959 historical films]] [[Category:French historical drama films]] [[Category:West German films]] [[Category:German historical drama films]] [[Category:Yugoslav historical drama films]] [[Category:Films directed by Guido Brignone]] [[Category:Films with screenplays by Sergio Leone]] [[Category:Films set in ancient Rome]] [[Category:Films set in the Roman Empire]] [[Category:Films set in 3rd-century Roman Empire]] [[Category:Films set in classical antiquity]] [[Category:American International Pictures films]] [[Category:Films scored by Angelo Francesco Lavagnino]] [[Category:1950s sword-and-sandal films]] [[Category:Cultural depictions of Aurelian]] [[Category:Cultural depictions of Zenobia]] [[Category:1959 Italian films]] [[Category:1959 German films]] {{1950s-Italy-film-stub}}