Sheba and the GladiatororSign of the Gladiator (Italian: Nel Segno di Roma) is a 1959 historical drama film loosely pertaining to the Palmyrene Empire and its re-annexation back into the Roman Empire.
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French film poster
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| Produced by | Enzo Merolle[1] |
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| Edited by | Nino Baragli[1] |
| Music by | Angelo Francesco Lavagnino[1] |
Production |
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Running time | 98 minutes[1] |
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Sheba the Gladiator was shot in 1958.[2] 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.[3] For Antonioni, he visited Brignone in the hospital and reported on what he filmed and received instructions for the next day.[3] 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.[3] Other people credited to the film included Sergio Leone as a screenwriter.[3]
Mimmo Palmara commented that Antonioni "couldn't care less" about the film and "didn't direct the actors."[2] Freda had an argument with Palmara and unsuccessfully tried to court Chelo Alonso on set.[2]
Sheba and the Gladiator was distributed in Italy on March 5, 1959.[1][2] It was released in West Germany as Im Zeichen Roms on 2 October 1959.[4]
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[5]) and cut 18 minutes from the original running time.[6] There was no gladiator in the film so they redubbed it to change the general played by Jacques Sernas into a gladiator.[5]
It was released in September 1959 in the United States.[2] American International Pictures added an end title song called "Xenobia" sung by Bill Lee which was released on AIP Records.[7] The film grossed a total of $1.25 million in rentals.[8] "We did quite well with the picture" said Samuel Z Arkoff.[5]
Kine Weekly called it a "money maker" at the British box office in 1960.[9]
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