Here we go folks, I am jumping on the Odyssey bandwagon! There is a ton of movies about the Odyssey. I just decided to go with the most famous one out there: Ulysses with Kirk Douglas. It was written and directed by Italian/Americans, and overall it is pretty darn good. This is it, folks. the movie that launched a thousand sword and sandal films!
Did critics think it was great? No, of course not. It was still the biggest grossing film in Italy at the time, which shows you what critics know about making a popular film. The audience loved it. As much as possible Ulysses was filmed in Italy, and local museums contributed weapons and armor. Doesn’t get more realistic that that. For bonus points It was shot in Italian, and then dubbed into English (trivia: Kirk Douglas and Anthony Quinn dubbed their own voices — IMDB).
Does Ulysses closely match Homer’s Odyssey? Within reason. It’s a book, you adapt it for a screenplay and then have to compromise to get it to fit in a ridiculously short time frame. You gotta get that good stuff in there, like the Cyclops and lonely Circe, so they did that. I like the scene with the Sirens as well. Gotta get that in there.
I did not go back and refer to my copy of The Odyssey to see what was missing (see picture) due to a lack of time*. I am going to leave it to you fine people to discuss any details you thought should have been included.
Trivia! This was shot in 3D alongside the normal film process we are watching tonight. That explains some of those camera angles you will notice as the movie rolls on. It’s not as obvious as the Three Stooges 3-D shorts, but it’s there. I have never seen Ulysses in the 3-D process. I am not sure that version was ever released. Does anyone here know?
It is time for me to stop rambling. So relax, put down your tridents and torches, and enjoy this epic! It’s a good one. Is it better than the latest version? Do you have a favorite version? Let me know in the comments!
So watch! Or don’t! Everything is voluntary! Next week, it’s time for the GlibFlick Anniversary show! Holy cow, did that sneak up on me! Five years of shows! Over 250 posts! I will see if there is some way to embed the Excel GlibFlick Master List now that we are bereft of the Forum. It’s a heck of a list of movies.
*Yes, I actually own books. I do not exclusively watch movies. Although it feels that way sometimes.
I think I got the number of posts wrong. I think I just went over 200. I’ll check later when I don’t have a cat on my lap.
The alien knows who’s in charge on this planet! 😸🙄
OK. it is over 250. I will be over 300 next year!
“which shows you what critics know about making a popular film”
Holy ratio, Batman!
It’s my favorite ratio on Rotten Tomatoes.
This version is in the original Italian, with subtitles. Which I think is actually cooler than the dubbed version.
Diving in!
Douglas gets second billing.
At the time, that was appropriate.
Either Quinn or Douglas would have been reasonable top billing in 1954. I think Douglas had already been nominated twice for an Oscar and Quinn had won his first.
If there was a dispute among the actors as to who should get top billing, they could always do like Irwin Allen on The Towering Inferno, and use diagonal billing from lower left to upper right 😉
Another one of OJ’s gems from another time.
They should have dubbed each other’s roles instead.
Or dubbed the women’s voices in falsetto.
Another Odyssey
“Free” and even no data submission with a temporary/disposable email address. I’ll probably send them a few $ anyway since I’m going to go through several of the lectures.
Hmm….
There is a British movie on The Odyssey out there on Tubi. I enjoyed it, but it had BBC pacing. You folks would have fallen asleep. There is an animated version too. Did not have time to scan it.
I think I remember one (English with Spanish subs?) that had stop motion special effects for the monsters.
I did not get far enough to see if it did. It had too much of a Masterpiece Theatre vibe.
Here it is:
https://tubitv.com/tv-shows/682058
That one doesn’t look old enough.
Odd, it doesn’t list a year.
Maybe it was this?
https://tubitv.com/movies/674726/jason-and-the-argonauts
Oh yes! That is the Ray Harryhausen classic! Fantastic film. Have you not seen it all the way through?
I just shot Kirk Douglas in the forehead with my new rubber band gun. Behold, my birthday present to me:
https://www.glibertarians.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/IMG_5721.jpeg
Someday soon I will do a Sean parody photo with buffalo steak and the 1911.
More reliable than a hi point!
It actually is! It has a basic accuracy too, unlike the Elastic Precision PPK I have owned for about ten years.
I decided to pop the cat. She was twelve feet away the rubber band landed gently on her back. She looked around, thought ‘WHAT THE WHAAAA?!?!?” and then resumed loafing. I still feel guilty.
BTW, it was not uncommon in Italian movies of that era for all the actors to redo their dialog in post, even if it was their native language. I believe Burt Lancaster dubbed himself in both the Italian and English-language versions of The Leopard.
There’s a great scene in the Truffaut film Day for Night where Valentina Cortese is playing an actress having trouble remembering her lines and hitting her marks. After a bunch of takes she finally asking the director of the film-within-a-film (played by Truffaut himself) whether they can dub the dialog in post. After all Fellini let them do that and just say numbers instead of delivering their lines, at which point she goes around the set giving “dialog” of numbers.
The dubbed version of this showed periodically on channel 11 in Dallas. I have seen this a few times. UHF TV showed Steve Reeves films, which really cemented my love of sword and sandal films.
I figured out how to embed files in a post. So the latest movie list is now a download on the Anniversary show next week.
Burritos for the win
Fucks sake, giving up paying attention to the news and politics was probably the best decision I’ve ever made.
But what do you read?
Right now a compilation of short stories by Dashiell Hammett.
Even Fox.
Burrito debate rips open GOP civil war on affordability: ‘We will lose, and deserve it’
Good news is thanks to Kennedy no lettuce or jalapeños. Pay no mind to the fact the produce comes from Mexico, right?
Funny, I never knew one either when I was that age.
This whole brouhaha is peak stupidity. Kids think they have it hard these days Volume MCMLXIX.
Plus Chipotle is $10 plus tax according Google AI.
If it isn’t delivered with guacamole and a generous tip I guess it doesn’t count.
I have a nephew smart enough to buy the house he then rented to his buddies and they all lived there for several years. When he got a good enough job, he politely kicked them out.
The small-town Mexican grill sells a variety of burritos with rice and beans for 12 to 15 bucks. Sit down restaurant. Who the fuck is paying 20 bucks for a burrito.
I moved out at 18 and never went back home. Got married and had a kid a year later. Working poor for the first decade.
LXIX. Hehus. Hehehus.
I like how the U gets replaced with a V in the opening credits. Archaic style font sets the mood. i hope there are wenches. Many wenches.
Circe is a babe.
As is Penelope.
Ulysses, I’ll grant.
Heh. And the Cyclops parties in Eyebiza.
That’s just like Ulysses.
In an alternate time line they did a remake around 2000 and the news broke that Hugh Grant got the lead. Headlines read: Ulysses is Grant
Nice harp.
“STAG LINES: The Anthology of Virile Verse”
Ya whip that out to arouse the poor deer you invite in, do ya?
That is quite the book of blue verses.
Bright colors, beautiful costumes, sweaty men wrestling. That Nolan guy could learn a thing or two from this.
Notice the guys are perpetually sweaty and dirty, and the women look like Martin Denny album covers.
How has this not been posted?
Cream – Tales of Brave Ulysses
It was waiting for you!
That crazy British professor from the last few posts has just resigned. Good.
https://notthebee.com/article/cambridge-professor-accused-of-plagiarism-now-charged-with-using-ai-to-write-resignation-letter
LOL because of course. That guy (? – not entirely sure) is the gift that keeps on giving.
A cultural sticking (unsticking?) point we agree on: Shame just needs to come back. He should be fluttering away, tail between his legs. ‘Offending’ someones honor used to be fighting words, cuz honor was kinda still a thing.
Said before: Were I God-emperor, I’d have 24/7 video on politicians and other figures I’d like to publicly shame. Fucking Zohar in NYC would be the most fun. Satisfying. Take all his money, and have him reach out for donations. All donations must rigidly adhere to regs, and everything over $10k (and I wouldn’t tell folk I was doing this) would be investigated. When inevitable political corruption shows its tentacles, the Follow the Money trail would burn through and reveal everyone in Power’s nasty secrets. I’d like everyone to know just how sad-sacky pathetic and empty his Islamo-proggier -than-thou schtick really is. (Other than his hatred of America. That’s pretty solid.)
Sadly(?), his biggest debasement is pretty easy. Naked in a public square, he’s drunk and getting fucked by a dog in a vodka-filled kiddie pool. Other popular and Haram acts and objects, added and inserted, as needed. It’d be great for his public endorsements to have to walk it all back like they (kinda) did with Platner. (But far worse.)
(I fantasize about this far too frequently. Oh, I excite myself, so.)
The guy could get fucked by a dog in a vodka-filled swimming pool and have no shame. I don’t understand it. Is it a new genetic mutation to have no shame?
Not when the rewards for seeking power are so great. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
At least he’s consistent.
These are the worst rowers.
Call-em what they are
Small! Piccolo!
This is how I feel when I’ve played more than a few computer games, especially more than a few Infocom games.
ヨルシカ – あぶく
Boy yes! I have a ton of those on my Pie box. Brutal, they are.
That was great.
So, he wins, yeah? Good.
Down my own nostalgia and thought of you: Death Psycho Bomb (デスサイコボム) is a technique used by Frieza in his final form.
“Do you think I’ll let them go? Not one of you will leave here alive…! I AM STILL MORE OF A MATCH FOR ALL OF YOU!!!!”
I love how over-the-top the dialogue is. How much is direct translation compared to bad writing? (50/50? Yes?)
It’s like the Babel Fish puzzle.
We have an epic ass-whupping coming up. Kirk Douglas returns home.
Kirk Douglas-style ass whupping has been released from the can!
Alright! That was epic. I hope you all enjoyed it. Next week is the anniversary show, 5 years of GlibFlicks!
Time flies when you’re having fun.
Thank you for contributing this long.
I made a promise. I do not break my promises.
That was pretty good.
Thanks RJ!
You are welcome! See you next week for4 the anniversary show!
It should be good. Thanks for putting this series together.
I feel like I owe you all something else tonight. So…. Enjoy!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPLYlGlbTAw