The Arena (1974 film)

The Arena (Italian: La rivolta delle gladiatrici, lit. "The Revolt of the Female Gladiators"), also known as Naked Warriors, is a 1974 gladiator exploitation film directed by Steve Carver and starring Margaret Markov and Pam Grier. Joe D'Amato, the film's cinematographer, has stated that he took over direction of the fight scenes in the film.

The Arena
Film poster by John Solie
Directed bySteve Carver
Italian version:
Michael Wotruba
Produced byMark Damon
Written byJohn William Corrington
Joyce Hooper Corrington
StarringPam Grier
Margaret Markov
Music byFrancesco De Masi
Cinematography Aristide Massaccesi
Edited byEnglish version:
Joe Dante
Italian version:
Piera Bruni
Gianfranco Simoncelli
Production
company
Rover Film
Distributed byNew World Pictures (US)
Florida Cinematografica (Italy)
Release date
  • January 15, 1974 (1974-01-15)
Running time
83 minutes
CountryUnited States
Italy
LanguageEnglish

Pam Grier and Margaret Markov portray female gladiators in ancient Rome, who have been enslaved and must fight for their freedom. This marks the second teaming of Grier and Markov; in 1972 they had starred together in the women in prison film Black Mama, White Mama.

Plot

In the ancient Roman town of Brundisium, a group of slave girls are sold to a man named Timarchus, the organizer of the events that take place in the town’s colosseum. After a fight breaks out amongst the girls, Timarchus gets the idea of putting the women in the ring to fight to the death. The recently captured Mamawi and Bodicia realize they must stick together if they are to survive.

Cast

Production

Martin Scorsese said that Roger Corman offered him the film to direct following Boxcar Bertha. However he elected to make Mean Streets instead.[1]

Whereas Steve Carver is credited as the director in the American version of the film, the Italian version omits Carver and names "Michael Wotruba" as director instead.[2] Michael Wotruba was a pseudonym then used by Joe D'Amato.[2] D'Amato is credited in both versions as cinematographer under his birth name Aristide Massaccesi.[2] In an interview, D'Amato said the Italian producer Franco Gaudenzi did not trust Carver, who was sent by Roger Corman, and sent D'Amato to take care of the cinematography and help Carver if needed.[2] According to D'Amato, Carver ended up directing the scenes with dialogues whereas he himself took care of the fight sequences in the arena.[2]

Remakes
Main article: The Arena (2001 film)

A remake of this film was released directly to video in 2001. It was filmed in Russia by Russian director Timur Bekmambetov with a Russian crew, and it featured Playboy Playmates Karen McDougal and Lisa Dergan in their feature film debut.


See also

References
  1. Scorsese on Scorsese Ed Ian Christie, David Thomson, 2003 p 39
  2. Lupi, Gordiano (2004). Erotismo, orrore e pornografia secondo Joe D'Amato. Mondo Ignoto. p. 39. ISBN 88-89084-49-9.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
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