DUEL OF THE TITANS aka Romolo e Remo (1961)

• Director: Sergio Corbucci
• Cast: Steve Reeves, Gordon Scott, Virna Lisi
• Film: 108mins | Italy | English without Subtitles + Intermission
• Event: 20:45 – 23:10 [18+]

“FIGHT-TO-THE-FINISH BETWEEN THE SCREEN’S MIGHTIEST TITANS!”

Twin brothers revolt against tyranny in pre-Roman Italy and then come to a parting of the ways as they lead their people toward the founding of a new city.

Cult film night BAR TRASH continues with CELLULOID JAM, an unofficial celebration of 50 years of THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW (1975).

For this extremely rare public screening of Sergio Corbucci’s DUEL OF THE TITANS aka Romolo e Remo (1961), Token Homo is joined on stage by James Hayes, our beloved/departing BAR TRASH event manager, occasional Rocky Horror, and lifelong beefcake devotee.

THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW makes multiple references to the body building fads that redefined the masculine physique, and its appreciation. Charles Atlas and his ‘Dynamic Tension’ training programme were massively popular throughout the 1930s, ‘40s and ‘50s, whilst Richard O’Brien’s song ‘Sword Of Damocles’ pays homage to the Italian ‘peplum’ sub-genre that flooded American drive-ins with muscular ‘sword-and-sandal’ features (the OG versions of GLADIATOR).

DUEL OF THE TITANS gives us two body builders for the price of one — Steve Reeves and Gordon Scott — in a gloriously entertaining slice of beefed-up cinema that promises a mighty mashup of Hercules (Reeves) vs Tarzan (Scott). We fully expect James will get his toga out (one last time…) as he introduces the film and the history of celluloid muscle culture.

Polite warning: We are showing DUEL OF THE TITANS from an imported German Blu-Ray. The film will play without subtitles in its original English language dubbed version (as was convention in Italian genre cinema of this period).

// Part of BAR TRASH: CELLULOID JAM, a fan-powered celebration of THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW. Hosted by queer film fanatic Token Homo (creator of BAR TRASH and QUEER HORROR NIGHTS) and friends, all films screen with an introduction, intermission, and subtitles/captions (where possible!). Tickets from £3.50. Adults 18+ only. Follow @tokenhomo on Instagram for news and updates. //