''The Arena'' (

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

: ''La rivolta delle gladiatrici'', lit. "The revolt of the gladiatrices"), also known as ''Naked Warriors'', is a 1974 gladiator

exploitation film An exploitation film is a film that tries to succeed financially by exploiting current trends, niche genres, or lurid content. Exploitation films are generally low-quality "B movies", though some set trends, attract critical attention, become hi ...

directed by Steve Carver and starring

Margaret Markov Margaret Mary Markov (born November 22, 1948) is an American retired actress. She had a supporting role in the romantic drama ''The Sterile Cuckoo'' (1969) with Liza Minnelli and co-starred in '' There Is No 13'' (1974), as well as appearing in ...

and

Pam Grier Pamela Suzette Grier (born May 26, 1949) is an American actress and singer. Described by Quentin Tarantino as cinema's first female action star (although, there are some who dispute that claim and believe Cheng Pei-pei actually holds that distinc ...

Joe D'Amato Aristide Massaccesi (15 December 1936 – 23 January 1999), known professionally as Joe D'Amato, was an Italian film director, producer, cinematographer, and screenwriter who worked in many genres ( westerns, decamerotici, peplum, war films, ...

, the film's cinematographer, has stated that he took over direction of the fight scenes in the film. Pam Grier and Margaret Markov portray

female gladiator The gladiatrix (plural ''gladiatrices'') is the female equivalent of the gladiator of ancient Rome. Like their male counterparts, gladiatrices fought each other, or wild animals, to entertain audiences at various games and festivals. Very little ...

s 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 The women in prison film (or WiP film) is a subgenre of exploitation film that began in the early 20th century and continues to the present day. Their stories feature imprisoned women who are subjected to sexual and physical abuse, typically by ...

Black Mama, White Mama ''Black Mama White Mama'' (also known as ''Women in Chains'') is a 1973 women in prison film directed by Eddie Romero and starring Pam Grier and Margaret Markov. The film has elements of blaxploitation. The movie also was released as ''Hot, Har ...

''.

Plot

In the ancient Roman town of

Brundisium Brindisi ( , ) ; la, Brundisium; grc, Βρεντέσιον, translit=Brentésion; cms, Brunda), group=pron is a city in the region of Apulia in southern Italy, the capital of the province of Brindisi, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. Histo ...

, a group of

slave Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

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

— Bodicia *

— Mamawi *Lucretia Love — Deirdre * Paul Muller — Lucilius *

Daniele Vargas Daniele Vargas, stage name of Daniele Pitani (20 April 1922 – 7 January 1981) was an Italian film actor. Life and career Born in Imola, a small town in the district of Bologna, after attending high school with Pier Paolo Pasolini, Daniel ...

— Timarchus *Marie Louise — Livia *Mary Count — Lucinia *

Rosalba Neri Rosalba Neri (born 19 June 1939) is a retired Italian actress. Early life Born in Forlì, Emilia-Romagna, Italy, Neri was regarded for her beauty even in youth, winning a beauty pageant when she was still young. Eventually pursuing an acting ca ...

— Cornelia *

Vassili Karis Vassili Karis (born Vassilis Karamesinis on 22 September 1938) is a Greek-born Italian actor, mainly active in the Spaghetti Western film genre. Life and career Born in Patras, Karis was first active in the sword-and-sandal, peplum genre, in ...

— Marcus *Sid Lawrence — Priscium *

Mimmo Palmara Domenico "Mimmo" Palmara (25 July 1928 – 10 June 2016) was an Italian actor. Biography Born in Cagliari, Palmara made his film debut in 1952 as a character actor in drama films by eminent directors such as Luchino Visconti, Mario Monicelli and ...

— Rufinius *

Antonio Casale Antonio Casale (17 May 1932 – 4 February 2017) was an Italian film actor of the 1960s and 1970s who appeared in mostly Spaghetti Western Italian films between 1965 and 1976. Although his later roles were more prominent, Casale is probably mo ...

— Lucan *Franco Garofalo — Aemilius *Pietro Ceccarelli — Septimus *Jho Jhenkins — Quintus

Production

Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November 17, 1942) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. Scorsese emerged as one of the major figures of the New Hollywood era. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominatio ...

said that

Roger Corman Roger William Corman (born April 5, 1926) is an American film director, producer, and actor. He has been called "The Pope of Pop Cinema" and is known as a trailblazer in the world of independent film. Many of Corman's films are based on works t ...

offered him the film to direct following ''

Boxcar Bertha ''Boxcar Bertha'' is a 1972 American romantic crime drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and produced by Roger Corman, from a screenplay by Joyce H. Corrington and John William Corrington, Made on a low budget, the film is loose adaptation o ...

''. However he elected to make ''

Mean Streets ''Mean Streets'' is a 1973 American crime film directed by Martin Scorsese and co-written by Scorsese and Mardik Martin. The film stars Harvey Keitel and Robert De Niro. It was released by Warner Bros. on October 2, 1973. De Niro won the National ...

'' instead.'' Scorsese on Scorsese'' Ed Ian Christie, David Thomson, 2003 p 39 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. Michael Wotruba was a pseudonym then used by

. D'Amato is credited in both versions as cinematographer under his birth name Aristide Massaccesi. 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. According to D'Amato, Carver ended up directing the scenes with dialogues whereas he himself took care of the fight sequences in the arena.

Remakes

A remake of this film was released directly to video in 2001. It was filmed in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

by Russian director

Timur Bekmambetov Timur Nuruakhitovich Bekmambetov (, ; ; born June 25, 1961) is a Russian-Kazakhstan, Kazakh film Film director, director, Film producer, producer, screenwriter, and tech entrepreneur. He is best known for the fantasy epic ''Night Watch (2004 fi ...

with a Russian crew, and it featured ''Playboy'' Playmates

Karen McDougal Karen McDougal (born March 23, 1971) is an American model and actress. She is known for her appearances in ''Playboy'' magazine as Playmate of the Month for December 1997 and Playmate of the Year of 1998.Fegley, Richard, & Wayda, Stephen (photog ...

and

Lisa Dergan Lisa Dergan (born August 10, 1970) is an American model, actress, media personality, and sportscaster. She was ''Playboys Playmate of the Month for July 1998. Dergan has established a career beyond ''Playboy'', in particular in the world of ...

in their feature film debut.

References

External links

* * *
''The Arena''
at

Variety Distribution Variety Distribution is an Italian-based film distribution company. It distributes Italian films worldwide, produced from the 1930s onward. History Variety Distribution (formerly Variety Film and Variety Communications) has been in the film ...