Poppea: A Prostitute in Service of the Emperor
{{short description|1972 film}}
{{Infobox film
| image = Poppea A Prostitute in Service of the Emperor.jpg
| caption =
| director = Alfonso Brescia
| writer = Mario Amendola
Alfonso Brescia
Vittorio Vighi
| starring = Femi Benussi
Don Backy
| music = Carlo Savina
| cinematography = Franco Villa
| editing = Vincenzo Vanni
| producer =
| distributor =
| released = {{Film date|1972}}
| runtime =
| country =
| language = Italian
| budget =
}}
Poppea: A Prostitute in Service of the Emperor ({{Langx|it|Poppea... una prostituta al servizio dell'impero}}) is a 1972 commedia sexy all'italiana film co-written and directed by Alfonso Brescia starring Femi Benussi and Don Backy.
==Plot ==
{{no plot|date=May 2025}}
Cast
- Femi Benussi as Poppea
- Don Backy as Ottone
- Peter Landers as Savio
- Vittorio Caprioli as Nero
- Linda Sini as Agrippina
- Eva Czemerys as Virgin of Cappadocia
- Esmeralda Barros as Tortilla
- Howard Ross as Tigellino
- Giancarlo Badessi
- Mimmo Poli
- Nello Pazzafini
- Andrea Scotti
- Carla Mancini
== Production ==
The film was produced by Luis Film.{{cite book |last1=Casadio |first1=Gianfranco |title=I mitici eroi: il cinema "peplum" nel cinema italiano dall'avvento del sonoro a oggi (1930-1993) |date=2007 |publisher=Longo |isbn=978-88-8063-529-1 |page=272 |language=it}}{{Cite book |last=Giusti |first=Marco |author-link=Marco Giusti |title=Dizionario Stracult della commedia sexy |date=2019 |publisher=Bloodbuster edizioni |isbn=978-88-943385-3-9 |page=355-6|chapter=Poppea, una prostituta al servizio dell'impero}} As with other Alfonso Brescia productions of the time, it reuses scenes from other 1960s peplum films. According to screenwriter Vittorio Vighi, the Terence Hill and Bud Spencer duo was the inspiration for the characters played by Don Backy and Peter Landers.
== Release ==
The film was released in Italian cinemas on 21 November 1972.
== Reception ==
Italian film critic Marco Giusti described it as funny and better than expected. According to Derek Elley, it is a film that "with its floating morality, picaresque leads, arena scenes, convenient baptism and final miracle, satirises the popular aspects of the [epic] genre".{{Cite book |last=Elley |first=Derek |author-link=Derek Elley |title=The Epic Film: Myth and History |date=4 December 2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-92887-4 |page=70 |language=en}} Paolo Mereghetti described it as "a failed attempt to mix a parody of the sword-and-sandal genre, the spaghetti western fistfights, and a bit of sexy comedy".{{Cite book |last=Mereghetti |first=Paolo |author-link=Paolo Mereghetti |title=Il Mereghetti 2011 |date=2010 |publisher=Baldini Castoldi Dalai |isbn=978-88-6073-626-0 |volume=2 |chapter=Poppea una prostituta al servizio dell'impero}}
References
{{Reflist}}