''Messalina, Messalina!'', also known as ''Caligula II: Messalina, Messalina'' and ''Caligula: Sins of Rome'', is a 1977 Italian

sex comedy Sexual comedy (also known as, sex comedy and erotic comedy) is a genre in which comedy is motivated by sexual situations and love affairs. Although "sexual comedy" is primarily a description of dramatic forms such as theatre and film, literary wor ...

and

sword-and-sandal Sword-and-sandal, also known as peplum (: pepla), is a subgenre of largely Italy, Italian-made historical, mythological, or biblical epics mostly set in the Greco-Roman antiquity or the Middle Ages. These films attempted to emulate the big-budget ...

spoof.

Background

The film is not in fact a sequel nor a prequel to

Tinto Brass Giovanni "Tinto" Brass (born 26 March 1933) is an Italian film director and screenwriter. In the 1960s and 1970s, he directed many critically acclaimed avant-garde films of various genres. Today, he is mainly known for his later work in the Erot ...

's 1979 film ''

Caligula Gaius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (31 August 12 – 24 January 41), also called Gaius and Caligula (), was Roman emperor from AD 37 until his assassination in 41. He was the son of the Roman general Germanicus and Augustus' granddaughter Ag ...

''. During the time that ''Caligula'' spent in post-production, the film's co-producer Franco Rossellini wanted to get usage from the $20,000,000 of sets and costumes used in ''Caligula'', fearing that the film would never be released. The sets and costumes, as noted in the film's opening credits, were those from ''

'', designed by Danilo Donati and used without his consent. Anneka Di Lorenzo, who plays the title role of Messalina, had played the same role in ''Caligula''. Lori Wagner, who played Agrippina in Tinto Brass's film, also reprises her role.

Synopsis

The film begins with Messalina (Anneka Di Lorenzo), the wife of

Claudius Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; ; 1 August 10 BC – 13 October AD 54), or Claudius, was a Roman emperor, ruling from AD 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Claudius was born to Nero Claudius Drusus, Drusus and Ant ...

(Vittorio Caprioli), who is now Emperor succeeding

. Most of the film revolves around Messalina's adulterous behavior, while Claudius remains blissfully unaware. Giulio Nelio, a traveler who has come to Rome looking for a good time, meets Baba, a Roman con-man. Both become involved in the situations that result from Messalina's promiscuity. It all ends in a comedic and gory bloodbath when Claudius comes home early and finds an orgy taking place in the palace. Claudius and his soldiers kill Messalina and all of the orgy participants.

Cast

* Anneka Di Lorenzo ... Messalina * Vittorio Caprioli ...

* Giancarlo Prete ... Gaius Silius *

Lino Toffolo Lino Toffolo (31 December 1934 – 16 May 2016) was an Italian actor, singer-songwriter, author, and television presenter. Life and career Born in Murano, shortly after his debut Toffolo moved to Milan where he obtained his first successes a ...

... Giulio Nelio, the Man from Venice *

Tomas Milian Tomás Quintín Rodríguez-Varona Milián Salinas de la Fé y Álvarez de la Campa (3 March 1933 – 22 March 2017) was a Cuban-born actor with American and Italian citizenship, known for the emotional intensity and humor he brought to starring ...

... Baba *Lori Wagner ... Agrippina (as Lory Kay Wagner) *Raf Luca ... * Bombolo ... Zenturio Bisone * Pino Ferrara ... * Salvatore Borghese ... Mevius (as Sal Borgese) *Alessandra Cardini ... Calpurnia * Luca Sportelli ... *Ombretta De Carlo ... *

Marco Tulli Marco Tulli (20 November 1920 – 20 March 1982) was an Italian character actor, probably best known in the role of "Smilzo" in the Don Camillo film series. Born in Rome, Tulli debuted as actor while he was still a university student, at the en ...

... Senofonte (as Primo Marco Tulli)

Release

The film was released in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

on August 25, 1977.

Notes

External links

* 1970s sex comedy films 1970s adventure comedy films 1977 films Italian adventure comedy films Films set in ancient Rome Films set in the Roman Empire Films set in the 1st century Films shot in Italy Commedia sexy all'italiana 1970s Italian-language films Films directed by Bruno Corbucci Films scored by Guido & Maurizio De Angelis Italian parody films 1970s parody films Cultural depictions of Messalina Cultural depictions of Claudius Cultural depictions of Agrippina the Younger 1977 comedy films Films with screenplays by Mario Amendola 1970s Italian films Unofficial sequel films {{erotic-comedy-film-stub