Poppea: A Prostitute in Service of the Emperor (Italian: 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.
Contents
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. 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". 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".