
Acting
Scilla Gabel
Born 1938-01-04 · Rimini, Italy
She was born Scilla Gabellini, one of five siblings, in Rimini on the Adriatic coast. Scilla initially studied law at Oxford University, graduating with a doctorate. Her interest in pursuing a legal career waned quickly, however, since her next move was a return to Italy for acting classes at Rome's Accademia Nazionale d'Arte Drammatica. At the age of seventeen, the voluptuous, blue-eyed Scilla became a body double for Sophia Loren (to whom she bore more than a passing resemblance), notably in the classic Boy on a Dolphin (1957). Two years later, she underwent cosmetic surgery to look less like Sophia in order to forge her own screen image. In 1963, Scilla featured on the cover of several magazines, including Playboy, the Milanese publication Le Ore and Parade (at the time, the most widely read weekly in the U.S.). Though she went on to command leads in a number of films during the 60s, Scilla tended to be typecast in roles which emphasized her physical attributes, rather than her acting ability. She appeared most often in genre films, anything from innocuous sex comedies (Genitori in blue-jeans (1960), Bel Ami 2000 oder Wie verführt man einen Playboy? (1966)) to swashbuckling costume dramas (La Venere dei pirati (1960)), and from spaghetti westerns (Johnny Golden Poker (1966)) to peplum spectacles (Death on the Arena (1962), The Revenge of Spartacus (1964)). After 1971, she was afforded more challenging and critically acclaimed roles as a star in Italian TV miniseries. Eleven years after leaving the screen, Scilla attracted media attention as a result of the murder of her 87-year old landlord father Giuseppe, by a crazed tenant at his villa on the via Campi di Torre Flavia in Ladispoli.
Acting credits
7.6After fighting in the Trojan War, Odysseus spends years trying to return home to Ithaca. [Theatrical version of the 1968 mini-series.]
The Odyssey
1969
5.3Lot leads his people to a fertile valley adjacent to the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, hotbeds of vice and corruption ruled by the merciless Queen Bera. When Lot orders a dam to be busted in order to prevent the destruction of the cities by the attacking Helamites, the queen, in gratitude, allows Lot's people to settle in Sodom. Soon, however, the veneer of civilization begins crumbling as Lot and the Hebrews become corrupted by the Sodomites.
Sodom and Gomorrah
1962
7.5A tale on the Italian upper class of the '60s and their ways to kill time.
I ragazzi dei Parioli
1959
5.3Modesty Blaise, a secret agent whose hair color, hair style, and mod clothing change at a snap of her fingers is being used by the British government as a decoy in an effort to thwart a diamond heist. She is being set up by the feds but is wise to the plot and calls in sidekick Willie Garvin and a few other friends to outsmart them. Meanwhile, at his island hideaway, Gabriel, the diamond thief has his own plans for Blaise and Garvin.
Modesty Blaise
1966
5.4The greatest adventure of jungle king Tarzan. Four British villains raid a settlement to obtain explosives for use in a diamond mine. In doing so they nearly destroy the settlement, so Tarzan pursues them to their mine.
Tarzan's Greatest Adventure
1959
9.0While an admiral's son is hunted by secret agents, his sister plays his part on a warship.
Tender Sharks
1967
6.1Hans von Arnam travels to a Flemish village to study a strange carousel located in an old windmill that displays famous murderesses and other notorious women from history. Professor Gregorius Wahl, owner of the windmill, warns Hans to stay away from his mysterious daughter Elfi, in order to keep Hans from discovering the horrible secret shared by the Professor and Elfi's Doctor.
Mill of the Stone Women
1960
5.5In 16th century Italy, on the Adriatic coast, the duchy of Doruzza is governed by a tyrannical duke, Zulian, and his haughty daughter, Isabella. When they commit a great injustice, a ship's captain and his daughter turn pirate to fight back for the people.
The Queen of the Pirates
1960
6.4Two jerks are enlisted in the Italian army during W.W.1 and by pure luck manage to help win an important battle.
The Shortest Day
1963
5.0No synopsis available yet.
Mara
1961
5.3The story of Hadji Murad, a 19th-century Chechen chieftain who led his warriors in a fight against the invading forces of the Russian Czar.
The White Warrior
1959
6.7A salesman from England is picked to select one girl in an Italian town who will become a bride for a native son.
Village of Daughters
1962
7.0In Marseille Father Hermann has created a home for the ex-prostitutes to accommodate a new start to a better life. But it does not take long to arouse the anger of the pimps, and especially of Charly, one of the "bosses" who uses are criminal means to convince those that dare to fight his rules and territory. But several of the girls and women are not afraid of Charly and his gang. They have all been to the bottom of existence. But father Hermann is running out of resources.
Girls of the Night
1958
5.3The classic story from the early days of Rome where there are no women. Romulus, the founder of Rome, finds women to be wives from Sabina where there are a lot of women. The Sabine men, of course, attack Rome to get their wives and daughters back.
Romulus and the Sabines
1961
3.0Behind the facade of a fashionable Milanese home, headed by Arabella, lies an efficient ring of high prostitution.
I piaceri del sabato notte
1960
5.3Chaco, a Mexican on the run from just about everyone, is framed for the killing of a couple of Mexican cattlemen. Everyone knows he's innocent but the evidence is substantial. Chaco escapes and with the help of a bounty hunter, goes after the real murderers.
Bastard, Go and Kill
1971
6.7Lieutenant Bombardone is in Paris to wipe out a gang of drug traffickers.
Noi duri
1960
7.0Friends of Spartacus achieve revenge on the plotter who tries to make political capital out of the rumor that he is still alive. It was shot back to back with Seven Slaves Against the World.
The Revenge of the Gladiators
1964
4.8In Roman-dominated Egypt, the corrupt administration of a governor named Petronius has sparked a revolt headed by El Kabir, a young man who learns that he's actually the son of Cleopatra and Julius Caesar. When Petronius' daughter, Livia, newly-arrived from Rome, falls into his hands, El Kabir uses this opportunity to win her over to his side before releasing her to her father.
Son of Cleopatra
1964
7.7A group of traveling persons end up as prisoners of a German sergeant and his squad, in an isolated and precarious cabin in the country.
No Man's Land
1962
NRNo synopsis available yet.
La grande vallata
1961
9.3Using Leonardo Da Vinci's innovative designs for weapons of war, flying engines and other machinery, three brothers join forces to fight a wicked and powerful Duke in early-Renaissance Italy.
Arms of the Avenger
1963
8.0In 1525, on the evening of the Battle of Pavia, François 1er was taken prisoner by the armies of Charles-Quint, with the Constable de Bourbon on their side. His mother, regent of the kingdom, commissioned the king's loyal equerry, Antoine de Montpezat, to raise a ransom of two million ecus and send it to Madrid. Despite the treachery of Vandoeuvre, governor of Languedoc and supporter of the connétable de Bourbon, who has his eye on the French throne, Montpezat accomplishes his mission and is reunited with his fiancée, who had almost married the traitor Vandoeuvre.
La salamandre d'or
1962
6.1This film is very much a docudrama which portrays the difficulties of Italian life circa 1963 due to the absence of a divorce law. Five scenarios with different actors portray realistic situations where divorce is clearly warranted but, because marriage was strictly in the purview of the Catholic Church at that time, which strictly forbade divorce, these people are shown to suffer the consequences in their daily lives. Italy got its first civilian divorce law in 1970.
Outlaws of Love
1963