SPARTACO: Sabina (Gianna Maria Canale) teaches Spartacus (Massimo Girotti) the meaning of temptation.
NOTHER anonymous, but known, assignment of this period found Mario Bava lending a help- ing hand to Hungarian cameraman Gábor Pogány (1915–99), who was photographing an ambi- tious new screen version of the Spartacus legend. For reasons unknown, Pogány was unable to shoot the crucial arena sequence of this film and recommended Bava to his director—a man who would become his new mentor, and arguably the most important professional acquaintance of his entire career.