The Arena as WIP film

Okay, that’s enough about The Arena per se; let’s take a look at it through the lens of criticism of the women-in-prison genre overall. For this portion of the discussion I will be relying heavily on Suzanna Danuta Walters excellent article "Caged Heat: The (R)evolution of Women-in-Prison Films" which was published in Reel Knockouts: Violent Women in the Movies. And, in case there’s any doubt about whether The Arena should be placed in this genre, here’s the official word from the master himself, Roger Corman, the film’s executive producer and noted purveyor of schlock - although, to be fair, he certainly has been involved in the making of many good movies as well. I will be discussing this in some detail, so please forgive my quoting it at length:

"With the success of my Women-in-Prison films, I was looking for another angle. Frances Doel, my Head of Development, came up with the idea of moving the basic premise to ancient Rome. The idea translated brilliantly … women gladiators, captured and forced to fight in the arena! Pam Grier headed this group of beautiful slaves, who were not afraid to try and beat the Romans at their own game."

Besides establishing that, at least in the mind of one practitioner of the genre, this movie is a women-in-prison film dressed up in a toga, I love how the quote parallels the plot of the movie itself. Corman, like Timarchus, the owner of the gladiatorial school, was looking for something new to spice up a tried-and-true formula and decided to employ the ever popular "let’s set it in olden times" conceit. Leaving the quote for a moment, the related question here is whether the writers of the script were deliberately mimicking the probable source of female fighters in antiquity - that is, as a novelty act - or was this some sort of bizarre coincidence? Straying even further from my topic, I wonder if the kitchen fight scene in The Arena is supposed to evoke the one in Spartacus? If it is, it’s kind of ironic that it is the brawl that lands the lovely ladies in the arena whereas it is the similar kitchen conflict that sparks the rebellion and frees Spartacus and his mates from that very arena. As long as I’m completely rambling, why the hell is the movie set in Brundisium? Spartacus ends up there only to be ditched by the pirates, right? And doesn’t Kirk Douglas’ outfit (it’s Thracian style to honor Spartacus’ supposed country of origin, but without the helmet so we can admire the cleft) when he’s fighting strongly resemble Pam Grier’s except that he is bare-chested? Finally, what does Corman mean when he says that the gladiatrices aren’t afraid to try and beat the Romans at their own game? Which game is he talking about? the game of acting like violent, amoral creeps? It’s very confusing.