Lucrèce Borgia (1953)

The Borgias weren't the first to dramatize the story of the powerful family who ruled Italy during the Renaissance. In fact, they weren't even the first to tell the tale with some sexy, sexy skin thrown in for good measure. That honor belongs to the Italian-French co-production Lucrèce Borgia (1953), in which Lucrèce Borgia (Martine Carol) plots with her lover to depose her power-mad brother Cesar (Pedro Armendáriz) after he tries to kill her husband. Fast-forward to the bathtub scene to see Martine's retro rackage in the water and through a soaking wet sheet, and you'll be stiff as a Borgia.