PEPLUM Books

HOLLYWOOD GARAGE by Lilan Purdom

This review will be short. The daughter of PEPLUM star Edmund Purdom decided to write a book on her famous, or infamous, father. The book is awkward and confusing. She knows very little of the PEPLUM genre or what her father worked on (in theatre or movies) and her approach is a mix of disdain, embarrassment and curiosity. Yes, it's a strange mix. I didn't like the book because her lack of information on her father's career, handed down by her mother, who, albeit was abandoned by Purdom after the actor had a decade long 'secret' affair with Linda Christian, also a star of PEPLUM movies. Their relationship began in the kookie MGM musical ATHENA (1954), which also starred future PEPLUM superstar Steve Reeves. Edmund's relationship with Linda Christian is fascinating. Such a strange one. There's an interview with Linda on Youtube which is more detailed than this book. I like Edmund as an actor. His career was strange as well. He almost became a superstar but a series of scandals made him persona non grata in Hollywood so Edmund moved to Rome, and PEPLUM movies, for the rest of his life. Most people don't remember him today. Only movie fans like me. I did learn a couple of things that were unknown to me (Lana Turner hated working with him...) but this book is a fairly sad affair.

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