Edmund Purdom Movies

A handful of young knights are given the grave responsibility of rescuing one of the most sacred relics in Christianity in this lavish historical epic. In the year 1272, the bloody swath of the Crusades has swept much of Europe, and King Louis IX of France dies after a battle in Tunisia. After the king's demise, the Holy Shroud (the cloth with which Jesus' body was believed to have been wrapped following his crucifixion) goes missing, and four young knights who served under him -- Simon of Clarendon (Edward Furlong), Rainiei di Panico (Marco Leonardi), Vanni delle Rondini (Thomas Kretschmann), and Jean de Cent Acres (Stanislas Merhar) -- take it upon themselves to find the shroud . Travelling with the knights is Giacomo (Raoul Bova), an assistant to Rondini who learned from a wicked blacksmith a valuable secret -- a method for making magical swords that cannot be broken. As the knights scour the land in search of the shroud, they encounter Delfinello (F. Murray Abraham), another searcher attempting to find the shroud, who persuades the knights to join him as he sets sail to the Holy Land in his quest. I Cavalieri Che Fecero L'impresa was shot in Italy with an international cast and crew; while the original version was filmed in Italian, an English-language version of the film was also shot with an eye towards an American release. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Set during World War II, The Assisi Underground deals with the efforts made by a handful of hardy European souls to rescue Jews from the Holocaust. Ben Cross plays a dynamic young Catholic priest who puts his own life on the line to save thousands of refugees from Nazi-occupied Italy. While the role of the Vatican in the war is still a matter of hot debate, there can be no denying that individuals like Cross existed: in fact, virtually every event depicted in this film is based on an actual event. Featured in the all-star cast are James Mason, Irene Papas, and Maximillian Schell. When originally released, Assissi Underground clocked in at 178 minutes, resulting in a well-intentioned but frankly boring wartime epic. The producers whittled the running time down to 118 minutes for its general release. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Cult filmmaker Sergio Martino directed this violent sci-fi actioner, one of many to pour out of Italy in the wake of Mad Max (1979). Michael Sopkiw stars as Parsifal, who travels to New York in order to rescue the last fertile woman on Earth following a nuclear holocaust. Graphic scenes of rape and murder await the viewer, as well as rats, midgets, and subway-riding revolutionaries. Edmund Purdom and Luigi Montefiori (aka "George Eastman") are among the familiar supporting cast. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide

With a tagline that reads, "You don't have to go to Texas for a chainsaw massacre," this Spanish-Italian entry into slasher film territory went on to achieve a dubious distinction as one of the most tasteless films ever produced. The bloodshed opens in 1942 with a scene of a little boy axing his mother after her discovery of him piecing together a puzzle of a nude girl. Cut to 42 years later and the little ax-man has moved on to chainsaws as he begins buzzing coeds on the campus of a New England college. Police Lieutenant Bracken (Christopher George) and his partner arrive to investigate. They find a trail of dismembered bodies that happen to be missing some parts and a group of suspects including a shady dean of students (Edmund Purdom), an anatomy professor (Jack Taylor), and a monstrous caretaker (Paul Smith). Led by beautiful undercover cop Mary Riggs (Lynda Day-George) and student-stud Kendall (Ian Sera), the investigation leads everyone to the killer, who has just finished adding the final pieces to his human jigsaw puzzle. ~ Patrick Legare, All Movie Guide

The dialogue in this "sword and sorcery" film argues for a return to the silent screen as Ator, son of Thorn, fights off giant spiders and the evil Black Knights and chases after a comely, blond maiden, but not at the same time. Scripted lines like "not to go the maternity route" in a medieval setting are comparable to whiskering up the Mona Lisa and not noticing the difference. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

This made-for-television biography chronicles the life of Italian actress and beauty Sophia Loren, from her childhood in Naples to her international stardom. Joanna Crawford adapted the screenplay from A.E. Hotchner's biographical book. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide

The Cursed Medallion may not be a household title, but it certainly has received generous airplay on the many UHF television stations throughout the land. The titular medallion is a gift presented to young Nicole Elmi. Once the girl places the gift around her neck, she is possessed by the spirit of a dead child. Actually, it's worse than that: the deceased youngster was a murderess. Richard Johnson and Joanna Cassidy are the "name" stars in this internationally produced chiller-diller. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This atypical adventure film from cult director Jesus Franco was based on a story by Jules Verne. Jose Manuel Marcos portrays 15-year-old Dick Sands, whose lifelong dream is to be a sailor like his godfather, Adm. Marlowe (Edmund Purdom). Marlowe gets Dick a job as a cabin-boy on a ship commanded by Captain Hull (Marc Cassot), who is charged with taking the Admiral's wife Clara (Doris Thomas) to America. Hull and the crew are killed during a whale hunt, leaving young Dick to captain the ship, which is soon taken over by Negoro (William Berger), a slaver posing as a cook. Dick must escape and help the passengers before they are sold into slavery in Africa. Howard Vernon, Fernando Bilbao, and Luis Barboo co-star in this ludicrous adventure. The action scenes are laughable, the acting is inept, and Marcos is woefully miscast in the lead. Versions run 86, 90, and 105 minutes. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide

Luigi Bazzoni (Le Orme) directed this outstanding giallo thriller starring Franco Nero as a hard-drinking newspaperman who gets involved in a string of brutal murders. After he investigates the first, he becomes a suspect himself but eventually manages to unravel a complex plot involving blackmail, adultery, and private sex shows. Wolfgang Preiss plays a creepy doctor, and Edmund Purdom is around as well. The impressive score is by Ennio Morricone, and the film looks great thanks to cinematographer Vittorio Storaro, on his way to his triumph with Last Tango in Paris. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide

An actor writes a play for the members of his second rate thespian group. A strange man who conducts a seance brings about a young boy a couple had always wanted. Each member of the troupe may indulge in a fantasy while the boy watches. Four women drag off a dwarf who lectures on sex education. A matronly actress brings him to a home for retired actresses where the director tries to find hidden meaning in statues. One woman believes she is suffering from a fatal ailment. The young boy watches as an aging actress defies time and temporarily regains her youthfulness. This disjointed story then returns to the seance where all the fantasies began. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

The Beauty Jungle can hardly be considered an expose of the beauty-contest business, since most of what happens in the film is what the average viewer has suspected all along. The lovely and graceful British leading lady Janette Scott stars as an ambitious typist who enters the "Miss Globe" pageant. She doesn't care what she does or whom she hurts along the way, the result being that she wins the competition. But when the anticipated decline sets in, she confronts the same embittered people on the downward spiral that she stepped over during her upward climb. Cliched though it may seem on paper, The Beauty Jungle is fascinating in its own garish way; the film was issued to the US under the title Contest Girl. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this western, a bad guy finds the tables have turned and that he is now being pursued by vengeful townsfolk. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide