Description

The Exotic Ones by Jimmy McDonough

Hardcover – FAB Press – Aug 2023 – 360 pages

June. Ron. Tim. Together they were the Ormond Organization, a Nashville mother-father-son trio who cranked out a wild bunch of movies, from Lash LaRue westerns to the stripper-gore-musical outrage THE EXOTIC ONES, then, finally… Baptist extravaganzas. The Ormonds plunged into every area of showbiz, from vaudeville to drive-in movies to Christian filmmaking. They did it all on a shoestring –  by themselves, with no studio to back them.

Theirs was a glittery world like no other. Populated by inebriated cowboys … spook-show mentalists … non-acting country stars … UFO testifiers … men in gorilla suits … fire-breathing, mud-wrestling ex-strippers … egocentric magicians … rockabilly monsters … sweaty preachers … pint-sized evangelists. Not to mention a con artist or ten.

At the height of their frenzied career Ron and June experienced a spiritual awakening after their private plane crashed on the way to a premiere. The Ormonds turned their back on secular show business to produce a series of shocking, surreal religious pictures, including an unbelievable trio of films for Mississippi Baptist preacher Estus Pirkle – such as THE BURNING HELL, which made millions without ever being shown in an actual movie theater. The inside story on the three Ormond-Pirkle religious pictures has never been told – until now.

Forensic biographer Jimmy McDonough interviewed June Ormond extensively and she revealed things she told no other soul. June was the guiding force of the family, a woman who held her own in the cutthroat male-dominated world of film production and distribution. Her commentary is hilarious, brutally honest and at times heartbreaking.

Oversized format quarter-bound hardcover with gilt edged pages, presented in a stunning gold embossed, textured laminate slipcase with bellyband.