As you all know I am a huge movie fan - but until recently the only silent movies I had seen were Laurel and Hardy shorts on a Saturday morning and the Louise Brooks film Pandora's Box (I'm not counting the modern silent 'The Artist' in this)
But just recently I found myself drawn to Rudolph Valentino, obviously I knew who he was, and that there was a terrible outpouring of grief when he died at the age of only 31, in 1926 but I had never seen one of films, and had never really paid any attention to him.
But, movie lover that I am, I thought it was time to broaden my horizons so I purchased The Sheik. I mentioned this to my Mother as the DVD was sent to her address and she admitted that she didn't think much of him judging by what she had seen, too much, white make up and heavy eyeliner - that was until she saw the DVD cover pictured below:
She took one look at the photo and exclaimed - 'Now I can see what all the fuss was about!'
And it still comes across in these films today, some 87 years after his death. The first close up of him in The Sheik was so powerful, his charisma and sexuality still so very evident across the years.
Enraptured by his image in The Sheik, I next purchased - Blood and Sand, another really good film, in which Valentino moves the viewer and makes the heart flip of the hardest modern woman. It is so strange that he can still have this affect on people. And so my fascination with the man has grown over the last 2 weeks, and yesterday I received my 3rd Valentino film - The Eagle.
Yet again his appeal is so evident in the movie, and at the end the viewer is moved to tears when the Czarina signs the death warrant for his character.
I have never felt such a pull towards and actor, other than to Marilyn Monroe, I was drawn to her because of her beauty, vulnerability, talent and humanity. Valentino has all that and the added attraction of being an incredibly gorgeous, sexy man!
The films themselves are not of the best quality and I would love to see a digitally restored pristine print, but maybe that would detract from the original charm.
These films had to have good but simple stories, and they really were, and Valentino was the greatest silent male star there was, he could really make you feel what the character was feeling with just a look. In those days the acting really was done with one look.
And as Norma Desmond put it in Sunset Boulevard - 'We didn't need dialogue. We had faces!'
And oh how true it was. Now I have found Valentino, I intend to keep learning about him, the man, the life. He is one of the more fascinating of the stars, because of what he was, what he still is, and I hope that anyone out there reading this will give a Valentino movie a chance, and other classic movies as well. There was a time before colour pictures, there was a time before sound pictures and that time was Valentino's.
For more information please visit the Rudolph Valentino Society by clicking HERE
and
Falcon Lair - The Rudolph Valentino Homepage by clicking HERE
