Valentino - the movie

[mrsl]

Lot of questions about this one. Obviously the movie was a total sham, and since I read quite a bit about Rudy, I was hoping the movie would answer them, it only posed more questions though.

The movie treated him as a bachelor but I know he was married. Correct?

Who was the female the movie suggested he was linked to (the director's wife, and who was the director) ? Was it Vilma Banky? I never heard of her.

Did he die of ulcers?

Did he really have a friend who managed his money honestly, or was his 'friend' actually screwing him over? I understand he was broke when he died.

This movie referred to his movie as 'The Shiek' yet it's really 'The Son of the Shiek', correct? Also, imdB says the movie was made in 1926, which was the year he died, this movie made it seem like it launched his career. I know imdB is not the end-all of information, but this seems like it shouldn't be to difficult a date to keep straight.

I'm not all that much interested in Valentino because I find him humorous more than romantic, but although movies are often totally fictitious, with stars like Rudy, they usually try to keep a 'little' bit on the truth path.

Anne

[Vecchiolarry]

Hi Anne,

Well, 'shoot, shat, shyt' - - I intended to watch this movie and totally forgot. Rats & Bummer.........

I, too, wanted to know what they'd put in and leave out; so I'm glad you wrote about it and asked some questions.

It doesn't seem, from what you've written, that it was very credible!

1) Rudy was married twice; once to Jean Acker and once to Natacha Rambova. Divorced both or they divorced him???

2) Vilma Banky was a silent movie star, who only married once - to Rod La Roque and remained married for several decades - until his death... She never remarried.
She was very beautiful and blonde and was billed as 'The Hungarian Rapsody'......

3) He died of peritonitis. Is that related to ulcers???

4) He made "The Shiek" in 1921 and that made him an internation star. A previous film, "The Four Horsemen of the Apocolipse" (1921) made him a name and a star in the US...
A sequel, "The Son of the Shiek" was his last film, made in 1926 and starred Vilma Banky too.


Did the film mention Pola Negri? She was his lover at the time of his death and made quite a ballyhooed spectacle at his funeral...

Thanks,
Larry

[Moraldo Rubini]

...3) He died of peritonitis. Is that related to ulcers???

I believe peritonitis is inflammation of the abdominal lining. So someone who doesn't know any better might misdiagnose it as an ulcer, but it's not... It's quite serious, which I guess is evident from Valentino's case.

[pktrekgirl]

Anne -

Valentino was married twice and divorced from both women. The first, Jean Acker, was not really a marriage as she left him within hours of the marriage ceremony and the marriage was never consummated. The marriage to Natacha Rambova was real, and lasted about 4 years (less a few months). Valentino met Natacha on the set of CAMILLE (1921) and they were married (illegally) in Mexico some months later. Valentino was actually jailed on bigamy charged because of this marriage, however, because he had been incorrectly advised that by going to Mexico, he could skirt the 'cooling off period' between the first divorce (from Acker) and the next marriage (to Rambova) that was prescribed by California law.

Rudy and Natacha were divorced several months before his death in August of 1926....and I believe Natacha was the one who sought it. There had been alot of tension in their marriage brought on by her dominance over him...and her perpetual disagreements with the studios and interference with his work. She was so disruptive that the studios forbid her on the sets of his films...and when he agreed to their demands in order to keep working, she got majorly pissed.

There are two 'sheik' films - THE SHEIK (1921) and THE SON OF THE SHEIK (1926), which was his last film. Both where huge successes...and THE SHEIK was one of the two films, along with THE FOUR HORSEMEN OF THE APOCALYPSE (1921), which propelled him into super-stardom.

The friend who was managing his money (as well as his career) was a gentleman called George Ullman, who really was a good manager and true friend to Valentino. The reason Valentino died broke is because he and Natacha went through money like it was water. Natacha had grown up in a very wealthy family and as a result, had expensive taste. Rudy had grown up in a small, remote Italian village...and as a result...had expensive taste.

I am not sure who the movie claims he was linked with...but he did a couple of films (including THE FOUR HORSEMEN OF THE APOCALYPSE, but at least one other that I am aware of - THE CONQUERING POWER, produced in the same year) with Alice Terry as his co-star. Alice was the wife of the director of the films, Rex Ingram. One of the reasons Valentino stopped working with Rex Ingram is because of his feeling that Rex was sculpting the films too much around his wife. But I do not believe Valentino had any sort of intimate relationship with Alice Terry.

Perhaps the movie is mixing the persons of Alice Terry and Natacha Rambova into one person or something? I don't know...I've not watched it yet.

Other prominent co-stars were Agnes Ayres, Nita Naldi, Nazimova, Gloria Swanson, and Vlima Banky. Valentino was never in a film with Pola Negri, to my knowledge.

It should be noted that Vilma Banky was NOT in THE SHEIK (1921). Valentino's co-star in that one was Agnes Ayers. Agnes made a smaller appearance in THE SON OF THE SHEIK (1926), but Valentinos 'real' co-star in that film was Vilma Banky. She was also his co-star in THE EAGLE (1925).

Hope this helps.