| Valentino | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Ken Russell |
| Produced by | Irwin Winkler Robert Chartoff Harry Benn |
| Written by | Ken Russell Mardik Martin |
| Starring | Rudolf Nureyev Leslie Caron Michelle Phillips Carol Kane Felicity Kendal Seymour Cassel Huntz Hall |
| Music by | Stanley Black |
| Cinematography | Peter Suschitzky |
| Editing by | Stuart Baird |
| Distributed by | United Artists |
| Release date(s) | October 5, 1977 |
| Running time | 128 min. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $5,000,000 |
Valentino is a Ken Russell film very loosely based on the life of Rudolph Valentino as recounted in the book Valentino, an Intimate Exposé of the Sheik, written by Chaw Mank and Brad Steiger. The film starred Rudolf Nureyev, Michelle Phillips, Leslie Caron, and Carol Kane.
Upon release the movie was critically and commercially a failure, most likely due to the extreme dramatic license taken with Valentino's life.[1]
Russell has described his decision to make the film as the biggest mistake of his career.[2]
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The film begins with a newsreel sequence showing the chaos around the death of 31-year-old film star Rudolph Valentino (Rudolph Nureyev). Thousands of fans mob the funeral home until order is restored, at which point the important women in Valentino's life come to mourn. Each remembers him via flashbacks.
The first of these women is a young movie executive and screenwriter named June Mathis (Felicity Kendal), who appears to have had an unrequited love for Valentino. She remembers him before he was famous, when he lived in New York City and worked as a dishwasher, taxi dancer, and gigolo. He shares with her his dream of owning an orange grove in California. After mobsters rob him, he decides he must make the move west. Once in California, he upsets Fatty Arbuckle (William Hootkins) by grabbing the starlet next to Arbuckle and romancing her into becoming his first wife, Jean Acker (Carol Kane). Acker's glamorous and luxurious life, made possible by acting in movies, motivates Valentino to try acting himself. Mathis recalls seeing him in a bit part in a movie and, based on that alone, recommending him for a larger role in her next project, The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. The hugely successful 1921 film launches Valentino to superstardom, and she is proud to have discovered him.
Back at the funeral, Alla Nazimova (Leslie Caron) makes a flamboyant entrance. She proceeds to make a scene and, when the photographers ask her to repeat it for the cameras, she obliges. Nazimova claims a relationship with Valentino and recalls working on Camille with him.
Next Natacha Rambova (Michelle Phillips) enters and tells reporters that, even though she and Valentino are physically separated, they are still close via the spirit world. Her flashback shows that she was at first Nazimova's lover, but that, realizing Valentino's star would far outweigh Nazimova's, she decided to take advantage of Valentino's infatuation with her to do some social climbing. During the filming of The Sheik, she seduces Valentino with a seven veils dance. Despite knowing he is in the midst of divorcing Acker, she insists on going to Mexico so they can marry. Once they return to the states, Valentino is arrested for bigamy. Because Jesse Lasky (Huntz Hall) refuses to pay bail for Valentino, he has to spend the night in jail, where the guards deny him bathroom privileges and, with the other prisoners, taunt him about his lack of masculinity. The result is his complete humiliation.
On the set of Monsieur Beaucaire, Rambova and Sidney Olcott (John Justin) take over directing. Two stage hands, wondering if 'Rambova calls the shots in bed, too', toss a pink powder puff onto Valentino's lap. Rambova demands that whoever did it come forward or she and Valentino will walk off the set for good. Valentino finishes the picture, but Rambova insists he refuse future work at Paramount until Lasky meets certain demands. Lasky suspends them and they end up broke. A man named George Melford (Seymour Cassel) approaches them; Melford is meant to be Valentino's real-life manager, George Ullman. He offers to help them book personal appearances for Mineralava, a beauty product company. The tour is a success, and, with Melford's help, Valentino and Rambova negotiate a good deal with Lasky.
A dramatic moment comes when Valentino reads a newspaper article questioning his manhood. Earlier, the film shows Valentino dancing with Vaslav Nijinsky (Anthony Dowell) in a way that casts doubt on Valentino's sexuality. Whatever his true attractions are, the article outrages Valentino, who challenges the reporter to a duel. For 'legal reasons' the duel becomes a boxing match. Rory O'Neil (Peter Vaughn), who just happens to be a professional boxer, stands in for the reporter. The fight becomes a ballet of sorts, and flashbacks to the dance with Nijinsky parallel the match. Valentino eventually lands a blow which wins him the fight. However, he now begins to exhibit signs of an ulcer.
O'Neil asks for a rematch, this time a drinking contest. Despite his ulcer, Valentino accepts. Although Valentino defeats O'Neil again, his excessive drinking is too much for the ulcer, which perforates and kills him.
Valentino is notorious for its inaccuracies. Since its opening in 1977, some people have repeated incidents and characterizations from the film as if they were fact.
Valentino was indeed a taxi dancer, although whether he was a gigolo or not has never been proven. He left New York due to the John de Saulles case, not a robbery. Even though Valentino had studied agriculture in Italy, he hated it. He took up acting in New York City and had already decided to make it his career by the time he arrived in Hollywood.
He never insulted Fatty Arbuckle; in fact, the two became good friends and, when Arbuckle was blacklisted, Valentino saw to it that he received some work. Valentino had known Acker awhile before they married, and he married her because he was madly in love with her, not because he was after her lavish lifestyle.
Mathis was plainer and older than portrayed. She also did not exhibit anything other than a platonic love for her friend. She had discovered Valentino in a bit role, but he had come to her office for an audition, which then led to her recommending him for The Four Horsemen.
Valentino was jailed on bigamy charges; although his stay was likely not as extreme as portrayed, it did traumatize him. The pink powder puff incident was actually a remark by a reporter for the Chicago Tribune after Valentino had ended his relationship with Rambova. Valentino did challenge the reporter to a boxing match, but the reporter never responded and the match did not take place.
The rest of the film is almost pure fantasy. Valentino was never in a boxing match. The perforated ulcer that killed him was likely caused by stress and his refusal to see a doctor. He may have actually recovered from the ulcer, but an infection which set in after an operation to fix it ultimately killed him.
The film was a commercial and critical failure.[3][4] Most reviewers agreed there was 'too much sex' and sub-par acting, including that of the leads.[4][5][6] Many felt that the historical inaccuracies had not gotten past 'the legend to the man'.[7]
Russell fans were not pleased with the film, and the director himself later denounced it, saying, 'What idiot made this?'[3] The film cost $5 million, his most expensive film to that date. The commercial failure almost ended his career.[3]
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