Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule Quiz

Harry Lime

Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule came up with a fabulous quiz. I found it via the delightful Self Styled Siren. Thanks!

1) Second-favorite Stanley Kubrick film.

Barry Lyndon, gorgeous but duller than watching paint dry, ymmv.

2) Most significant/important/interesting trend in movies over the past decade,
for good or evil.

Remaking television shows from the 1960's into feature films. This was done in the 1960's with predictable results and I would also mentioned the endless mining/refranchising of comic book characters.

3) Bronco Billy (Clint Eastwood) or Buffalo Bill Cody (Paul Newman)?

Buffalo Bill Cody, hands down.

4) Best Film of 1949.

The Third Man or Kind Hearts and Coronets

5) Joseph Tura (Jack Benny) or Oscar Jaffe (John Barrymore)?

Ohh, tough one, but I will go with Oscar Jaffe

6) Has the hand-held shaky-cam directorial style become a visual cliché?

Yes, and I was so over it before it really got to be a standard, like in Abel Gance's Napoleon of 1927 (and the same goes for split/multiple images within the frame).

7) What was the first foreign-language film you ever saw?

Dersu Uzula (I loved it) and The Earrings of Madame De on the same day. Quite the double bill.

8) Charlie Chan (Warner Oland) or Mr. Moto (Peter Lorre)?

Mr. Moto which was a recent delightful discovery for me.

A cold hearted killer and a resouceful friend to have, too.

9) Favorite World War II drama (1950-1970).

Gosh, I don't have one, the first that comes to mind is From Here to Eternity.

10) Favorite animal movie star.

Rin Tin Tin


11) Who or whatever is to blame, name an irresponsible moment in cinema.
I'm stymied

12) Best Film of 1969.
Bambi Meets Godzilla

13) Name the last movie you saw theatrically, and also on DVD or Blu-ray.
So's Your Old Man (WC Fields 1927) and on DVD Revolutionary Road

14) Second-favorite Robert Altman film.
Gosford Park (The Player is my favorite)

15) What is your favorite independent outlet for reading about movies, either online or in print?

A whole slew of blogs including the afrementioned and I really should be working.....

16) Who wins? Angela Mao or Meiko Kaji?

Tilt head sideways and begin blank stare like a golden retriever.

17) Mona Lisa Vito (Marisa Tomei) or Olive Neal (Jennifer Tilly)?

Olive Neal, Bullets Over Broadway is, perhaps, Allen's funniest film.

18) Favorite movie that features a carnival setting or sequence.

Only one?? Nightmare Alley and the murder in Strangers on a Train or the decadent Devil is a Woman???

19) Best use of high-definition video on the big screen to date.

No clue, probably something Pixar

20) Favorite movie that is equal parts genre film and a deconstruction or consideration of that same genre.
Any film by Douglas Sirk?

21) Best Film of 1979.

Was there one? I can't think of one. Norma Rae?

22) Most realistic and/or sincere depiction of small-town life in the movies.

True Heart Susie in the silent era and Shadow of a Doubt in the talkie era. Then again, there is The Best Years of Our Lives.

23) Best horror movie creature (non-giant division).
The Creature in The Bride of Frankenstein and King Kong (1933), they both had soul and you cared for them. Okay, I cared for them, sue me.

24) Second-favorite Francis Ford Coppola film.
The Godfather (Godfather II is my favorite and bet I am not alone in this humble opinion)

25) Name a one-off movie that could have produced a franchise you would have wanted to see.

Anything with Bogart, Mary Astor and John Huston directing

26) Favorite sequence from a Brian De Palma film.

The museum chase from Dressed to Kill.

27) Favorite moment in three-strip Technicolor.

All of The Adventures of Robin Hood or simply Dorothy emerging into Oz

28) Favorite Alan Smithee film. (I had to look this up)

In honor of Mr. Karceski, Showgirls

29) Crash Davis (Kevin Costner) or Morris Buttermaker (Walter Matthau)?

Are you serious? Buttermaker.

30) Best post-Crimes and Misdemeanors Woody Allen film.

Bullets Over Broadway

31) Best Film of 1999.

Topsy Turvey and Toy Story II, I enjoyed both a great deal.

32) Favorite movie tag line.

From the Moment They Met - It was Murder.

33) Favorite B-movie western.

Probably a Roy Rogers or Hopalong Cassidy, I do not have one.

34) Overall, the author best served by movie adaptations of her or his work.

Jane Austin or Shakespeare

35) Susan Vance (Katharine Hepburn) or Irene Bullock (Carole Lombard)?

Susan Vance, in my heart of hearts Lucy Warriner (The Awful Truth)

36) Favorite musical cameo in a non-musical movie.

Nat King Cole in Blue Gardenia

37) Bruno (the character, if you haven’t seen the movie, or the film, if you have): subversive satire or purveyor of stereotyping?

Not seen it.

38) Five film folks, living or deceased, you would love to meet.

A dinner party with Rudolph Valentino (duh), Nita Naldi (she sounded like so much fun), Billy Wilder (he was just brilliant), Vincent Price (the food would be divine), George Cukor (he knew all the dish and would tell you).

If you want to post yours, pay a visit to Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule

Ruby Keeler Centenary

Seeing the above photo you can readily understand the appeal of Ruby Keeler. She was a lovely creature. Keeler's centenary is August 25, 2009.

I confess, Keeler's appeal as a dancer and actress has alternately amused, bemused and flummoxed me. But, love her or hate her, who cares? The big musicals staged by Busby Berkeley for Warner Brothers during the peek of 1933-1936 are still jaw dropping and incredible fun.

Footlight Parade is my favorite of the big musicals, it's got a great cast including most of the regulars, Frank McHugh, the delicious Joan Blondell, Ruth Donnelly, Dick Powell, Guy Kibee and James Cagney. Loaded with snappy dialogue, a troup of scantily clad beauties and great songs by Al Dubin and Harry Warren and the most awesome musical number ever filmed (okay, okay, this is my opinion). Ruby mellowed and ripened as a performer and was far less flat than in 42nd Street and shined with some of the snappy banter.

Ruby exhibiting all her dubious musical charms from "Sitting on the Backyard Fence" from Footlight Parade:

Okay, so Ruby does not tap dance here, but this is my absolute favorite Busby Berkeley number from Footlight Parade:

Untimely Passing - Robert Cushman

Robert Cushman 1946-2009

If you have ever have visited the Margaret Herrick Library to do any research and your research included a look at any of the gazzillions of photo files in the collection of the Herrick, you owe a fervent and silent thank you to a gentleman and gentle man who passed away a few days ago, Robert Cushman. Cushman was the curator of the Roddy McDowall Photograph Archive housed at the Margaret Herrick Library in The Fairbanks Center for Motion Picture Research on La Cienega Blvd.

I learned this incredibly sad news a few days ago and this news that affects me very deeply. As many may or may not know I am reaching the conclusion of my project, Rudolph Valentino The Silent Idol, His Life and Films in Photographs. I could not, nor today can I comprehend that my finished project will not be seen and critiqued by this man. His unerring eye, his experience, what a loss.

Robert was a generous man with his time and his expertise. His work at the Herrick enriched the collection by leaps and bounds. His work on the massive Fairbanks collection, incredible. He was a huge fan and expert on the work of Mary Pickford. There is his book on Mary Pickford a collaboration with Kevin Brownlow, Mary Pickford Rediscovered. It is a stunningly gorgeous book and remains a book that is a standard by which I judge all photo books on Hollywood. He set a pretty high bar.

I was not a close personal friend of Robert's and the afternoon I spent in the back at his cubicle looking at original photos with him will remain a treasured memory. His work touched my life and I am grateful to have crossed paths in this small way. Anyone who does research at the Herrick owes him a thank you and I can only hope the future generations who will conduct research will know they have Robert to thank.

I have no doubt his colleagues will miss him greatly and I mourn their loss and send my condolences. I cannot imagine who can replace him. I think it is a testament to his greatness as an archivist and curator that the Academy will have a very tough time finding one so qualified. None will know the collection as Robert did.

Farewell Robert, you've gone too soon. I'm so glad you were here and I got to say hello, even for so brief a time.

Apologies to Jeffrey and Tony for cropping you out of this photo, nothing personal.

The 14th Annual San Francisco Silent Film Festival

True Art Transcends Time....

Douglas Fairbanks as The Gaucho

I've recovered as well as can be expected. It's amazing how exhausting a film festival can be, I can only imagine the people running it are dead for weeks afterward.

The 14th annual silent film festival was, once again, a fabulous and exhausting weekend. This is one of my favorite weekends of the year, I look forward to it and I am never disappointed. The venue is a fabulous vintage theater and the people who fill the auditorium clearly want to be there and they view each film with great enthusiasm and loud applause. The musicians are top notch and the films are usually stunning to look at and cover a wide variety of territory. This year was no different; we had films from China, France and Czechoslovakia and, of course, some really wonderful American silent films.

The opening night program always seems to pull out the stops with a Big Hollywood Vehicle. This year’s opener was no different. A MOMA print of Douglas Fairbanks’ The Gaucho got the weekend off to a rousing start. The Gaucho is a late film and a very different one for Fairbanks. His character of El Gaucho is a charming bad boy with a ready grin as many of Fairbanks’ characters can be. In addition to all of the usual here was a darker character, a more cruel and wicked character. He smoked incessantly, he drank, he wenched, he lusted and he was violent. He robbed not to avenge the poor, but to enrich his own coffers. This was not the man who penned Laugh and Live (of course, he really didn’t pen that either). In my own long-winded fashion, this was not the Doug Fairbanks the Boy Scouts would recommend. Lupe Velez played his love interest and very much lived up to the moniker of “spitfire.” She gave as good as she got and very nearly stole the film from Fairbanks, almost. Also notable in the cast was an unbilled cameo by one of the most recognizable faces from the silent era, and one who appeared in several films this weekend, Mary Pickford as the Virgin Mary. The film was introduced by Jeffrey Vance and Tony Maietta who also did the intro for the 2 color Technicolor test/outtakes of Mary Pickford showing the effects for the heavenly aura and the matte effects. The film was spectacular in the use of the hanging miniature and matte painting. Fairbanks was spectacular in his stunts and skill with the bolas, we would expect nothing less from Doug. The Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra debuted a new score for The Gaucho. It was a terrific score and a great success judging by the reaction of the audience. A Standing O, well deserved.

Rodney Sauer in his gig suit

Amazing Tales from the Archives is always a screening I refuse to miss. It is both a happy and sad experience. Sad to see little fragments that remain from various lost films; happy to see the good work being done by the various film archives to preserve even the smallest of clips. This year also featured the debut Screen Snapshots Seventh Series which was restored by Anne Smatla, the 2008 Fellowship recipient. Clara Bow was one of many stars to be seen to good advantage in this short film. The Academy Film Archive also presented some rare fragments that were recently preserved, including a trailer (very title heavy which was a shame) from a lost Constance Talmadge film Polly of the Follies. Also screened was a brief tantalizing snippet from a lost film starring Ramon Novarro A Lover’s Oath. On the piano was the wonderful Stephen Horne, who played beautifully for films he'd not seen.

Fairbanks, the original swashbuckler had a little competition this year in the presentation of Bardleys the Magnificent. This was a prime example of an MGM swashbuckler that really delivered the goods. It was great to see John Gilbert as the hero (a bit of a rogue, actually) and the lovely, really lovely Eleanor Boardman romance on screen. The stunts were very Fairbanksian, not quite done with Doug’s élan, but still brought the audience to cheering (myself included). I’m so grateful that this film was not only discovered, but preserved and also now available on DVD. Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra played the film beautifully. One can see very readily Gilbert’s appeal in this film, very tongue in cheek, yet very natural. Vidor’s slick direction was aided by the terrific camerawork of William Daniels. The film had lushness and a bit of tongue-in-cheek that was hard to resist.

The Wild Rose was not viewed by me in its entirety, and I do regret not being able to see the entire screening. The film was introduced by Richard Meyers and we also had the distinguished guest Qin Yi, widow of the star of the film Jin Yan (the Rudolph Valentino of Chinese cinema). Qin Yi received the first “Living Legend” award from the Silent Film Festival and also was tasked to return home with an award for the Chinese Film Archive to celebrate their efforts in film preservation. Wang Renmei plays “Little Phoenix” a wild child in a rural town. She reminded me a great deal of Mary Pickford, one with a spunky attitude who was a leader amongst the children of the village and not above a little chicanery. She had a real winning smile, manner and a terrific charm. Jin Yan portrayed the artist from the city was very much the dashing, art deco city boy. He had all the charm of Valentino; think Valentino’s 1925 film Cobra and you will get the picture. Sadly, I left the film part way through. I hope to get the opportunity to view this film in its entirety as I feel it will be well worth revisiting.

Underworld a 1927 Paramount gangster film directed by Josef von Sternberg was everything it was cracked up to be. It featured the humongous George Bancroft as Bull Weed. I always thought he was a big guy next to Bogart and Cagney in Angels with Dirty Faces (and others), but seriously, he was a huge man. Clive Brook appears as a former lawyer and drunkard with the moniker, Rolls-Royce. Evelyn Brent plays Bull Weed’s moll, Feathers. Comedian Larry Semon was cast as the rather fey character Skippy Lewis. You could tell this from his manner and if you couldn’t, his stop at the pink powder puff dispenser in the Dreamland café should have clued you in and telegraphed the point home. It is the first time I’ve seen this infamous piece of machinery which is a device well known among the Valentino fans. The film was gritty, had a nice deep focus, many stunning close-ups and plenty of violence. A really nice miniature of the hearse that was to rescue Bull Weed from the gallows can be seen intercut with shots of the real hearse. This was the kind of film Warner Brothers did so well in the 1930s, but this was a real precursor to the genre. Stephen Horne received a well deserved Standing O, his intense score supported the action of the screen to perfection.

The Wind starring Lillian Gish and Lars Hanson is a film that is not unfamiliar to most. Directed by Victor Seastrom for MGM in 1928, it was Gish’s final film for MGM, in fact, her final silent film. Gish plays a sweet girl from Virginia traveling to a desolate spot in Texas (actually the Mojave Desert) to live with her cousin and his family. It does not take long for poor Letty to rouse the ire and jealousy of her cousin’s wife seen brandishing a large knife carving up the carcass of a steer, if you get the subliminal message. Letty’s charms have not gone unnoticed by the cowboys and she is forced to choose a husband. Letty has already had a run in with the absolutely wonderful and slimy Montagu Love as cattleman, Wirt Roddy. (Love was a classic villain in many a silent film, talkies revealed his delight British accent and he was cast more often than not as a benign father figure in the 1930’s). I won’t spoil the plot for anyone who has not seen this intense film, its unforgettable the first time you see it. It was enhanced by the Mighty Wurlitzer under the expert hands of Dennis James and with the added SFX of authentic wind machines and pistols. I found the wind machines a bit loud, but I expect this was due to their rather close proximity to where I was seated.

I skipped Aelita, Queen of Mars, the final screening for Saturday evening. I’ve seen the film, it was a long day and I was tired and happily gave up my seat to someone who had not seen the film. I’m sure the experience was much as it was when I saw Dennis James play it back in 1991 at the Castro. James on the Mighty Wurlitzer and also a vintage Theremin. The film is a designer’s dream, cubist and just fascinating; stills do not to the film justice. If you have a chance to see the film, do not pass it up.

Oswald the Lucky Rabbit was a program of pre-1928 Disney cartoons. Prior to the birth of Mickey Mouse there was Oswald. Eight silent shorts were shown with Donald Sosin on the piano (and performing cartoon vocals and sound effects). Sosin was aided by his wife and son in this regard. Leonard Maltin and Leslie Iwerks introduced the shorts. Leslie Iwerks is the granddaughter of Disney’s great collaborator, Ub Iwerks (who also was an inventor of the famed Multiplane camera).

I skipped Erotiken, the Czech silent. I was on the mezzanine when the film ended; the response was excellent from what I heard.

So’s Your Old Man was a chance to see W.C. Fields in one of his few surviving silent films. On display was Fields' classic “golf routine” and it still has the power to evoke gales of laughter in the audience. With or without dialogue, Fields is hilarious, and in this film he is also very sweet. The scenario was by Ben Hecht and directed by Gregory LaCava. That Fields and LaCava had a less than friendly relationship on this film did not seem to affect the comedy, as usual, Fields was brilliant. The only thing I do find disturbing is the moustache; I do not know why it was a necessary prop to the Fields countenance. In 1926, Fields was not the familiar face (and voice) he would become in the talkies and on radio. I suspect it was more of the “every comic has a moustache or gimmick” Fields talent was not gimmick enough. Alice Joyce played the Princess with a delicious tongue in cheek. She also wore quite simply the most fabulous clothes of the weekend. Her eye makeup was pure Theda Bara, but the cloche hat and gowns, my dear she looked splendid. Charles Rogers (not yet nicknamed “Buddy”) was fresh out of Paramount School plays the romantic lead in the sub plot. He’s quite handsome, quite charming and just shy of his huge success in William Wellman’s Wings. Not much to do but look decorative with his leading lady. One can readily see what Mary Pickford saw in him a few years later. Dr. Phil Carli tinkled the ivories as only he can for this film. He was, in a word, brilliant. I only wish Dr. Carli had been given more to do during the festival than this one feature (and the short that preceded the film).

I gave up after that, I missed Fall of the House of Usher and with great regret, Lady of the Pavements, the closing film of the weekend. If I learned to take the Monday off after the festival, I’d make it to the final film. I will make every effort to do that next year; this festival is too good to miss. The staff, the volunteers, they do a bang up job and I will bet it takes them weeks to recover from this. I can only hope they all take a nice vacation before planning next year.

The San Francisco Silent Film Festival a few years back began to show a short film that would precede each feature. This year the short films were all early Biograph films. This was the highlight of the festival for me. It was an absolute treat (and it was a real treat) to see several early Biograph films projected on the big screen in 35mm. Incredibly, some films were recent strikes off original Biograph negatives housed at the Library of Congress. The clarity of Billy Bitzer’s camera work was a joy to behold. It was also a real thrill to see Mary Pickford in her first year on film. She was a charming seventeen year old and a comedienne of great natural ability with an almost instinctive economy regarding her acting style. Pickford and the camera, well it was a marriage made in heaven. She was allowed to play a wide variety of roles, not the stereotypical little girl persona that she is best remembered for.

The 1909 film They Would Elope was, I think, my favorite short of the weekend. It was almost as much fun watching the film as it was picking out the Biograph regulars in the background. The story was solid; the performance of Pickford was sheer delight as her frustration (and exhaustion) mounted. Kate Bruce was Mom, a very young Bobby Harron could be seen getting the horse and carriage, Mack Sennett was the rube with the wheelbarrow, Arthur Johnson as the preacher and rounding out with James Kirkwood as Dad. I see that apparently Henry B. Walthall could be seen in the background of the crowd scene and Owen Moore was in the car, I missed Owen totally. It was a sheer delight, as was The Trick That Failed.

It was abundantly clear that Biograph was the Tiffany of studios at that time. Not only more stars, but the films were of a much higher quality. The films they made were very good product, it is no wonder Biograph was such a huge success. As a case in point, the 1910 Thanhouser film The Actors Children which screened during the Archives program was a released year later and was a much less cohesive film. The film was very primitive film both in acting style and in cinematic style. There was a standing set and some brief exteriors were shot. That said it could not hold a candle to the quality of a film such as They Would Elope. The other delightful aspect of watching a series of Biograph films was to pick out the players in the back ground as I previously mentioned and also note some of the background props that popped up as often as Gladys Egan seemed to.

That’s it for my long-winded review. See you next year!

The Case of the Vanishing Juror - a New and Long Overdue Look at the Roscoe Arbuckle Trials

Joan Myers has been researching the Roscoe Arbuckle trials for the last 5 or so years. She's uncovered a wealth of information about the case, so much so, this puts serious question to the two previously penned tomes on the subject, David Yallop's The Day the Laughter Stopped and Andy Edmonds Frame Up. A new manuscript in the works and one hopes that after all this time the real truth about that infamous party and the aftermath will finally come out.

You can get a preview of what will be a fascinating book here in Joan's recent blog post at the excellent New Research in the Feminist Media as well as in a recent podcast. Updated here to add a link to another posting from Joan. Man, I can hardly wait for the entire book, this is going to be terrific reading!

Joan also did a Q&A interview with Andre Soares at his Alternative Film Guide and this is also a very interesting and appetite whetting piece.

When Joan's book is published, poor Virgina Rappe whose reputation has been sullied for lo these many decades, might have her day in the court of public opinion, at long last. Unfortunately, she's still dead and really won't care.

Viginia Rappe posing with her beloved puppy Jeff

David Pearson's excellent site on Roscoe Arbuckle can be found here. Everything you want to know, and more.

The Circus of Death

Crowds lined up to view Valentino's body

The recent and very sudden death of the pop icon Michael Jackson gave me pause to reflect on interesting parallels between two events 80 years apart: the uncanny similarity to the "Circus of Death" that accompanied the untimely passing of silent screen idol Rudolph Valentino.

Valentino was touring across country in the summer of 1926 to promote his new film, The Son of the Sheik. He fell ill on August 15th and on August 23, 1926, 12:10 pm; Rudolph Valentino died suddenly after a brief illness. A fuller account of Valentino's final journey can be read here.

Jackson was on the verge of a comeback tour, much as The Son of the Sheik was a comeback film for Valentino.

Technology in 1926 was nothing like the instantaneous news outlets such as the internet of the 21st century. The progression of Valentino's illness and death were reported on the street outside the hospital in numerous editions daily with up to the minute updates. Screaming headlines and shouting newsboys! Today, the news is posted second by second on Twitter or Facebook and fed to CNN and other cable news sources. The headlines still scream in a variety of neon colored text and accompanied by cell phone photos and video from the i-reporters. The coverage and saturation is unceasing.

Both Valentino and Michael Jackson were icons in their respective fields. Valentino’s image was that of a “love god” an object of fantasy to women. His personal life was something mysterious as the on-screen image shrouded the real man. Valentino was misunderstood in his time at the height of his fame. The fans could not separate the image on screen from the person. Like Jackson, his personal image also suffered from scurrilous personal attacks in the news. Jackson as "The King of Pop" also lived a life that was shrouded in mystery and speculation. He was also much misunderstood. Now that Jackson has passed, like Valentino, his friends have come forward to defend him, to reveal some personal anecdotes that shed light on the man behind the mask.

Valentino loved children and had a great desire to have a brood of children to raise and romp and play with. Valentino did not live to have this desire granted. Valentino doted on his nephew, the children of his business manager and the children of friends and co-workers. Jackson similarly loved children and worked tirelessly for charities on the behalf of the underprivileged. He was raising three children at the time of his passing.

Valentino died with his estate in a shambles. He overspent on antiques, pets and a lifestyle sometimes beyond his means. He was generous to friends and was a spendthrift not investing in tomorrow. Money flowed through his hands like water or grains of sand. Valentino’s estate sold many of his earthly possessions at a very public auction, many items he paid great sums for sold for a pittance. The crowds hoping for a souvenir of the great lover crowded the preview and the auction.

Jackson certainly had much more business acumen than Valentino. That said, his estate is also apparently in a shambles, deeply in debt to the (reported) tune of half a billion dollars. Jackson reportedly has some very valuable assets. The contents of his Neverland Ranch were to be sold at auction earlier in 2009. That auction was stopped, but one would suspect that now with Jackson’s demise, the items will again be offered to the highest bidder to pay down the estate debt.

Valentino’s family and his business manager, S. George Ullman, fought a lengthy battle over Valentino’s estate from late 1926 until it was finally settled in 1948, twenty-two years later. One hardly thinks that there would have been anything left for either side to squabble over. It was a no win situation.

Jackson’s family is already making legal plays to take care of business of the estate prior to the entry of a will and before the body has been buried. Given the shape of the estate and the future of Jackson’s children, this may prove to be a twenty year battle, as well. Only time will tell.

At the time of Valentino’s passing in New York, his body was transferred to Campbell’s Funeral Parlor for embalming and it was decided with the massive crowds there would be a public viewing. Reportedly 100,000 people lines the streets of Manhattan to get a chance to pay their final respects or to satisfy curiosity. The crowds turned ugly and there was some disturbance and rioting. Valentino would have been horrified. A harrowing chronicle of Valentino’s passing and the circus of death aftermath can be found in Irving Shulman’s 1967 book, Valentino.

Valentino’s body was shipped across country for burial in Hollywood. This was a journey Valentino’s brother Alberto found to be very moving as he witnessed so many personal and sincere examples of grief for the loss of his brother. Valentino was interred in Hollywood, in a borrowed crypt awaiting a proper shrine to be built. The elaborate memorial tomb was never constructed and Valentino lies next to his great benefactor, June Mathis in a humble crypt.

Jackson, likewise is about to have a very public viewing. His body is to be transported to his famed Neverland Ranch in Santa Barbara where friends and fans will be allowed to pay their respects. In New York the Apollo Theater is having a memorial in his honor. There is no word on what kind of memorial will be constructed to honor Jackson and his legacy. Will Neverland Ranch become a Graceland West and shrine? It is too soon to tell.

Valentino was not the first shockingly unexpected celebrity death nor will Jackson be the last. The only thing that has not changed is that when a celebrity dies unexpectedly, it is a circus of death and the public eats it up.

The Great Train Robbery 1903 - Fifty Years/Fifty Films

The iconic close up from the 1903 film

Whomever said overt violence on film is a sad reflection on the effects of modern technology and overexposure to violence in video games has never seen Edwin S. Porter's The Great Train Robbery released in 1903. Plenty of violence and plenty of bodies for a film that runs less than 12 minutes.

Filmed in the wilds of Fort Lee, New Jersey for Hollywood had not been invented yet, The Great Train Robbery is noted for being the first linear/storyline film. The film begins at plot point A and moves through plot point Z to the wow finish in a very compact fourteen scenes. In 1903 this was pretty revolutionary. With a running time of just under 11-12 minutes (depending on projection speed) it was a blockbuster.

The paybox is blown and the paymaster, dead

Having previously viewed this film in several film courses and in clips in any number of documentaries on film over the years, I confess, I tended to write it off as a primitive curiosity. It was with a more serious intent I sat down to view it again and have to say, I thoroughly enjoyed it. As a modern viewer with more than a few silent films under her belt, I'd say in spite of all the western cliches that spawned from this little film in the last 106 years, it's still a pretty good picture. A corker, in fact.

Surprisingly, this little film has given me a new appreciation for the Western genre. It's a genre I've often ignored for no good reason. I'm going to look forward to viewing some more early efforts by mostly forgotten cowboys like Art Acord, Fred Thomson, Tom Mix and WS Hart. Admittedly, the last two are not really forgotten, but it's new territory for me.

The final gun battle, the posse wins

Tim Dirks has a thorough review and break down of the film here.

The entire film can be seen here, including some original hand colored tints.



This film also is noteworthy for starting the career of another legendary cinematic cowboy and pioneering producer of the early silent era, G.M. "Broncho Billy" Anderson. David Kiehn has authored a fabulous book on Essanay, Broncho Billy and the Essanay Film Company, I highly recommend it. You can also see David and some great early films if you are in the SF Bay Area by visiting the Niles Essanay Silent FIlm Museum

G.M. Anderson as an innocent passenger, gunned down by the train robbers

I'm a little behind on chronicling where I am in the 50 years, 50 films, believe me, I've watched more than this. Hopefully a much fuller update over the Fourth of July Weekend.

It began with a tango - June Mathis and her unique friendship with Rudolph Valentino

 

The world was dancing.
Paris had succumbed to
the mad rhythm of the
Argentine tango.
– The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921)

The Argentine Tango came to American shores as early as 1911 and was considered quite shocking for the day. Vernon and Irene Castle did lend some respectability to the tango in their ballroom dance exhibitions. True tango madness among the youth of America did not reach a zenith until 1920-1921 with the release of the film The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. The tango in the film The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse had something that Vernon and Irene Castle did not, the pure, raw sensuality that was Rudolph Valentino. For this we must thank a woman who is relatively unknown today, June Mathis.

Valentino as Julio, portrait by Arthur Rice

Hollywood history and legend has widely credited June Mathis with discovering Rudolph Valentino. Valentino landed the plum role of Julio in The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse because Mathis recommended him after she saw him in Clara Kimball Young’s film The Eyes of Youth. Rudolph Valentino’s star began its irrevocable ascent because of her foresight, her vision. It was the guiding hand of June Mathis and the sensitive direction of Rex Ingram that helped Valentino give a performance that stands firm to this day. Not only was it through her vision that Rudolph Valentino gained stardom, they developed a fond friendship lasting until his untimely death in 1926. Their friendship was no romance, she was to Valentino a wise and matronly figure that Valentino looked to for guidance on more than one occasion.

June Mathis portrait by Evans

June Beulah Hughes was born in June 30, 1892 in Leadville, Colorado (this date is disputed and is listed in other sources as January 1887). Almost nothing of her childhood years has been recorded for posterity. A biography of June Mathis is in process and one hopes it will shed more light on her life and work. It is known that she went on stage very early and won some fame doing imitations, of whom is lost to time as I could not find any specific references. June worked in vaudeville and was cast in several plays; she was cast in Whose Baby are You? in 1902 and toured across the country. . She began her professional career as a writer with the popular female impersonator Julian Eltinge (coincidently, Valentino’s future co-star).

June Mathis later wrote about her experiences with Eltinge in an article entitled “The Wave Length.” It has been speculated that Mathis actually became aware of Valentino through the 1918 Eltinge film An Adventuress. Would Mathis have seen this film? It is intriguing point of speculation to think that they may have met during the filming, but that is simply not the case. Valentino emphatically stated in interviews at the time that he and Mathis did not meet until he was signed to play Julio.

After leaving the stage to pursue her passion for writing, June and her mother moved to New York City, where she studied writing by day and studied at the movies by night. Soon she felt confident enough to enter a script-writing competition. She lost the competition, but fortune smiled on her and in 1916 she found herself working with director Edwin Carewe at Astoria Studios. In a remarkably short span of time, she advanced to heading the scenario department. This was a portent of things to come. June traveled to Hollywood and Metro Studios after securing a contract with her scenario for The Toys of Fate. Fame, fortune and power were just around the corner.

Mathis believed her success came from the emphasis she placed on developing smooth plots with a focus on theme. In “The International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers,” June’s talents are described, "Her strength lay in careful pre-preparation of the shooting script along with the director, cutting out waste in production while at the same time sharpening narrative continuity."

At Metro Studios Mathis met the great Russian actress, Alla Nazimova. According to Gavin Lambert’s excellent biography of Nazimova, Nazimova sought Mathis to write the scenario for Eye for an Eye (a lost film). Lambert also states that Mathis “..was not one of those women or men whose philosophy is: Only power matters, and if you have it, forget charm. Mathis also inhabited worlds above and beyond. She believed in the ‘magical’ properties of an opal ring that she always wore when writing, and in reincarnation, spiritualism, and the Book of Revelations, one of the reasons she insisted on Metro buying the rights to Vincente Blasco Ibañez’s The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.”

At that time, Vicente Blasco Ibañez's popular war novel, The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1918), was considered by studios to be unsuitable for the screen. Mathis took it upon herself to prove otherwise. It was through her perseverance that in 1919, Richard Rowland, then head of Metro, purchased the rights to the novel for the then- huge sum of twenty thousand dollars. June took on the difficult task of writing the adaptation of the novel, a sweeping story of a family, separated and engulfed by the tragedy of World War I. Mathis also exercised her considerable sway in obtaining director Rex Ingram and pushing for--and getting--the relatively unknown Rudolph Valentino for the lead role of Julio.

Valentino, Mathis, Ingram and Pomeroy Cameron pose for a gag shot

Mathis also took Valentino under her wing and advised him about playing the role, he went to her freely for this guidance. Valentino himself stated he “became” Julio for this film, essentially, eating, drinking, breathing Julio. Mathis was on the set so much, she became not only the scenarist, but the de facto head of production.

Contrary to what the naysayers in the industry and within Metro had predicted, the film was a tremendous hit. Stock in Ingram, Valentino and Mathis went up 150%. The enormous success of the film meant that June Mathis became a voice to be reckoned with in Hollywood.  In modern parlance, she became "a real player."

Valentino, Mathis and Ingram pose with extras during filming of the tango sequence

She worked with Valentino and Ingram again on The Conquering Power. This was a less happy experience for Valentino and Ingram’s final cut of the film reduced his role to bare storyline. Mathis also added her unique touch to Nazimova’s modernized version of Camille.

Having been attracted by a larger salary offered by Famous-Players Lasky Mathis left Metro at much the same time as Valentino did through his own salary dispute. At Paramount she worked on two of Valentino’s subsequent films, one enormously successful, the other an abysmal failure.

Blood and Sand is filled with the touches and trademarks Mathis was noted for, the philosopher who watches and comments on the unfolding drama, the exotic and decadent Dona Sol (played with delicious wit by Nita Naldi) the spiritual quality of Gallardo’s wife (played by Lila Lee) and the torment of the bullfighter Juan Gallardo, torn between his love for Carmen and his violent passion for Dona Sol.

The spiritual aspects of The Young Rajah, his character’s ability to foresee the future, can undoubtedly be credited to Mathis as well. The exoticness of the film is lost in the footage that is extant. The various stills from the film showing Valentino dressed as a Rajah in a lamé turban or reclining in a pearl encrusted swan boat and dressed in little more than pearls himself are but tantalizing glimpses since this footage did not survive decomposition.

After the fiasco of The Young Rajah, Mathis’s personal friendship with Valentino was tested when Famous Players/Lasky failed him. She was one of those loyal friends who posted bail after he was arrested for bigamy. Fellow Paramount star Thomas Meighan also posted bail money for Valentino. Meighan and Valentino were not close friends. Meighan made the gesture because Valentino was a “decent fellow”.

Thomas Meighan, Valentino and Mathis on the steps of the LA County Courthouse

In 1923, June Mathis moved to Goldwyn Studios. It was a large step up the corporate ladder, She had been tempted by the huge salary and the offers of autonomous control. Mathis wasted little time , quickly green-lighting Erich von Stroheim’s legendary film Greed based on the Frank Norris novel McTeague.

June Mathis in her office

She wanted to create another epic picture, and this time the film would be Ben-Hur based on the story by General Lew Wallace. Mathis had total control over the production; however, because of her decision to shoot in Italy the film was plagued by scheduling and budget problems. After much scrabbling and searching, George Walsh (brother of director Raoul Walsh) was cast as Ben-Hur, Francis X. Bushman was cast as Messala and Charles Brabin was slated to direct. Brabin was married to Theda Bara and later directed the rather delightfully kinky pre-code Mask of Fu Manchu with Boris Karloff and Myrna Loy.

The film was in trouble almost from the very beginning. June Mathis arrived in Italy to discover Brabin was uninterested in her supposed autonomy over the production. She was also shocked to discover that almost none of the sets required for filming had yet been constructed. The Italian labor “was not costly, nor was it fast.” Strikes were common and caused even more delays.

The production was allowed to move forward in filming the sea battle with a limited number of ships (original projection was for seventy to be built, the film ended up with thirty, still a considerable number). It was at this juncture that one of the great legends of Ben-Hur grew, many extras were hired for this sequence and many, apparently, could not swim. It is reported that up to seven people died and that their clothes were later tossed into the sea when no bodies were found. Later reports have disputed this legend, but it does not alter the fact that filming in Italy was a fiasco and Mathis was to blame.

In the interim, Samuel Goldwyn was ousted from his own studio after a sellout resulting in the merger that became M-G-M Studios. Irving Thalberg the production head of M-G-M was stunned by the sea of red-ink and the lackluster rushes from the Italian shoot. He decided to replace June Mathis with Bess Meredyth and Carey Wilson, and Brabin with Fred Niblo. Ramon Novarro was recast in the title role, unceremoniously replacing George Walsh. The final product retained little of Mathis's original script. The film lost nearly one million dollars for M-G-M, but it was and is critically acclaimed and was a prestige release for the studio. It was reissued with a movietone soundtrack and effects in 1930. June Mathis returned from Italy bloodied, but not beaten and now married to Italian cameraman, Sylvano Balboni. She had been stripped of her power in the film industry a position whe would never regain.

June Mathis continued to work with M-G-M, earning a notorious place in film history with some scholars due to her rewriting and editing of Erich von Stroheim's Greed. The original concept by von Stroheim followed nearly every detail of Norris's novel. While von Stroheim cut the film and it was cut down further by Rex Ingram, MGM ordered Mathis to cut the film to a more manageable ten reels. Mathis removed the grotesque sub plot and made changes to the titles while cutting the film much tighter to the story of McTeague. von Stroheim was far from pleased "I consider that I have made only one real picture in my life and nobody ever saw that. The poor, mangled, mutilated remains were shown as Greed." Mathis is cast as the betrayer of genius for cutting film down to a commercially viable length. With nothing else to compare it except stills of the lost footage, Mathis cannot be blamed for the butchering of Greed, she was, after all, on the company payroll. Despite this and von Stroheim's later comments, Greed remains a powerful film.

June Mathis was contracted by John McCromack and First National to create what ultimately were extremely successful films for Colleen Moore. These films seem very out of character for Mathis, based on her personal history and interests. Moore was the light-hearted flapper, Mathis anything but. Mathis also wrote the scenarios for two films directed by her husband, The Greater Glory and The Far Cry.

June Mathis and an extra on the set of Four Horsemen

In 1924 Rudolph Valentino reappeared in her life. He and his wife, Natacha Rambova approached her to take Natacha’s story of The Hooded Falcon and smooth its rough edges and finish the scenario for filming. The Valentinos were to produce this film for Ritz-Carlton Productions; it would star Valentino and friend Nita Naldi. The Valentinos embarked for Europe and Mathis proceeded to work on the scenario. Upon their return from Europe, the Valentinos were not pleased with June’s scenario and it was at this point that their friendship cooled. It is unknown what the Valentinos objected to about the rewritten scenario and what exactly caused the rift in their friendship. History has painted Natacha Rambova as the “bad guy” but according to Rambova’s memoir, it was George Ullman who broke the news to Mathis that her work was unacceptable and that Mathis refused to have anything further to do with the Valentinos. Valentino and June Mathis were not destined to work together again. After his divorce from Natacha Rambova, Valentino and Mathis reconciled their friendship. Mathis paid visits to him on the set while he was filming The Son of the Sheik. They were both in attendence at the premiere of the film in Los Angeles and it was the last time June Mathis saw Valentino.

In August 23, 1926, June Mathis lost her friend Rudolph Valentino. Upon hearing of his death, Mathis said “My long association with Rudolph Valentino endeared him to me, as he has become endeared to everyone who knew him. My heart is too full of sorrow at this moment to enable me to speak coherently. I only know that his passing has left a void that nothing can ever fill and that the loss to our industry is too great to estimate at this time.” June Mathis was among the shocked and sorrowful mourners at Rudolph Valentino’s funerals in both New York and in Hollywood. In a final act of friendship, she solved the immediate need for a burial place Valentino. She loaned the use of her crypt at Hollywood Memorial Park until the Valentino estate could be settled and a proper memorial built for Valentino’s final resting place.

Remarkably, even after the fiasco of Ben-Hur, June Mathis again returned to M-G-M as a freelancer. Her talent as a writer and a fixer was undeniable, but her days of autonomous power were over. Mathis penned what would be her final film for Samuel Goldwyn, The Magic Flame which starred Ronald Colman and Vilma Banky.

In 1927, on the eve of a surgery June Mathis wrote her will on her personal stationary in the hospital. She survived the surgery, but died suddenly on July 27, 1927 in New York. She was attending a performance of The Squall starring Blanche Yurka when she suffered a seizure. She was carried out of the theater into the alley where she died, of what is presumed to be a heart attack. She was only 38 years old. Sylvano Balboni traveled to New York to collect her body. Rudolph Valentino’s body was quietly re-interred in Balboni’s crypt and June Mathis was laid to rest. After the June Mathis estate was settled, Sylvano Balboni sold the crypt to Valentino’s brother, Alberto in 1934. Valentino had a final resting place, at last, ironically next to June Mathis.

June Mathis’ early death robbed Hollywood of one of its most talented creative forces. She was a crack scenarist and screenwriter, she was a judicious and canny film editor, she fixed troubled scripts, and she was a casting director. She had an unparalleled eye for talent. Along with Lois Weber, Alice Guy Blanche, Mary Pickford, Frances Marion, and Bess Meredyth, Mathis was a female pioneer in a business ruled by men. Had Mathis lived there is little doubt she would have made a contribution to films of the depression era. She was truly one of Hollywood’s great women pioneers. Not everything she touched turned to gold, but she had vision and passion and her influence was felt in Hollywood for many years. A great deal of her work does not survive; much is difficult for the average film fan to see. But her place in Hollywood and film history is secure. If for little else, she will always be remembered for the grand epic film, The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and for her friendship with and discovery of Rudolph Valentino. No small feat that, but she does deserve a much closer look and to be remembered for the great pioneer that she was.

I could not have prepared this without the great information on June Mathis contained in Thomas J. Slater’s detailed piece from a past issue of Griffithiana. Nor could I post this without a nod to Tom, many thanks!

Reading the Movies

Movieman0283 has posted an excellent piece Reading the Movies in which you are charged with the task of compiling "A list of the movie books which had the greatest impact on me."



So, without further ado, here are the 10 most influential films books for me:


1. The Parade's Gone By by Kevin Brownlow - without exposure to this book, my love and lust for the art of silent film would never have matured. I cannot but add that Brownlow's additional two books in what I call "the Brownlow Trilogy" are must reads. I cheat a bit and name them here, as well: The War, The West and The Wilderness and Behind the Mask of Innocence.

2. Hollywood Babylon by Kenneth Anger - I do not know a soul who has not read this piece of fiction. It was one of the first film books I found on the local library shelves, it was salacious and gloriously illustrated (well, in some parts, some were horrifying). This book taught me to read autobiographies and just about any other book with a wary eye. It helped me develop my own personal bullshit meter. Of course, initially, I fell for it hook, line and sinker, I was only 15.

3. Louise Brooks by Barry Paris - I still consider this to be one of the finest film biographies ever written. Brooks was flawed and Paris pulls no punches, it is a compelling read. A fascinating woman on screen and off.

4. The Silent Clowns by Walter Kerr - I lack the slapstick gene, really. Kerr's book was one of the first to cover the art of silent comedy and it helped me, one of the slapstick impaired understand the joys of Laurel and Hardy and Buster Keaton.

5. The Art of the Hollywood Photographer by John Kobal - Kobal's unerring eye for beauty in this volume opened my eyes to the art of glamor photography. This book has inspired me for my own project.

6. The Fred Astaire Ginger Rogers Book by Arlene Croce - A step by step exploration of the dance and what it all meant in the Astaire/Rogers films. A fabulous book I return to quite often.

7. Spellbound in Darkness by George Pratt - A terrific overview that is still incredibly readable.

8. The Art of Alfred Hitchcock by Donald Spoto - Quite simply still one of the best examinations of Hitchcock's films. Well worn, it is a favorite.

9. A Pictorial History of the Silent Screen by Daniel Blum - the photos made me want to see everything. Growing up made me lament the loss of so many, now extant in stills.

10. A Million and One Nights by Terry Ramsaye - the 1926 history of the business of cinema, written from within the industry, but a fascinating work. An original edition is still on my wish list.

A Possible Cure for Depression-Era Blues

In 1933 audience woes were distracted (pleasantly) by visages of scantily clad chorines in The Gold Diggers of 1933. Ginger Rogers is seen here about as scantily clad as can be from the opening number We're in the Money (ere-we, in-hay the oney-me).


In the LA area, 1933 optimism was fueled by optimistic donuts.

I found this in an old movie program and it made me smile. I suspect we could use some optimistic donuts today, as well.

Fifty Years and Fifty Films

Le scarabée d'or (1907)

My lofty goal for the next six months is to watch 50 different films and comment about them here. This initial list may change, in particular with regard to some of the older films this is subject to their availability on DVD. I also doubt the films will be viewed in chronological order.

Some of the films on this list of 50 are genuine Hollywood classics and well known to most people. That said, as much as I love them, you will not find The Maltese Falcon, Casablanca, Wizard of Oz, The Women or a billion other films on this list. I wanted to avoid some of the more obvious classic choices and to explore some films I've not seen as well as revisit a few very old and dear friends. I've seen roughly half of them previously. Most of those prior viewings were quite some years back, so the films will be nearly new again. A few are old and dear favorites and I simply could not imagine not listing them, Sunset Blvd, for example. I've sprinkled in a few foreign films, and really should have added more of them. Maybe save that for another posting reserved for all the foreign films I've never managed to watch (shame on me).

Some of the films on the list present the opportunity to view some very early screen debuts of later greats. A few titles I am not sure I will be able to view. I'm going to ask around for those, we'll just have to see how it plays.

tba - 1900
tba - 1901
President McKinley Inauguration Footage 1902
The Great Train Robbery 1903
The Mermaid 1904
The Whole Dam Family and the Dam Dog 1905
Humorous Phases of Funny Faces 1906
The Golden Beetle 1907
The Thieving Hand 1908
A Corner in Wheat 1909
Frankenstein 1910
The Lonedale Operator 1911
The Musketeers of Pig Alley 1912
The Perils of Pauline 1914
A Fool There Was 1915
Gretchen the Greenhorn 1916
The Poor Little Rich Girl 1917
The Cook 1918
The Roaring Road 1919
The Last of the Mohicans 1920
The Affairs of Anatol 1921
Flloish Wives 1922
A Woman of Paris 1923
Aelita Queen of Mars 1924
The Goose Woman/The Eagle 1925
The Winning of Barbara Worth 1926
The Cat and the Canary 1927
Lonesome 1928
A Cottage on Dartmoor 1929
City Girl 1930
The Millionaire 1931
The Mummy 1932
Footlight Parade 1933
Crime Without Passion 1934
Captain Blood 1935
Sabotage 1936
The Prisoner of Zenda 1937
Holiday 1938
The Women 1939
The Letter 1940
The Devil and Miss Jones 1941
Random Harvest 1942
Destination Tokyo 1943
The Uninvited 1944
The Picture of Dorian Gray 1945
The Razor's Edge 1946
Kiss of Death 1947
Sudden Fear 1948
Kind Hearts and Coronets 1949
Sunset Blvd. 1950

L'éclipse du soleil en pleine lune (1907)

Rudolph Valentino - The Silent Idol & Birthday Boy

Happy 114th Birthday Rudolph Valentino

Rodolfo Guglielmi immigrated to America in 1913. In 1917, he traveled to Hollywood and by 1920 became a movie star. In 1921 he found the love of his life and by 1925 he’d lost her. Also in 1925, he was considered to be a “has-been” in the film industry. In 1926, Valentino was miraculously back on the top of the cinematic heap. The comeback was too late for he died on August 23, 1926, In that hurly burly 13 years, a cinematic legend was born.

It has been over 80 years since Rudolph Valentino struggled for that final breath on that hot and muggy August day. Silent film, Valentino’s art form died not long after he did. But many years later he is still remembered and revered. Hundreds of people visit his grave every year. His few films, when shown at festivals and revival houses always draw large crowds. Clearly there is still some magic left on that old silver screen.

Although his stardom lasted a brief five years, unlike those with much longer careers, he is remembered as an icon of the silent era unlike any other. His name still evokes a sense of mystery and of romance.

So on this day, not coincidentally Rudolph Valentino’s 114th birthday, I offer up a bit of shameless self promotion.. Please indulge me.

Fall 2009 will finally see the fully ripened fruit of my obsession with all things Valentino. That being the publication of my book, Rudolph Valentino: The Silent Idol - His Life and Films in Photographs.

The 1970's saw the birth of the "coffee table book". A large tome filled with luscious photographs. The form reached its peak in the 1990's, with the publication of beautiful large scale books on a number of photogenic Hollywood notables. Crawford, Garbo, Keaton, Chaplin, Pickford and Louise Brooks were all subjects in royal treatment (some more than once). But where was the book on Rudolph Valentino, that icon of silent film romance?

To date, no book has appeared and nobody else picked up the gauntlet, therefore the project fell to me. I’m a procrastinator by nature, so the gestation and labor period for this book was nearly the length of time that Rudolph Valentino lived. My original thoughts of “why won't someone” and "what if" or "wouldn't it be great if" slowly morphed into "why not me?" and eventually to "okay, let's just do it."

The Rudolph Valentino website had a much shorter gestation period. At the time I created it there was little about Valentino on the web. I said to myself "why not?" I learned some HTML coding, took the plunge, and created one of the ugliest websites known to man. It looks better now.. It’s still rather low on the tech scale and lacks bells and whistles, but I am proud of the content. I've been webmistress of the Rudolph Valentino website for the last eleven years ...which has only increased my desire to do this book. Happy Belated Birthday Rudolph Valentino-- the time has finally come to celebrate your life and films in pictures.

The book will have plenty of eye candy and, I hope, enough substance to keep the film fans happy. It is not intended as a full-scale biography, such as Emily Leider’s 2003 biography Dark Lover. My book will fill in a few gaps which have been ignored or not fully covered elsewhere, but please do not expect a full bio, it's the photographs that will tell the story. Many of the photographs included are from my collection. I've been blessed that many other collectors have generously allowed me access to rare images and documents. A great number of these images have never been published. Those that were previously published have not been seen since the 1920s. I’m grateful that I’ve been trusted with these treasures.

On screen Valentino was the personification of a romantic ideal, a supreme feminine fantasy. Off screen, he was more simple man, a simple man of paradoxically extravagant tastes, who loved animals, tinkering with machinery, and riding in the hills surrounding his home, Falcon Lair.

Rudolph Valentino’s life has been examined in many excellent books, but his interior life is still an enigma. Writing and correspondence, much unavailable to the public, reveal more of the inner man. Valentino fans have much to look forward to with two upcoming books, the first drawing on the Valentino/Guglielmi family archive which includes much of Valentino's personal correspondence and the second being the updated memoirs of S. George Ullman, Valentino's business manager and friend. Riches await.

The outer man, the charismatic, cinematic symbol and private person, we can examine though the many photographs that were taken during lifetime. That Valentino was handsome is a given. Charm and good humor, revealed in his more relaxed candid shots, are sometimes elusive on screen. It is said that Valentino rarely laughed and had little sense of humor. In private photos this tale is proven wrong, he often laughed and enjoyed life and its pleasures to the fullest.

A few names from the silent era still live in immediate memory. Louise Brooks and Buster Keaton still live in the public consciousness. Keaton is timeless, his comedy has not aged. In today’s more cynical world, it has become even more relevant. Chaplin, now seemingly out of fashion is much more an antique of bygone days (and the comedy people will hate me for making this blanket statement). Louise Brooks is an icon, a stirring presence who is better known today than she was during the silent era. Her cool appeal is the epitome of modern. Valentino deserves his place among this pantheon.

H.L. Mencken evocatively described Valentino after their brief meeting in 1926 as, “...one who was catnip to women.” Valentino’s name still evokes an aura of romance, a melancholy whisper of days gone by, an intangible dream. It is my honor to at long last present his life and films in pictures.