When I first met Valentino I was amazed to find not the romantic hero, but just a boy, quite frank and sincere. Why, he is only a child! At first, I was disillusioned, but in another way I liked him the more. There were two distinct Valentino’s – Rudy the artistand Rudy the man. The one was swashbuckling cavalier who flashed across the screen into the hearts of millions. The other was a simple boy with a childish sensitiveness often mistaken for weakness by the un-discerning and the prejudiced. American men, particularly had no use for him. They looked down on him, criticized him, which hurt him for he was anxious to be liked; he wanted friendship and respect. Had they taken pains to know him, they would have given him both; but he couldn’t talk business, politics, or the stock exchange. He had no mentality for such things. They lay beyond his grasp because he had utterly no interest in them.
All About Rudolph Valentino 