The original theme of Martin Brown’s Play, “Cobra,” having been written for a woman star, obviously puzzled the picture-makers in their efforts to twist it into a virile vehicle for Rudolph Valentino. Therefore, this main idea receives but scant attention in the screen version, the narrative of which, as it is unfurled, is moderately entertaining until the director and his henchmen decide to include a fang or two of the poisonous reptile. It then becomes quite absurd and the accompanying captions assist in the general decline.Nita Naldi is supposed to officiate in the title rôle, but she is not called upon to appear until the story is well on its way. It is soon after her entrance that the real theme is attacked, the adapter having endeavored to shift the importance of the character from Elsie Van Zlla to Count Rodrigo Torriani, which results in the distressing consequences.Torriani, played by Mr. Valentino, is painted as a happy-go-lucky nobleman who finds any pair of feminine eyes enchanting. One might infer that he is sowing wild oats with a vengeance, as he is constantly discovering himself to be infatated with some new fascinating creature. He has only to shake their hands, look into their eyes, and the wicked work is started. One of these charming young women happens to be Mary Drake, a stenographer, who is declared to be sweet and innocent, and is an inspiration to the Count to cause him to mend his ways. This good girl is an artist with paint and powder. Her lips are like cherries and her eyes are liberally outlined with mascara. Yet she is declared to be so serious in her attentions that one would expect her to shy at the sight of a lipstick. The Count falls in love with this Mary, but he cannot resist Elsie’s black eyes, even though she is wedded to his fast friend, Jack Dorning; and this brings about trouble. Elsie is burned to death in a hotel fire and Doming eventually learns of the Count’s conduct. So as to ingratiate the Count in the eyes of the spectators, the scenarist has him make a sacrifice. He insists to Mary that he is just as bad as ever, and the consequence is that she marries Doming. So in this little tale Dorning has two wives, but the Count remains a bachelor. Mr. Valentino takes advantage of the opportunity to wear a variety of clothes. In one sequence he is seen as the Count’s seventeenth century ancestor. After that he wears golf clothes, lounge suits, white flannel trousers with a blue coat, white shoes with a blue suit, and when he dines alone he is so punctilious that he appears in full evening dress. In one sub-title the Count is alluded to as an “indoor sheik,” and the fight that follows gives Valentino credit for a Firpo blow, while his opponent must have a cast-iron jaw.Casson Ferguson, who officiated as the villain in the film version of “Grumpy.” and recently was seen in a similar part in “The Road to Yesterday.” in this current feature fills the sympathetic rôle of Doming in a somewhat stereotyped fashion. Miss Naldi, whose eyes match Sir. Valentino’s, makes the best of a bad bargain. Mr. Valentino’s acting is acceptable, but he is not indifferent to his much exploited looks. Hero Remains a Bachelor.
Posts Tagged With: Rudolph Valentino
1926 – Sufferin Powder puffs
Here is the pink powder puff article published Sunday in the Chicago Tribune, which was the immediate occassion for the asserted wrath of Rudolph Valentino resulting in his challenging the writer to a duel:
“A new public bathroom was opened on the North Side a few days ago, a truly handsome place and apparently well run. The pleasant impression lasts until one steps into the mens washrooom and finds there on the wall a contraption of glass tubes, and levers and a slot for the insertion of a coin. the glass tubes contain a fluffy pink solid and beneath them one reads an amazing legend which runs something like this Hold personal puff beneath this tube and then pull the lever. ” A powder puff vending machine! In a mens washroom! Homo Americanus! Why did someone quietly drown Rudolph Valentino alias Valentino years ago? “And it was the pink powder machine pulled from the wall or ignored? It was not. It was used. We personally saw ‘two men’ as a young lady contributor to the voice of the people is wont to describve the breed step up – insert coin, hold kerchief beneath the spout, pull the lever then take the pretty pink stuff and pet it on their cheeks in front of the mirror. “Another memeber of this department one of the most benevolent upon the earth, burst raging into the office the other day becuase he had seen a young man combing and pomenading his hair in a elevator. but we claim our pink powder story beats his all hollow. It is time for a matriarchy if the male of the species allows such things to persist. Better a rule by masculine women than by effemoinate men. Man began to slip we are beginning to believe when he discarded the strtaight razor for the safety pattern. We shall not be surprised when we hear that the safety razor has given way to the depthatory.
“Who or what is to blame is what puzzles us. Is this degeneration into effeminacy a cognate reaction with pacifam to the virilities and realities of the war? Are pink powder and aarlor pinks in any way related? How does one reconcile masculine cosmetics, sheiks, floppy pants and slave bracelets with a disregard for law and an aptitude for crime more in keeping with the frontier of half a century ago then a twenty century metropolis.” Do women like the type of man who pats pink powder on his face in a public washroom and arranges his coiffure in a public elevator> Do women at heart belong to the Wilsonian era of “I didnt rais my boy to be a soldier”. What has become of the old cave man line? It is strange social phenomenon and one that is running its course not only here in America but to Europe as well. Chicago may have the powder puffs, Lond has its dancing men and Paris its gigolos. Down with Decatur; up with Elinor Glyn. Hollywood is the national
school of masculinity. Rudy, the beautiful gardeners boy. It is the prototype of the American male. “Hells, bells, oh sugar! The foregoing editoral is mild, however, compared with the following published Nov 10, 1925, entitled “thank God for 50 yard McCarty” being a line crushing Chicago full-back: “right at the start we admit prejudice, all sorts of it. Our gorge rises our back hair prickles; we want to chew tobacco and spit; we wan to go home and assert our masculinity by rescuing those torn but so dearly beloved carpet slippers from the waste barrel on the back porch and wearing em despite orders to the contrary. Probaby there’s no one quite so cordially hated by the average American male as Valentino. We admit sharing the feling. Call it what you will. We repeat the admission and announce were proud of it. A symphony in green was Rudy when he passed through Chicago. thank heavens, our green suit went the way of wool five years ago. And a beavor
collar on his overcoat. Great guns, what a man. And the wrises watch worn on a slave bracelet? It gives us a horrible sinking feeling at the pit of the stomach to know that within the next few days tailors and clothing stores will be swamped with requests for green suits, think overcoat buyers will demand beavor collars, tha jewelers will be besought for slave bracelets whatever they are Just like Valentinos. Sadly we acknowledge ourselves that this will happen. “Rudy says he tried to make his wife happy. But a man with my particular temperament being very suspectible to any kind of beauty, whether in feminity or art really hasnt any business with a wife. There always is that feeling of disatisfaction; that consciousness of the women in the background.” As they say in vaudeville and they shot Lincoln. “Rudy doesn’t like marriage because it cramps his style. He says there is too much fun to be found afield to be tied down by the conventions of monogamy. Rudy is a strayer, is this lover of things beautiful? Blood will tell. Heredity and early environment do mold the individual. Green suit, beaver collar, slave bracelet adorning this Don Juan. whos too self-important, too bent on gratifying his fancies, to fancy marriage. Rudys nothing more than a spaghetti-gurgling garnders helper, product of modern feminishm, and all the wishy-washy feminine gurgling in the work cant change him. Thank god for five-yard McCarty.
30 Sep 1936 – Handwriting Tells by Nadya Olyanova
Nadya Olyanova is not a lady for whom one puts it in writing without peril. She can even tell from your chirography and that of your girlfriend whether you two should get married. “Handwriting is the mirror which discloses weaknesses as well as one’s strengths, and to have an intelligent understanding of your prospective husband or wife is to be aware of the causes of the weakness, the motives which often lie hiddin in the inner self,” she states in “Handingwriting Tells,””Many mistakes and much unhappiness could be avoded if every couple contemplating marriage were to submit their handwritings to an expert for analysis”. Somehow it seems a dirty trick to take a lady’s letters to such a one as Nadya olyanova. Yet our author assures us that the Natacha Rambova – Rudolph Valentino matrimonial smashup could have been foretold by a handwriting diagnostician. “Miss Rambova an only child, writing a backhand, was an introverted, seclusive person who preferred her own society to that of other people; nor did she, as did Valentino, seek the approbation of the mob,” she explains. “Valentino, extrovert that he was, with his rightward leaning script, enjoyed mixing with people and was only as discriminating as his exalted postion in the cinema world demanded of him”. Extroverts should marry extroverts, and to stay on the safe side where marriage has possibilities of permanence and happiness means to stay on your side of the diagram
Jul 1925 – Cheers for “The Sainted Devil”
After seeing “The Sainted Devil” I wish to express sincerest appreciation for the acting of “Rudy” and “Nita”. The only thing I didn’t like was the way it dragged in several places, and I am sure no woman was ever as big a fool as Dona Florencia.
From Robert Morris, Pitkin, LA
Sep 1925 – Wants a Fair Chance for Rudy
No matter what the critics may say about this actor we know that he has accomplished good work and if given a fair chance will continue to do so. No one can see his pictures, any of them, and then come away and say he isn’t a good actor. Why do they pick on him? Seemingly, someone is always hounding him.
From Alma Cooper, Huntington, WV
Feb 1926 – Speaking of…
Verily, Natacha Rambova seems to be the Patsy of the motion picture business of late. The papers leaped at the story which the gallant Rudy pulled as the cause of the separation which, by the time this appears, will have developed into a Parisian divorce decree. Natacha, he says, is not a home body. She didn’t want children. She would not cook the spaghetti. She was fond of dogs. She wanted to work. His reflected glory did not satisfy her. She wanted her own career. Bunk! Bunk served with piffle sauce. Great publicity for Rudy. But old stuff. Do you remember the way Gloria Swanson set the dear old souls of Paris wild overheard when she said she wanted five or six children? I believe she meant it, because I have seen her with her two children. She adores them. But I have heard of Mr. Valentino hanging around an orphan asylum, and I cannot quite visualize the picture of the sheik walking the floor of a cold California night crooning to Junior asleep. It was not, in my opinion, playing the game to make an effort for sympathy and publicity at the expense of the woman even if it were true which I doubt. And we must hand Mrs. Valentino credit for her attitude in the whole matter. She would not live with him and his friends, told him so, get out, leaving her belongings to him, and went on her way, avoiding any opportunity to publicize herself at his expense. Divorce is no joking matter, but I cannot hold back a little snicker at Rudy crying on the shoulders of the public yearning for kiddies. There is nothing vindictive or downright mean about Valentino. He’s a pleasant chap and a fine actor, whose delusion is that he is also a business man. Natacha has been criticized for managing his affairs. But we have got to admit that in this case her management was much more commendable than his. And to add to her troubles, the F.B.O Company, for whom Miss Rambova made a picture because she needed the money changed its name to “when love grows cold” after it was finished, with the frank purpose of capitalizing her marital troubles. Miss Rambova protested that it would harm her and create the impression that she was the one who was profiting by deceiving the public into believing it was a screen revelation of their love wreck.
1923 – All the Girls in Sweden Love Him
I am a Swedish Valentino fan. I will tell you that in Europe Rudolph Valentino is the most popular of all the American film stars. John Gilbert and Ramon Navarro are not so poular as Valentino. Here in Sweden all the girls love Valentino and we now anxiously await his next picture “Monsieur Beaucaire” was a wonderful picture and so was “A Sainted Devil”. I wish he will dance in all his pictures.
L.Hermon
Mar 1922 – Commentary
George Glenbrook, Nevada writes Rudolph Valentino does spell his name Rodolpho but everybody seems to prefer Rudolph. So that’s that.
28 Jan 1923- Rudolph Valentino Again in Stolen Moments
Marguerite Namara, the famous and brilliant young American beauty who has won fame and fortune in two worlds by the voice and dramatic ability, has forsaken the operatic stage to conquer the world of the movies. Miss Namara will be seen at the Star Court Theatre in her big production, ‘Stolen Moments,” with Rudolph Valentino, of “The Sheik” fame, to-night. The management, of the Star Court Theatre, after much negotiation, secured this famous picture for a limited engagement, and consider it one. of the events of the season. The story of the photoplay is from the prolific pen of IT. Thompson Rich, who has written many of the most successful plays of the past few seasons. He was commissioned at. a high price to supply Madame Namara’s first, film vehicle, “and if the metropolitan critic know what they are talking about, his work ranks high among his notable achievements as a writer. One of the features of the production are the gowns worn by Miss Namara, which were designed by the famous Chicot, of Paris, and imported.to America especially for use in “Stolen Momenta.” Good, clever comedies are to-day as rare as philanthropists, and in “Just Out of College,” a master picture also shown here to night, a Beanford in the comedy line is presented. Clean, fascinating, and clever, it exudes the spirit of adventuresome youth, and builds up in climaxes that astound us with their uniqueness and complexity. The plot is based on love and pickles, so that sounds good enough, but the film will prove to be amusing and gripping as the best; you’ve ever seen.
1920’s – Rudolph Valentino and NY Speakeasies
Rudolph Valentino was a native New Yorker till the end of his days frequently returning to a place of friends, business connections, and favorite hang-outs. In the 1920’s, Rudolph Valentino was no different than any other famous man about town going to many famous establishments for dinner and entertainment. At the time, Speakeasy’s were the norm with over 30,000 in the city alone. There were a couple of speakeasy’s that were favorite places of his to visit the King Cole room at the Knickerbocker Hotel on West 42nd Street, and the 300 Club, at 151 W. 54th Street. Both were underground and successfully ran and the favorite hang-out of the rich, politicians, broadway and silent film actors of the day. The King Cole Room was famous for the invention of the Bloody Mary. Also, there is a lifelike picture of “Old King Cole and His Fiddlers Three” from the brush of Maxfield Parrish that still exists today. The walls and ceilings in the establishment were fitted in oak paneling and the tables were elaborately carved.
The 300 Club named for the maximum amount of people allowed in the establishment. It was a place where Hollywood and NY agents would gather to meet with up and coming talent. Larry Fay who owned his own speakeasy on West 47th Street was able to convince his friend Texas Guinan to open her own establishment. The 300 Club was small and exclusive and a new home to city’s status elite. but the entertainment offered was very erotic for the time in the form of fan dancers. For more information please read Allen Ellenberger’s Book “The Valentino Mystique”.
21 Sep 1957 – George Raft on Rudolph Valentino
One of the few souvenirs, I have left is a huge photograph of a dark, sultry young man with sleek black hair and most people say, “Why thats Rudolph Valentino. Did you know him”? Yes, I knew him intimately. We were ballroom gigolos together. But that man in the photo is not Valentino. Its me made up and photographed to look like Valentino. When Rudy died so tragically, the promoters were knocking on my door an hour after the funeral saying. “Here’s your chance Georgie. Your a dead ringer for Rudy and you can step right into his shoes”. They dressed me in a Gaucho costume and they took pictures. One enterprising theater man offered me $1500 a week if I’d work up an act with Jean Acker, Valentino’s first wife. I said the hell with it. But I keep the photograph on my bedroom wall just to remind me that no man can step into another’s shoes on resemblance alone.
1924- When Valentino Went to Court
The result was that when Valentino arrived he had to have police assistance to force his way through the crowd of women that stormed the courtroom just to see him. Hundreds of women thronged the side-walks, refusing to obey the orders of the police to move on. They were on hand when Rudy arrived and there were more of them when he left, after paying half the bill of $165.00. It was ten minutes after he came out of the courtroom before the police could make a way for his automobile through the crowd. Such is the price of fame.
1925 – Cobra Movie Revue
COBRA, with Rudolph Valentino, Nita Naldi, Casson Ferguson, Gertrude Olmstead, Claire de Orez, Eileen Percy, Lillian Langdon, Henry Barrows and Rosa Rosanova, adapted from Martin Brown’s play, directed by Joseph Henabery; divertissements, with singing and dancing; “M. W. Balfe,” one of the “Music Master” series; Kharum, Persian pianist. At the Rivoli Edmund Goulding, who has contributed some sterling adaptations to the screen, including that of “Tolable David.” falls far short of his usual standard in the picturization of the musical comedy, “Sally, Irene and Mary,” which he directed as well as adapted. This subject emerges from Hollywood as a species of “melodrama packed with trite ideas and appallingly obvious situations. It is a tawdry preachment concerned with the night life of gold-digging chorus girls, at the close of which the old-fashioned moral holds good. The captions allude to the “Wolves of Broadway.” and the libertine of this picture, Marcus Morton, is designated the “leader of the pack.” Judging from that which is thrown on the screen, Mr. Morton thinks of nothing else except stage beauties, and one opines that he looks in exceedingly good health considering the hours he keeps. Mr. Goulding reminds the spectators that a girl has been out all night, and he shows that she is still so full of life that she enthuse to her friends about the beautiful weather—the sun is pouring its rays through the window curtains. Mary, impersonated by Sally O’Neill, learns so much about the night life that she decides to refuse wealth and return to her Jimmy Dugan, a rather awkward young man who wears the same shirt day after day. Irene, who is loved by a millionaire, is killed in an automobile wreck, which tragedy brings home to the girls the error of their ways, or at least, the fact that they are playing with fire. There is quite an imposing sequence picturing a scene on the stage with the audience in the theatre. It is perhaps the best thing in this effort, and even this is spoiled at the end by a visitation of Irene’s ghost.No picture of this caliber would be quite complete without a moon. Here, through the clouds one perceives a new moon, which is followed by the frolicsome Mary and silk-shirted Jimmy embracing each other. For suspense there is the telegraph operator writing a message as it comes over the wire, with long pauses between words. The séance’s, in the vernacular, are made to suit the occasion, and as this operator writes, the scene is switched to one of a girl and a man in a car racing with an express train, the girl leaning over and kissing the man, when a baby might have known that it was a risky thing to do. Constance Bennett impersonates the more sophisticated of the trio of chorus girls. She is attractive and does as well as one can expect. Movies come and go but this is one that leaves the viewer a positive lasting impression.
Jan 1925 – Motion PIcture Gossip
Rodolph Valentino after five days of fencing scenes, in “Monsieur Beaucaire” turned his back on the Paramount Studios on Long Island, New York and slipped off to Miami, Florida for a rest. When he returned he jumped right into the filming of the adaptation of Rex Beach’s story, “Ropes End”. Joseph Hembery is directing it.
Success doesn’t consist of doing good work only. Above all you must keep your feet on the ground. – Rudplh Valentino, 1924
1926- Sufferin-powderpuffs
Here is the pink powder puff article published Sunday in the Chicago Tribune, which was the immediate occassion for the asserted wrath of Rudolph Valentino resulting in his challenging the writer to a duel:
“A new public bathroom was opened on the North Side a few days ago, a truly handsome place and apparently well run. The pleasant impression lasts until one steps into the mens washrooom and finds there on the wall a contraption of glass tubes, and levers and a slot for the insertion of a coin. the glass tubes contain a fluffy pink solid and beneath them one reads an amazing legend which runs something like this Hold personal puff beneath this tube and then pull the lever. ” A powder puff vending machine! In a mens washroom! Homo Americanus! Why did someone quietly drown Rudolph Valentino alias Valentino years ago?
“And it was the pink powder machine pulled from the wall or ignored? It was not. It was used. We personally saw ‘two men’ as a young lady contributor to the voice of the people is wont to describve the breed step up – insert coin, hold kerchief beneath the spout, pull the lever then take the pretty pink stuff and pet it on their cheeks in front of the mirror. “Another memeber of this department one of the most benevolent upon the earth, burst raging into the office the other day becuase he had seen a young man combing and pomenading his hair in a elevator. but we claim our pink powder story beats his all hollow. It is time for a matriarchy if the male of the species allows such things to persist. Better a rule by masculine women than by effemoinate men. Man began to slip we are beginning to believe when he discarded the strtaight razor for the safety pattern. We shall not be surprised when we hear that the safety razor has given way to the depthatory.
“Who or what is to blame is what puzzles us. Is this degeneration into effeminacy a cognate reaction with pacifam to the virilities and realities of the war? Are pink powder and aarlor pinks in any way related? How does one reconcile masculine cosmetics, sheiks, floppy pants and slave bracelets with a disregard for law and an aptitude for crime more in keeping with the frontier of half a century ago then a twenty century metropolis.” Do women like the type of man who pats pink powder on his face in a public washroom and arranges his coiffure in a public elevator> Do women at heart belong to the Wilsonian era of “I didnt rais my boy to be a soldier”. What has become of the old cave man line? It is strange social phenomenon and one that is running its course not only here in America but to Europe as well. Chicago may have the powder puffs, Lond has its dancing men and Paris its gigolos. Down with Decatur; up with Elinor Glyn. Hollywood is the national
school of masculinity. Rudy, the beautiful gardeners boy. It is the prototype of the American male. “Hells, bells, oh sugar! The foregoing editoral is mild, however, compared with the following published Nov 10, 1925, entitled “thank God for 50 yard McCarty” being a line crushing Chicago full-back: “right at the start we admit prejudice, all sorts of it. Our gorge rises our back hair prickles; we want to chew tobacco and spit; we wan to go home and assert our masculinity by rescuing those torn but so dearly beloved carpet slippers from the waste barrel on the back porch and wearing em despite orders to the contrary. Probaby there’s no one quite so cordially hated by the average American male as Valentino. We admit sharing the feling. Call it what you will. We repeat the admission and announce were proud of it. A symphony in green was Rudy when he passed through Chicago. thank heavens, our green suit went the way of wool five years ago. And a beavor
collar on his overcoat. Great guns, what a man. And the wrises watch worn on a slave bracelet? It gives us a horrible sinking feeling at the pit of the stomach to know that within the next few days tailors and clothing stores will be swamped with requests for green suits, think overcoat buyers will demand beavor collars, tha jewelers will be besought for slave bracelets whatever they are Just like Valentinos. Sadly we acknowledge ourselves that this will happen. “Rudy says he tried to make his wife happy. But a man with my particular temperament being very suspectible to any kind of beauty, whether in feminity or art really hasnt any business with a wife. There always is that feeling of disatisfaction; that consciousness of the women in the background.” As they say in vaudeville and they shot Lincoln. “Rudy doesn’t like marriage because it cramps his style. He says there is too much fun to be found afield to be tied down by the conventions of monogamy.
Rudy is a strayer, is this lover of things beautiful? Blood will tell. Heredity and early environment do mold the individual. Green suit, beaver collar, slave bracelet adorning this Don Juan. whos too self-important, too bent on gratifying his fancies, to fancy marriage. Rudys nothing more than a spaghetti-gurgling garnders helper, product of modern feminishm, and all the wishy-washy feminine gurgling in the work cant change him. Thank god for five-yard McCarty.
2 Jan 1928- Rudolph Valentino Was He Poisoned?
Was Rudolph Valentino poisoned by a jealous woman whose advances he rejected? According to messages from the “Seccolo” of Milan, private detectives in New York are working on a clue which may lead to a solution of the numerous rumors surrounding the death of the famous film star. According to one report, a detective and his wife were the witnesses in a Broadway Night Club of an incident which, it is alleged may afford an explanation of an incident which, it is alleged may afford an explanation of Valentinos illness and death. Valentino, it is stated, was approached by a woman who was apparently in love with him. Valentino turned his back on her and entered into a conversation with another woman. With anger the spurned woman is said to have made a sign to two men. A lady detective says she overheard one of them say “The Indian method is infallible”. One can mix diamond dust with a drink, and it will cause death by internal perforation. Doctors will say death was due to an incurable malady or attributed to appendicitis.
1973 -Valentino Award
Anthony Quinn and Sophia Loren make hand prints in clay on Monday in Lecce, Italy after they had been awarded the 1973 award for their work in films.
25 Dec 1919 – Christmas with Viola Dane
The year was 1919, Christmas was a time spent with family, friends your nearest and dearest. However, this year, Rudolph Valentino did not have anyone to spend Christmas Day with. Silent actress Viola Dane invited her good friend Rudy over for dinner with her family and friendsBand even had him dress up as Santa Claus. For him it was a memorable day he treasured for the rest of his life.
19 Dec 1929 -Chaw Mank Writing a Book
I hope that every fan that reads this will write to me. Also, every Rudy Valentino Fan. I am asking all the “Rudy” fans to send me any articles, write-ups, or poems They have written in Rudy’s honor. I am writing a book called “The Fans Own Book About Rudolph Valentino”.
9 Dec 1913 Enroute to New York
It was the morning of 9 Dec 1913, that I finally embarked on a boat of the Hamburg-American Line and I arrived in New York on 23rd Dec. Just then the city was making ready for Christmas. I think it was that as much as anything that so stabbed me with homesickness and a regret even for the small town that I had said so stifled me and, incidentally, on the way over something occurred to me that probably gave me my first sense of personal gratitude to America and to Americans. An American saved my life on board ship. I was standing high up in the bow, foolishly during a raging storm. I was supporting myself I thought by grasping one of the ropes. All at once, I felt a heavy impact on my shoulders and a moment later a wave leaped over the bow so monumental and so ferocious that it would have swept me from my moorings quicker than it takes to tell. In an instant I would have been snuffed out, extinguished in the forgetful seas. The heavy impact that I felt was the hands of an American who had seen the wave coming and had immediately recognized my predicament and had as immediately acted. This small-great thing caused the latent gratitude I felt to rise up in me and in that I was I am no different from my fellow Italians and gratitude towards those that do a kindness we never forget. So as Christmases come and go I reflect on the memory of the kindness of a stranger who saved my life which I will remember always.
7 Jun 1922- Rudolph Valetino Released
Rudolph Valentino, the motion picture actor, who was charged with having committed bigamy, by marrying Winifred Hudnut, the daughter of a rich American perfumer, before his final divorce decree was granted from Jean Acker, another picture artist, who was his first wife, have been set free. The evidence was found to be insufficient.
8 Nov 1925 – All in the Dark
Rudolph Valentino sat in his suite in the Ritz-Carlton yesterday and admitted that he was “all in the dark” about Mrs. Valentino. They parted two months ago for a marital vacation, she steaming off to Paris and he remaining under the Kleig lights of Hollywood. Valentino came here yesterday, and he sails for the other side on Saturday. Mrs. Valentino is scheduled to arrive on Tuesday aboard the Leviathan. But if the Valentino’s patch up their differences, based chiefly on her demand for a career, the first overtures will come from her. Valentino made that clear, just as clear as he made emphatic his distaste for baggy trousers and other vivid habiliments. Valentino remarked that Oxford bags appeared to be the exclusive penchant of young college boys, said he preferred marrow trousers and a longer coat. He figured that wide trousers and short coats would make him appear shorter. However, he summarized, clothes should not be of importance in the life of any man. What plans had he for his stay in NYC before the boat took him away for two months? Well said, Valentino he will say as many good plays as possible. That will be the most frequent item on his calendar. Then, when he gets abroad he hopes to spend Christmas and New Years in Rome with his brother who may become his continental representative. And above all things, he wishes to rest and relax. When he feels sufficiently eased he may drop in to see Sabatini and Ibanez in search of good movie plots something he finds scarce these days.
21 Sep 1924 – Rudolph Valentino Talks of His Poetry
After all one need hardly be surprised to learn that Rudolph Valentino ostensibly the foremost lover of the so-called Silver Sheet, has blossomed into a poet and a physical trainer. Surely, all great lovers whether move or otherwise, are imbued with the spirit of poetry latent or actual. And as for the role of physical trainer well Valentino is five feet eleven and one half inches and weighs one hundred and sixty five pounds. Furthermore, he possesses the build of an athlete, although at our interview he was noticeably pale. Indeed beneath his eyes he has a purplish tint as if to accentuate the darkness of his orbs. Appareled in a blue serge suit a pleasingly tipped soft hat and sporting a cane and a pair of kid gloves. Valentino made an excellent appearance. Valentino came out with a pamphlet on “How You Can Keep Fit” and he posed for the illustrations . The noted sheik explains how you can attain and admirable body and illustrates by including a number of exercises. My interview with Valentino took place just before he sailed for Europe on the Leviathan. Innumerable women of all ages, some pretty some not so. “I love the poetry of D’Annunzio” began Valentino, who by the way, speaks with a slightly foreign accident. “And I like very much the poetry of Tennyson and Byron. I’m not to be considered a critic, but I like good poetry, whether it is old or new. There is good and bad poetry being printed today, just as there was in the old days. Asked whether or not another volume of his “Book of Day Dreams” would appear and he replied “ I hardly think so because I am very busy now you see. I wrote those poems in my spare minutes during the day but I don’t think I’ll have any more time for day dreaming”.
“You bet my life isn’t an easy one. I worked thirty-six hours at a stretch to complete my last picture finishing at seven-thirty in the morning”..Rudolph Valentino, 1924
20 Oct 1934 – Millionaire’s Daughter Marriage to a Nobleman
Natacha Rambova, the beautiful second wife of the late Rudolph Valentino, has been secretly married to Don Alcaro Urvarz, a Spanish nobleman. The wedding took place at Palma, Majorca, The couple have bought a villa at Palma, overlooking the sea, where they intend to live. Mrs. Valentino is stated to have made a fortune in property speculation in Majorca. According to their friends, the couple were secretly married by the civil authorities in Paris some time previously. In deference to the wishes of the bridegroom’s family, a Roman Catholic religious marriage ceremony followed at the’ Church of San Francisco, in Palma. The bride is not a Roman Catholic. She agreed to the religious marriage to please Don Alcaro’s family, which ls one of the oldest Catholic Basque families In Spain. Only a few friends were present. Natacha Rambova is the adopted daughter of Mr. Richard Hudnut, the millionaire perfumer. She went through two ceremonies of marriage with Valentino. Valentino’s first wife was Jean Acker, There was a divorce In 1922. Before the time required by Californian law for divorced persons to re-marry had elapsed Valentino and Miss Rambova were married. They said that they were “so madly in love with each other that they would not wait.’ As the divorce had not by that time become operative the couple remarried in March 1923. Since the death of Valentino Miss Rambova’ had claimed that she has received spirit messages from him through a medium. “The messages I have received from Ruddy,” she once said, “are wonderful. He has given the most Interesting details of his life over there. He tells me that he is extremely happy.” Miss Rambova also claimed that Valentino had explained his will in which he left her one dollar and about £100,000 to her aunt, his brother, am his sister. “I quite understand,” she said. Natacha Rambova obtained : decree of divorce in Paris against Valentino.
27 Aug 1930 – Rudolph Valentino owed some money
A minor Hollywood sensation has been caused by the suit which Alberto Guglielmi and Maria Strada brother and sister of the late Rudolph Valentino have filed against George Ullman. They charge Ullman with mismanagement of the estate and diverting large sums of money for his own use. Ullman, in the answer he has filed to the charges, says that, far from mismanaging the estate, he found it in a debt-ridden condition and spent years ironing it out. It was Valentino who wrecked his own estate, Ullman claims, for he died leaving debits of over $60,000 into a surplus of $100,000 to be distributed among the heirs. A court hearing will take place at the end of this month, and a decision reached as is whether Ullman shall be permitted to continue as manager and executor of the estate.
10 Sep 1930 – Rudolph Valentino Converting films into talkies
Rudolph Valentino fans are up in arms at the proposal to convert his films into talkies. The proposal was made by M. Paul Roger a Paris acoustic expert, who plans to take “Blood and Sand” and fit the living voice to the lip movements of the dead star. He says this would create the illusion that Valentino was speaking. Admirers, however, who still number millions are determined to prevent what they describe as sacrilege and an insult to his memory. They could not endure al alien voice masquerading as part of his magnetic personality.
30 Jun 1923 – Jean Acker Announcement
Vaudeville Star and ex-wife of Rudolph Valentino Jean Acker has signified her intention of marrying again, this time to a Spanish Marquis whose family tree was planted about the time of the Battle of Tours. The marquis answers to the name of Luis de Bazany Sandoval and one of his ancestors was a celebrated painter.
5 Oct 1922 Patron of Arts Valentino Purchases Works at Exhibit.
The Valentinos have arrived in the social world of New York. At least, that part of the social world which is linked with the artistic. Mrs. Valentino, it appears, has established–or at least reiterated– herself as an artist by promising to send some of her works to the Italian-American Art Association Exhibit at the Civic Club, according to wire advices from the East. Mr. Valentino and his wife visited the exhibition of Italian artists yesterday. Upon being presented Mrs. Valentino declared she desired to become a member of the Italian-American Art Association. Rodolph became a patron of the arts simultaneously. For after he viewed the exhibit he purchased five works.
3 May 1938 – Rudolph Valentino By His Wife Natacha Rambova
The morning of Monday, Aug. 16, 1926, while at my father’s chateau in Juan les Pins on the Riviera, I received a cable from George Ullman, sent at Rudy’s request, telling me of his sudden illness and operation. This came as a great shock to all of us for we thought him in the best of health. Although the message hinted that the illness was grave, we had no idea how grave it was. Aware, as we were, of Rudy’s splendid strength and unusual physical resistance, it did not occur to us for a moment that he might not recover. Nevertheless, the news worried me and, in the unexpected anxiety it aroused, all the petty resentment of our misunderstandings faded from my mind. Once again, he was the same old Rudy, in trouble, and he needed me. I cabled immediately that I would come to New York by the first sailing if he wanted me. “I never received an answer to that cable.” If Rudy received it at all it was while he was in a state of unconsciousness. Death came with unexpected swiftness. Even as the next two days passed we did not realize the danger. Mr. Ullman continued to notify us almost hourly of each slight change in Rudy’s condition and the news in his cables, as .they came, seemed favorable rather than discouraging. The actual presage of his death came through psychic communications. It happened that as guest at the chateau at that particular time was George Wehner, the distinguished American psychic, who had led us far along the ways of understanding of the spirit world. It had become our custom to have family sittings from time to time, with Mr. Wehner acting as medium. Wednesday evening during one of these sittings, while Mr. Wehner was in a state of deep trance, Rudy “came through.” We were first aware of his presence by mutterings of a few almost incoherent words and the repeated calling of auntie’s name and mine. This did not surprise or terrify us. Those who have investigated psychic phenomena know that it is not at all unusual for the consciousness of a person still living in the earth world to manifest itself or communicate at a distance while the body is sleeping or unconscious. On waking the person may remember these experiences in the form of a dream. Friday morning my cable from Mr. Ullman brought us news that Rudy was better—greatly improved and on the road to recovery. We were enormously cheered. That evening we were impressed to have another sitting. Almost immediately after Mr. Wehner was in trance, Black Feather, Rudy’s Indian friend who once had saved his life, “came through” to tell us that he was the chief and would not leave him. Then Jenny spoke, saying she had been constantly with Rudy since the beginning of his illness. He himself had seen her and called her name as he was taken to the ambulance. In confirmation of this X received a letter from my sister in New York the very week of Rudy’s passing, giving me details of his illness; explaining among other things, that Mr. and Mrs. Ullman had told her that Rudy kept calling the name of “Jenny” as he was being taken in the ambulance from his hotel. These communications from Jenny and Black Feather worried me. I could not reconcile them to the cheerful news of the morning’s cable for they seemed neither happy nor hopeful. And now, to cause me ever greater concern, a teacher from whom Rudy and I had received many lessons in the past, took control and talked to me gently, kindlv of personal things between Rudy and myself, and with such compassion as I had never heard him use. He spoke of Rudy’s great love for me, his life, his character and career, and explained that his term on this earth schoolroom was completed. Within the next few days he would pass to another plane of consciousness in this ever-continuing life. Early next morning I cabled Mr. Ullman for news of Rudy’s condition. The cable was not answered. What was there to say? We had been given the answer the night before, but had refused to accept it as truth, for what we do not wish to realize we try to stifle in our hearts. Monday morning I awoke to find the atmosphere of my room heavy with the perfume of tuberoses—and then I knew Rudy had passed on. When on Tuesday the delayed cables arrived announcing his death, I was grateful to the prophecy from the other world whose kindness and understanding had softened the cruelty of this news. The third day after his passing Rudy came to us for the first time, led by his mother, Gabriella. His attitude of mind, resentment at having been taken at the height of his career while his work he felt was not yet completed, made this first contact an unhappy one. He spoke not clearly but incoherently, remained with us only a moment, called auntie’s name and left suddenly. Then his mother spoke with us. She was almost distracted by his state of mind and regretted the day she had ever allowed him to leave Italy. What was the benefit of a success that had brought him to such bitterness aad anguish? Then others came to comfort us. They explained in a beautiful way that Rudy’s attitude was only natural. With all the force of world thought and grief directed upon him, nothing else was possible. We must have patience and each of us try to help him in our several ways. They, too, would help him, and this first darkness and despair would soon pass. It has, for I have communicated with Rudy very often since then and I know he is happy, still continuing on another plane the work he only began on this earth. Many will smile at what I am writing now, give it no credence, I discard it as the phantasms of my I brain. But a few years ago those same people would have smiled with I equal skepticism at the messages I the radio brings us to-day. How, I they would ask, can voices picked | out of the air be transmitted by an; unseen force over miles of empty | space? To-day no one doubts the validity of radio transmission. It is I just another scientific phenomenon to which yesterday we were blind. Each new development of science, from the steam car to the aero-plant, from the lightning rod to the telephone was at first hailed as a fraud by those who had not yet tested it. In the astounding revelations of the last quarter century, we are only beginning to comprehend the unseen forces of the universe which man has not yet utilized. Those who have not yet received test messages from the other world find it difficult to believe in communication after death. The man who has never heard a radio would be loud to declare that there is no such thing as music In the air about us. But we who have listened to it pay no attention to his beratings. We know he has never investigated it. For this reason, I am untouched by the stupid criticism of those who insist it is impossible for me to talk with Rudy, who has passed on to another plane apart from and above my own. How do I know these messages are not frauds? Can I see Rudy or touch him? But when my mother calls me by long distance phone from Chicago or from Paris, I cannot see her, but I hear her voice and I know it is she by the idiosyncrasies of her speech, by what she says and the way she says it. Fraud or impersonation would be impossible. The same is true of my messages from Rudy. If during the period I knew and lived with Rudolph Valentino I did not learn to know him better than to be duped by fraudulent messages, then I am a gullible fool! Fraud is for those who are willing to accept it. Truth is for those who seek it. Thus, I dismiss the subject for my belief is secure. Rudy was dead—yet he still lives, for life is ever-continuing. In all contemporary history there is only one young man who in his 20s was strong enough to withstand the great deluge of fame, adulation and flattery that was heaped on Rudolph Valentino.
28 Nov 1924-A Movie Poet
Rudolph Valentino, the cinema actor, is a poet. He. is publishing a collection of short poems in a volume entitled ‘Day Dreams.’ If Valentino’s verses are as ‘soulful’ as he endeavours to make his acting at times, his feminine admirers will experience further emotional thrills.
11 Apr 1923 – Valentino Doesn’t Understand Women Tells Small Akron Audience
Mr & Mrs. Valentino appeared at the armory Sunday afternoon and evening with their own band. It was a most disappointing exhibition, and audiences of both performance fell way below expectations. Mr and Mrs. Valentino danced exactly 40 minutes. He then spoke briefly on his picture work. The afternoon audience waited patiently for almost two hours because the train carrying the Valentinos was hours late. “If I ever make another Sheik picture, it will be an honest-to-God last one. “Why, I didn’t even look like a Sheik in the other one. I was a drawing room hero. “Don’t you like flappers?” someone asked. “That’s a subject I never discuss. I am not qualified as a judge of women. Any man who says he understands women is either a fool or a liar”.
“ I am in the dark, I don’t know what she is going to do. All I can do is await the lady’s pleasure”..Rudolph Valentino on the status of his marriage 9 Nov 1925.
11 Nov 1924 – Valentino in Spain
Rudolph Valentino returned with wife Natacha Rambova from a trip to Spain. He wore a small goatee beard. Which he said would be needed in he picture he is going to do in California, the scene of which is laid in Spain in the 14th century. The play will centre on the romantic days of the Moors at Granada and their encounters with the Spanish knights who sought to drive them from their stronghold. He said he had visited Seville, Madrid, Granada, and Cordova and found them very interesting. Nita Naldi who accompanied the couple on the trip will play opposite Valentino in the new film and is to be produced by the Ritz-Carlton Film Company
These boys in Valentino pants. Don’t give poor Rudolph half a chance. Marion High School, Marion, IN, 1923
24 Mar 1928 – Male Movie Stars more fussy about hair
A woman is fundamentally the same, whether she is a movie star or a Park Ave society bud the happiest moment in her life is when her hair turns out just right. But that does not mean that women have a corner in the personal vanity market. NO woman in the world could be more fussy about their hair than a male movie star. These are the deductions of an expert, Ferdinand Joseph Graf, for three years, the official hairdresser to moviedom who is now at Arnold Constables. Mr. Grafs first job with Famous Players was to prepare the wigs for Valentino in “Monsieur Beaucaire”. Natacha Rambova the stars wife, brought him out to the studio from the 5th Ave beauty parlor she patronized for that purpose. He liked the work so well and the stars apparently liked him so he well became the official hairdresser at the studio for three years.
Screen success is due not only to mental and histrionic qualities, but to physical culture and development. Rudolph Valentino, 1923
1997 – Crown Point, IN
Crown Point became the marriage mill of the Midwest because couples could obtain a license and be married immediately by justices of the peace with offices nearby, by the city’s mayor, clerk-treasurer or local judges. For example, on March 14, 1923, Rodolfo Guglielmi (AKA Rudolph Valentino) and art director Winifred de Wolfe (AKA Natacha Rambova) applied for a marriage license. They had traveled to Chicago to be married when his divorce from his first wife became final, then learned that Illinois law required a year’s wait for a remarriage. They traveled to Crown Point, where he took out a marriage license listing his birth name as Rodolfo Alfonzo Rafaelo Pierre Filbert Guglielmi de Valentine D’Antonguola, and his occupation as motion picture player. “As he left the (license) office, Valentino (and his bride) crossed the street and went to the second story of the building where Howard Kemp, the justice of the peace, performed the ceremony,” recalled Wilbur Heidbreder, now 92, who worked for the Lake County Title Co. and was at the Old Courthouse at the time of Valentino’s wedding. After the ceremony, the couple strolled by a few stores and stopped in a bakery, where the heartthrob bought a doughnut for his new bride, Heidbreder recalled.
27 Dec 1921 – Matinee Girls at the Movies
Four beautiful matinee girls enthralled by “The Sheik.” Deep down in her heart each Matinee Girl is thinking: “Oh, how lovely it would be if a big handsome sheik would only steal me away!” “The matinee girl on the extreme left has about made up her mind to look into it. “Dear Answer Man,” she’ll write to her favorite movie magazine, “is Rudolph Valentino married?” She will sign it “Sultana.”
17 Jun 1925 And Wedded Bliss Thrives On
Who said anything about divorces in the film colony? It’s perfectly proper of course, to make some remarks about the subject occasionally. The facts are, of course, that while there have seemed recently to be indications of an outbreak of domestic unhappiness, there are always and every equally plentiful examples of the prevalence of the joys of home life. Only, as a rule, they do not achieve quite as much notoriety as the disturbances. Rudolph Valentino and Natacha Rambova are notably devoted. They share their artistic interests, and of late Mrs. Valentino has assumed the role of producer of her own pictures.
12 Oct 1929 – A First Glance At New Books
Add to the horrors of house to house canvassing and the collection of bills and the threat of red-haired psychic woman, who calling upon her control, was seized with a superhuman strength and threw a fresh expressman down the stairs. And if you don’t believe it, there it is in print on page 111 of “A Curious Life” by George Wehner an interesting but doubtful book. Mr. Wehner in the book admits he is possessed of a familiar and so he ought to know whether a red-haired lady in possession of her favourite spirit could throw a big man down stairs like the gander descending upon the man who wouldn’t say his prayers. He says she can. Among Mr. Wehner’s spirits is Frank “who generally opens my séances by whistling very beautifully”. Leota, rechristened Lolita by Dorothy Benjamin Caruso is a guide frequently difficult to understand. She is a wise-cracker and apparently an Indian. Alestes reveals the hidden meanings of dreams and in no such manner as that of Dr. Sigmund Freud. Dr. Freeman is the guide who helps the author go into a trance, while Rudolph Valentino is breaking his heart trying to become one of Mr. Wehner’s guides. Black Hawk on the other hand has already succeeded and can tell what is ailing people with an uncanny precision not usually associated with a dead Indian Chief or an eight-cylindered motorcar.It is all very interesting and doubt less Mr. Wehner believes it is all very true. The reader, addicted perhaps in such material and non-occult matters as the march of Eli Yale through Georgia or the slaughter wrought by the Athletic batsmen on the Cubs pitching staff will be more likely to raise an eyebrow to ask how the author gets that way. It might be recorded however that Valentino told Natacha Rambova he knew she would come to the séance in New York. Which suggests that Mr. Banton, the District Attorney and Mr. LaGuardia, the candidate for Mayor, and Mr. Enright who didn’t solve the Dot King and Elswell murders, might better get into consultation right away with Mr. Wehner. Perhaps Black Hawk or Alestes or Lolita or Rudolph Valentino could tell them who really did shoot Arnold Rothstein.
17 Mar 1949 – Valentino Shrine Plans for Former Home Fade
Maybe the Sheik’s omnipresence is fading. At any rate, plans for converting Falcon’s Lair, Rudolph Valentino’s home until his death in 1926, into a shrine for the lovelorn have apparently gone awry. In San Francisco, the head of a Bay City Group of five women who purchased the fabulous hilltop mansion several weeks ago admitted disillusionment over the project. Robert T. LeFevre was quoted as saying people drop into the place “but only because they gotten lost in the hills”. The only ones who have shown any interest in the shrine idea were several old ladies, three Italians and a British spiritualist. In addition to which, he went on, the idea of firing a nightly red, white and blue rocket skyward was quashed by the law. The red incidentally was to be for passion LeFevre added. Even the idea of a wishing well on the grounds for Valentino worshippers fizzled when it was found that pennies killed the goldfish.
13 Jul 1922 – Commentary
I hate the Sheik, I think he’s a ‘he-vamp.’ and I hate the way he rolls his eyes, l know Sydney girls have got Rudolphitis and I know that my young wife sees the Sheik in everything – the grilling steak holds his image the wringer holds his spirit. But I hate him. I hate a man who rolls his eyes snd behaves like a Spanish senorita. I cannot understand the army of girls who have fallen to his cheap charms. Girls who see romance in the Sheik would see romance in the butchers boy. They represent decadent flapperitis in its most advanced stage. Give me a man like ‘B.J’ Hart, who represents manhood in its greatest sense. Why is It that the fair, frail flappers of Sydney have gone on about a man who rolls bis eyes and makes prisoner of a poor, pure pretty girl alone and defenceless. Do they approve of his lax morality? Is it an indication of degeneration! Do the girls of todays countenance a man who defies decency to compromise an Innocent woman?
2015 – Interview with Robert L. Harned
First off, I want to thank you for this opportunity to interview you for my blog. Mr. Robert L. Harned, a noted author, is going to be writing a future article for a publication yet to be determined about George Wehner who was a friend of Natacha Rambova in the mid to late 1920’s. Mr. Harned’s mother Ms. Sally Phipps was a silent film actress with Fox Pictures who personally knew George Wehner. However, Ms. Phipps never knew nor met Natacha Rambova.
1. Your mother must have led an interesting life. Could you please tell us a little about her and her connection to George Wehner?
My mother, Sally Phipps was only three years old and the veteran winner of several beautiful baby contests when she appeared as the Baby in the film “Broncho Billy And The Baby.” It was made at the Niles California Essanay Studio in late 1914. Her memories of the early years at Essanay include sitting on Charlie Chaplin’s lap and enduring a frightening stage coach accident. In her teens, she was a Fox Studio star appearing in 20 films, including a cameo in the classic “Sunrise.” There were bad times also. She was on the set of her Fox two-reel comedy “Gentlemen Prefer Scotch” in 1927 when word reached her of the tragic death of her father, a state senator. But in that same year, she was selected as one of the 13 Wampas Baby Stars, starlets that were considered destined for future success. Despite her popularity in Hollywood, she left for New York where she became the darling of gossip columnists, particularly Walter Winchell. She appeared in two Broadway shows, made a Vitaphone comedy short, and married and divorced one of the Gimbel department store moguls before she darted off for India and around the world travel. Back in New York, there was another marriage, two children, and later a stay in Hawaii. Earl Wilson wrote about her in 1938 when she was working for the Federal Theatre Project during the WPA period — headlining his column “Wampas Ex-Baby Lives On WPA $23 – And Likes It.” She received the Rosemary (for remembrance) Award shortly before her death in 1978. Her images — especially her pinup photographs — have become highly collectible. Although Sally may never have met Natacha Rambova, she claims to have rented an apartment previously owned by her, a fact corroborated in several contemporary newspaper articles. The unit was in an apartment building at 320 East 57th Street, near Sutton Place. Sally rented the apartment for a period during her September-May stint, playing the ingénue in the Kaufman and Hart comedy hit “Once In A Lifetime” during the 1930-1931 Broadway season. Sally Phipps was always attracted to the occult world and through it developed several close friends. One of these was George Wehner, whom she first met in 1933. They stayed friends throughout the 1930s, with an interruption in the fall of 1939 when Sally left for a one-year stay in India. After she arrived back in New York City in February 1941, Sally phoned Wehner to tell him she was in town. A man answered the phone — Alfred Marion Harned, my future father. He took Sally’s message, since Wehner was not at home. Several months previously, Wehner had hired Harned, a local New York City orchestrator, composer, copyist, and instrumentalist, to write out the orchestral parts for his new Piano Concerto No. 1 – for 27 different instruments of a symphony orchestra. Harned had consented to take up residence in Wehner’s house during the multiple month process, so that he and Wehner could work together intensively without interruption. Several days after Sally’s leaving the phone message and then having been welcomed back by Wehner, she was invited to a séance at his house where she met Harned in person. Within six months, Sally and Harned were married. They left New York in June, eloped to Mexico, and were wed there in August. As a final note, the Piano Concerto No. 1 did get premiered in August 1941 at the Sculpture Court of the Brooklyn Museum, performed by the New York City Symphony Orchestra, with soloist Greta Lederer.
2. As a son of a famous actress you must have enjoyed hearing about your mother’s life. Do you have a favorite story?
Sally loved talking about working on the film “Sunrise,” when she was only 15½. Director F.W. Murnau’s “Sunrise” (Fox — 1927), starring Janet Gaynor and George O’Brien, is one of the great feature films of the silent era and also a multiple Academy Award winner. Sally was particularly impressed with how Fox film studio built a replica of a large modern city on its back lot, with tall buildings, streets, running streetcars, and even an amusement park. Sally was cast in a minor part in two small but poignant scenes in the amusement park sequence. Sally, with her partner, Barry Norton, dances cheek-to-cheek across the screen, into a gradual close-up. The couple is first admiringly observed by Janet Gaynor, and a little later, during a pig chasing sequence, is discovered by George O’Brien in a kissing clinch. While watching the film, Sally loved pointing herself out to me in those scenes.
3. You recently wrote a book about your mother. Could you tell us about the book and where could it be purchased?
My book is a detailed biography of my mother’s personal and professional life from her birth in Oakland, California through to her death and burial in New York City. It took me four years to complete the work. The book includes 150 pictures, a filmography, a bibliography, and an index. It can be purchased in print edition ($14.99) or as an e-book ($9.99) from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and CreateSpace. Below is the Amazon link:
4. This blog as you know is about Rudolph Valentino. Are you a fan?
I am definitely a fan, for many reasons. Besides Valentino’s obvious good looks and his ability to wear his costumes well, he has many other wonderful cinematic qualities. He has athletic grace and agility. Needless to say, he dances superbly, several times in his films. I love watching how he uses his hands so expressively. He is also a very good actor, particular when it is necessary for him to show his sensitive side. Take for example his tender scenes with his mother in “Blood And Sand.” In “Camille,” he subtly underplays throughout the film. In addition, for many of his films, you get the wonderful boon of Natacha Rambova sets and costumes.
5. Are there any future projects you are working on?
You have already mentioned that I will be writing an article about George Wehner in the near future.
Recently, I began writing for a new magazine, “Silent Film Quarterly.” Its first issue came out in the fall of 2015. I will have an article published in its second issue (winter 2015-2016), called “Sally Phipps Began Her Film Career At Essanay.” The article covers her work in late 1914 through early 1915 as a three-year old actress at Essanay, a Bay Area film studio. I have also submitted another article for the magazine’s third issue. This summer, I began a new book about my grandfather, Albert Edward Bogdon, my mother’s father. He was an amazing character. He was the son of poor Russian/Lithuanian immigrants and grew up in the Pittsburgh area. He began work as a magician in his adolescence and continued in this field until he joined the Navy after the U.S. entered World War I. He later earned a law degree, moved to Denver, got elected State Senator for the Denver area, but was then cut down by an assassin’s bullet at age 36 in June 1927. My grandfather Bogdon is only one of the many colorful characters in my family, many of which have already been touched upon in the already-published book about my mother, “Sally Phipps: Silent Film Star.” Their stories will keep me busy writing for many years.
18 Jun 1942 – Guess who wants to?
Miquelito Valdes wants to buy the late Rudy Valentino’s home, Falcons Lair and turn it into a night club, calling it “The Sheik”. He’s offered the present owner $125,000. Wonder what would happen to that secret shrine in the garden?
“I love children. And I would like, some day, to have a large family of them. People speak of romance… well, but the heart of romance lies, a lovely, tremendous bud, in the heart of a child, in the hearts of all the children of the world. Children are romance. they are the beginning and they are the end. They are romance, before the white wings are clipped, before ever they have trailed in the dry dust of disillusion”– Rudolph Valentino, His Private Diary
24 Nov 1924 – Rudolph Valentino Picture
Rudolph Valentino’s second starring vehicle under his new contract with Famous Players is “A Sainted Devil”. Rudy is seen as he was before he grew the famous Titian Van Dyke, and with him are Nita Naldi, Dagmar Godowsky and Helen D’Algy as pretty a trio of screen sirens any photoplay can boast.
26 Nov 1925- Rudolph Valentino A Rex Beach Story
Rudolph Valentino’s new picture, “A Sainted Devil” from the story Ropes End by Rex Beach. Nita Naldi, Louis Lagrange, George Siegmann are a few of the prominent names which appear in the supporting cast of this production. It is a story laid in the Argentine, and tells of the country-wide search of a young Spaniard of wealthy parents for his convent-bred wife who was stolen from him on their wedding night by bandits. “A Sainted Devil” is declared to be the greatest Valentino production up to the present.
27 Nov 1926 – Pola Scores Valentino’s Ex-Wife for Spirit Talk
Pola Negri, whose engagement to Rudolph Valentino was announced shortly before the actor’s death, today declared the making public of messages said to have been received from the astral plane by the actor’s ex-wife Winifred Hudnut, was “shocking, profane, and commercial”. The messages, Miss Hudnut declared, were received by her from Valentino through the mediumship of George Wehner, with whom she arrived in New York Thursday from Europe. The messages did not mention Miss Negri.
All About Rudolph Valentino 
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