''Valentino'' is a 1951 American biographical film directed by Lewis Allen and starring

Eleanor Parker Eleanor Jean Parker (June 26, 1922 – December 9, 2013) was an American actress. She was nominated for three Academy Awards for her roles in the films ''Caged'' (1950), ''Detective Story'' (1951), and ''Interrupted Melody'' (1955), the first ...

Plot

It is a romantic biopic of the actor Rodolfo Valentino, or " Rudolph Valentino" as he is better known, who arrives in the United States of America from Italy and soon becomes a movie star. He falls in love with an actress and dies at an early age.

Cast

as Joan Carlise, also known as Sarah Gray * Richard Carlson as Bill King *

Patricia Medina Patricia Paz Maria Medina (19 July 1919 – 28 April 2012) was a British actress. She is perhaps best known for her roles in the films ''Phantom of the Rue Morgue'' (1954) and ''Mr. Arkadin'' (1955). Early life Medina was the daughter of Laure ...

as Lila Reyes *

Joseph Calleia Joseph Calleia ( ; born Joseph Alexander Caesar Herstall Vincent Calleja, August 4, 1897 – October 31, 1975) was a Maltese-born American actor and singer on the stage and in films, radio and television. After serving in the British Transport ...

as Luigi Verducci *

Dona Drake Dona Drake (born Eunice Westmoreland; November 15, 1914 – June 20, 1989) was an American singer, dancer and film actress in the 1930s and 1940s. Drake was mixed race by ancestry. She often presented herself as Mexican and went by the names ...

as Maria Torres *

Lloyd Gough Lloyd Gough (born Michael Gough; September 21, 1907 – July 23, 1984) was an American theater, film, and television actor. Life and career Born Michael Gough in New York City, he was a noted character actor. Married to actress-turned-activi ...

as Eddie Morgan * Otto Kruger as Mark Towers * Anthony Dexter as Rudolph Valentino * Charles Coleman as Albert (uncredited) * Eric Wilton as Butler (uncredited)

Production

Edward Small had announced the project in 1938, with Jack Dunn first mooted to play the title role as a follow up to his debut in ''

The Duke of West Point ''The Duke of West Point'' is a 1938 American drama film directed by Alfred E. Green and starring Louis Hayward, Joan Fontaine and Tom Brown. It was described as "''A Yank at Oxford'' in reverse". Plot An American diplomat's son, Steven Early, ...

''. However the film had been delayed by script troubles, legal threats, the war, troubles making a movie with the lead character was Italian, and looking for the right actor to play the lead.

Scripting

Florence Ryan wrote a script in 1939, but this was often rewritten. Others who worked on it (there were an estimated over 30 drafts) include

Edward Chodorov Edward Chodorov (April 17, 1904 – October 9, 1988), was a Broadway playwright, and the writer or producer of over 50 motion pictures. Filmography * ''Kind Lady (1951 film), Kind Lady'' (1951, writer) * ''Road House (1948 film), Road House'' ...

Stephen Longstreet Stephen Longstreet (April 18, 1907 – February 20, 2002) was an American writer and artist. Biography Born Chauncey (later Henri) Weiner (sometimes Wiener), he was known as Stephen Longstreet from 1939. He wrote as Paul Haggard, David Ormsbee and ...

, Sheridan Gibney,

Frederick J. Jackson Frederick J. Jackson, also known professionally as Fred Jackson and Frederick Jackson and under the pseudonym Victor Thorne, (September 21, 1886 – May 22, 1953) was an American author, playwright, screenwriter, novelist, and producer fo ...

Virginia Van Upp Virginia Van Upp (January 13, 1902 – March 25, 1970) was an American film producer and screenwriter. Early life Virginia Van Upp was born in Chicago, the daughter of Harry and Helen Van Upp. Mrs Van Upp had been an editor and title writer for ...

and

George Oppenheimer George Seligman Oppenheimer (February 7, 1900 in New York City – August 14, 1977) was an American screenwriter, playwright, and journalist. Career In 1925, Oppenheimer cofounded The Viking Press, but becoming more interested in writing than pu ...

. Eventual director Lewis Allen described the film as "an imaginary, romantic story with acting as a background." Edward Small could not get clearance from either of Valentino's wives,

Jean Acker Jean Acker (born Harriet Ackers; October 23, 1892 – August 16, 1978) was an American actress with a career dating from the silent film era through the 1950s. She was perhaps best known as the estranged wife of silent film star Rudolph Valenti ...

Natacha Rambova Natacha Rambova (born Winifred Kimball Shaughnessy; January 19, 1897 – June 5, 1966) was an American film costume designer, set designer, and occasional actress who was active in Hollywood in the 1920s. In her later life, she abandoned design ...

so the script did not feature either; instead he has three fictitious lovers in the film, one of whom is his married co-star.

Casting

Del Casino and

Louis Hayward Louis Charles Hayward (19 March 1909 – 21 February 1985) was a Johannesburg-born, British-American actor. Biography Born in Johannesburg, Louis Hayward lived in South Africa and was educated in France and England, including Latymer Upper Scho ...

were mentioned as early possibilities. In 1946 it was announced Small tried to secure

Cornel Wilde Cornel Wilde (born Kornél Lajos Weisz; October 13, 1912 – October 16, 1989) was a Hungarian-American actor and filmmaker. Wilde's acting career began in 1935, when he made his debut on Broadway. In 1936 he began making small, uncredited app ...

for the lead but was unable to. Frederik Vayder auditioned and

Louis Jourdan Louis Jourdan (born Louis Robert Gendre; 19 June 1921 – 14 February 2015) was a French film and television actor. He was known for his suave roles in several Hollywood films, including Alfred Hitchcock's ''The Paradine Case'' (1947), '' Lett ...

Helmut Dantine Helmut Dantine (7 October 1918 – 2 May 1982) was an Austrian-American actor who often played Nazis in thriller films of the 1940s. His best-known performances are perhaps the German pilot in '' Mrs. Miniver'' and the desperate refugee in '' ...

and John Derek were also considered. The final script was heavily fictionalised to avoid lawsuits from Valentino's former wives, industry associates and his family namely his brother Alberto. Anthony Dexter was selected over 2,000 actors who auditioned. He was under contract to Small for two years taking acting and dancing lessons before being used in the film. Lewis Allen was hired from Paramount and was paid $60,000. In 1949, another producer Jan Grippo announced plans to make a rival project but eventually came to an agreement with Small; Grippo became an associate on the film. (In the 1940s there was another proposed project starring

Victor Mature Victor John Mature (January 29, 1913 – August 4, 1999) was an American stage, film, and television actor who was a leading man in Hollywood during the 1940s and 1950s. His best known film roles include ''One Million B.C.'' (1940), '' My Darlin ...

and

Pola Negri Pola Negri (; born Apolonia Chalupec ; 3 January 1897 – 1 August 1987) was a Polish stage and film actress and singer. She achieved worldwide fame during the silent and golden eras of Hollywood and European film for her tragedienne and femm ...

Shooting

Filming started on 2 June 1950 and took place at the Columbia Ranch and the Sam Goldwyn Studios. George Melford, who directed Valentino in the 1920s, had a supporting role. The film includes recreated sequences from such Valentino films as '' The Sheik'' (1921), '' Blood and Sand'' (1922), ''

A Sainted Devil ''A Sainted Devil'' is a 1924 American silent drama film directed by Joseph Henabery and starring Rudolph Valentino. The film was produced by Adolph Zukor and Jesse Lasky. Plot As described in a review in a film magazine, in accordance wit ...

'' (1924) and ''

The Eagle The eagle is a large bird of prey. Eagle or The Eagle may also refer to: Places England * Eagle, Lincolnshire, a village United States * Eagle, Alaska, a city * Eagle Village, Alaska, a census-designated place * Eagle, Colorado, a statut ...

'' (1926).

Reception

Reviews were mostly poor. The film was one of Edward Small's few box office failures. However it did well in South America where Anthony Dexter subsequently went on a dancing tour. It was announced that Dexter would appear in a remake of '' The Sheik'' (1921), the rights for which Small had purchased in order to show segments of that film in ''Valentino''. However he only made one more film for Small - '' The Brigand'' - then they terminated their contract by mutual agreement.

Alice Terry Alice Frances Taaffe (July 24, 1899 – December 22, 1987), known professionally as Alice Terry, was an American film actress and director. She began her career during the silent film era, appearing in thirty-nine films between 1916 and 1 ...

sued the filmmakers for $750,000 complaining she was depicted in the film as carrying out an illicit love affair while still being married. Valentino's brother and sister launched a $500,000 lawsuit against the filmmakers. Both cases settled out of court."Look-Alike Surgery: Filmland Tried to Make What Valentino's Brother Lacked" ''Los Angeles Times'' 15 June 1981: 20.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Valentino 1951 films 1950s biographical drama films American biographical drama films Columbia Pictures films 1950s English-language films Films about Rudolph Valentino Films directed by Lewis Allen Films produced by Edward Small Films scored by Heinz Roemheld Films set in the 1920s 1951 drama films 1950s American films