Ken Russell takes the life of Rudolph Valentino (Rudolf Nureyev) and gives it the usual camp-grotesque treatment that he favors. Leslie Caron overacts (or was directed to overact) as Nazimova; Michelle Phillips (of The Mamas and the Papas) is barely adequate as Natasha Rambova. Other familiar faces in the cast are Anton Diffring as a cabaret owner; Linda Thorson ("Tara King" of TV's The Avengers) as a dance hall hostess; Huntz Hall of the Bowery Boys as Jesse Lasky; Carol Kane as an actress-friend of Fatty Arbuckle's; Seymour Cassel as an agent; John Ratzenberger of Cheers as a reporter. Russell himself plays Rex Ingram. Hall and Kane are simply mediocre. Some of the bad acting probably has to be attributed to Russell's lack of flair with actors. Nureyev, however, has charm and charisma and sometimes even hits the mark with his acting, but a different director might have brought out an even better performance. The picture really only comes alive when Rudy dances; especially good is Valentino's tango with Nijinski (Anthony Dowell) early in the picture. This is even worse than the 1951 Valentino; there is no attempt at characterization to speak of. Worse, the movie is actually quite boring. Russell wants so bad to be hip, but the dumb, homophobic humor works against it, as does just about everything else. By the way, the climactic boxing match never actually happened, which is true of most of the picture.
Verdict: Turn it off after the tango. Another freak show from one of the worst film directors ever. *.
LOL, Bill, how do you REALLY feel about Ken Russell? I must admit, I get dazzled by all the flamboyant imagery and over the top production design - his wife Shirley designed the hell out of all those costumes, didn't she? But I must also admit that you're right about Valentino (even though I own a copy and will write about it too) - It IS a mess. But Leslie Caron's swooping camelia cape that gets draped over the coffin is worth the price of admission, as is the extended nude Sheik scene! And Nureyev is magic when dancing. But alas, it is not a good film in any way, shape or form. As is the case with many Russell films (I DO love Tommy, though, as you know.)
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Ha, Chris, I must admit there can be striking imagery in Russell's films and my late partner always loved THE MUSIC LOVERS (which I also hated), but he's just TOO over the top for me. He substitutes wildness for seriously good filmmaking. But then even Fellini, who in my opinion was much more talented than Russell, lost his way with the over the top flamboyance and self-indulgence of his later years. When an artist is very self-indulgent he either creates a masterpiece -- or a MESSterpiece, as Mad magazine would put it.
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