THE DELICIOUS LITTLE DEVIL

THE DELICIOUS LITTLE DEVIL (1919). 

Mary (Mae Murray) loses her job as a coat check girl when she lingers too long and lovingly on a beautiful fur piece, so she reinvents herself as the notorious real-life Gloria Du Moine, who was in a scandal with the equally notorious Duke De Sauterne. Through this subterfuge she manages to get a job as a dancer at the Peace Tree Inn roadhouse. There she captivates a frequent patron, Jimmy Calhoun (Rudolph Valentino), who's the son of a millionaire contractor (Edward Jobson). Hoping she'll prove too crass for the boy, the elder Calhoun throws a party for "Gloria" -- and who should show up? This is a cute if minor comedy with Murray in good form and Valentino, in an early appearance, looking dapper and handsome. The sprightly musical score helps a lot. 

Verdict: Not that delicious but definitely appetizing. **1/2.

VALENTINO (1977)

VALENTINO (1978). Director: Ken Russell. 

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. *.

THE FOUR HORSEMEN OF THE APOCALYPSE (1921)

Rudolph Valentino

THE FOUR HORSEMEN OF THE APOCALYPSE (1921 silent film). Director: Rex Ingram. Tinted edition.

Madariaga (Pomeroy Cannon) is a lusty and very wealthy rancher and entrepreneur in Argentina who has two daughters. One of them has three sons by a German husband, Karl (Alan Hale), while the other is a Frenchman, Marcelo (Josef Swickard), who was a deserter. Madariaga has a special fondness for his grandson, Julio (Rudolph Valentino), Marcelo's spoiled and womanizing son. After the death of his grandfather, Julio moves to Paris with the rest of his family while Karl takes his own family back to Germany. Julio embarks upon an affair with a married woman named Marguerite (Alice Terry), whose much older husband is Laurier (John St. Polis of Mr. Wong, Detective), but her feelings for her lover change when her husband goes off to war. Argentinian, Julio is determined to stay neutral while WW1 rages around him, and his father finds his country estate ravaged by Germans, including his own nephew and a crude Lt. Colonel (Wallace Beery) who tries to rape a maid. By their actions, both Marcelo and Julio eventually find redemption. Based on a best-selling 1919 novel by Vicente Blasco Ibanez, Four Horsemen is a strong and absorbing, fast-paced film beautifully directed by Ingram and with fine photography by John F. Seitz. Strong characterizations and dramatic presentation make this an excellent picture even without Carl Davis' rich and excellent modern score, but the music -- with themes by Liszt -- adds immeasurably to its impact. There are perhaps too many shots of the phantom horsemen riding across the skies, as well as shots of the fire-breathing dragon-like "beast," and the Christ figure at the end is a little much, but this also has many powerful sequences. (One that sticks in the mind is two crying children clinging to their dead mother in the rubble.) Alice Terry and the older actors are all quite good, while Valentino [Beyond the Rocks] gets across his initially superficial character without raising a sweat. This is a sweeping historical epic that is not for one minute dull. Remade in 1962. Alan Hale [Stella Dallas] was the father of Alan Hale Jr. of Gilligan's Island infamy.

Verdict: A silent masterpiece. ****.

THE SILENT TREATMENT

THE SILENT TREATMENT

If you love silent movies, you might be interested in the following website: The Silent Treatment, which covers all aspects of classic silent movies. The web site produces an interesting newsletter every other month. There are instructions on the web site as to how to receive email updates from them.

Some interesting silent movies we've reviewed here at Great Old Movies include the 1921 Camille, The Patsy with Marion Davies, The Toll of the Sea and Mr. Wu with Anna May Wong [Lon Chaney starred in the latter], Murnau's Sunrise and The Last Laugh, Beyond the Rocks with Rudolph Valentino, and others.

THE YOUNG RAJAH

THE YOUNG RAJAH (1922). Director: Phil Rosen.

"Men should be judged, not by their tint of skin, the Gods they serve, the vintage that they drink, nor by the way they fight, or love, or sin, but by the quality of thought they think."

Amos Judd (Rudolph Valentino), who is actually the son of a maharajah who was murdered in a palace coup, has been adopted by an American family and given an Ivy league education. He falls in love with Molly (Wanda Hawley), the son of Judge Cabot (Edward Jobson), but although Molly returns his feelings she just can't get past her own prejudice. To make matters worse, factions from India come to the U.S. determined to capture and murder the true heir to the throne. Amos has always had premonitions, and now seemingly foresees his own death. Turner Classic Movies presented this incomplete print of this "lost" movie by using many stills and title cards, although the second half contains a lot of the real footage. In any case, The Young Rajah is an interesting movie, and Valentino certainly exudes star charisma. Jon Miralis' music is a plus.

Verdict: See why Valentino got everyone excited. ***.

STOLEN MOMENTS

STOLEN MOMENTS (1920). Director: James Vincent.

Jose Dalmarez (Rudolph Valentino) is a famous novelist who makes women fall in love with him and then treats them like trash. His latest victim is Vera (Marguerite Namara), whom he steals away from the man who loves her with a promise of marriage that he has no intention of keeping. He is also a complete rake down in South America with Inez (Aileen Savage), whose brother tries but fails to give the mountebank a well-deserved thrashing. Encountering the now-married Vera some time later back in the States, he tries to blackmail her over some love letters. What a creep! This is the three reel (out of six) shortened version of the film, all that survives, and it's both amusing and mildly entertaining, with interesting settings and locales. Namara, an opera singer, emotes as if she still thinks she's on the opera stage -- broad and mostly hammy. Valentino is much more natural, as usual, but he's not photographed particularly well.

Verdict: Hardly a great example of silent film art but not a bad melodrama on its own terms. **1/2.

MORAN OF THE LADY LETTY

MORAN OF THE LADY LETTY (1922); Director: George Melford.

"Moran" ( Dorothy Dalton) is the tomboy daughter of a sea captain and Ramon Laredo (Rudolph Valentino) is a rich boy who's tiring of his aimless life of booze and cotillions. When Ramon is shanghaied by a group of pirates led by Kitchell (Walter Long), they come upon Moran's father's boat, where everyone has been killed by coal gas except for her. Naturally Moran and Ramon fall in love. The life of pirates is rather sanitized in this fairly stupid and somewhat boring silent movie. The performances by Dalton, Valentino and Long are excellent and natural, however.

Verdict: Not a particularly convincing nor compelling romance. *1/2.

BEYOND THE ROCKS

BEYOND THE ROCKS (1922). Director: Sam Wood.

Theodora Fitzgerald (Gloria Swanson) is married off to a much older man, Josiah Brown (Robert Bolder). He's kind to her, she's a good wife, but along comes Lord Bracondale (Rudolph Valentino, pictured) who falls for her and awakens in her strong feelings of romantic passion. Bracondale had saved Theodora's life on two previous occasions, making him not just romantic in her eyes but downright heroic. This triangle situation (based on a novel by Elinor Glyn) was probably nothing new even in 1922, but Beyond the Rocks is touching, beautifully acted by the three leads, especially Swanson, and has many memorable sequences, particularly the suspenseful scene when Theodora nearly falls off a cliff. Call it hokey and sentimental it you like, but it works. A new score by Henry Vrienten (as well as a few sound FX) adds immeasurably to the drama's emotional impact. Well photographed and directed as well.

Verdict: Good (mostly) silent show! ***1/2.

CAMILLE (1921)

CAMILLE (1921). Director: Ray C. Smallwood.

This silent version of Dumas' famous story of The Lady of the Camellias is a highly creditable silent film. When we first see Marguerite Gautier as performed by (Alla) Nazimova, she looks like a drag queen having a bad hair day. However, once you get used to her bizarre appearance, Nazimova gives a very good performance. Rudolph Valentino is also quite good as her lover Armand, although he has much less to do than his co-star. Zeffie Tilbury is Prudence and William Orlamond is Armand's father. The sets are theatrical and impressionistic. Not as good as the Garbo version, but quite interesting and well-done. A big difference between the two is that the lovers are not reunited in the silent version. This was shown with an excellent new score by Peter Vantine.

Verdict: Rudy and Alla in a fine romance. ***.

VALENTINO (1951)

VALENTINO (1951). Director: Lewis Allen.

Mostly fictionalized biography of the great silent star Rudolph Valentino, played here by Anthony Dexter, who looks quite a bit like Rudy and gives an excellent performance as well. Valentino meets famous actress Joan Carlisle (Eleanor Parker) and through her and her director Bill King (Richard Carlson) finds himself in the movies. [Carlisle and King are supposed to be director Rex Ingram and his actress wife Alice Terry, who appeared on-screen with Valentino.] Valentino romances several ladies, including Joan, who's reluctant to get involved with the Latin lover boy because he has serious commitment problems. Instead Joan marries King, and finds herself in an uncomfortable position when she's teamed with Rudy, whom she's still attracted to, in a movie. By focusing on this triangle, the movie completely avoids all the true drama of the essentially homosexual Valentino's life and career and becomes a little tedious. The production isn't first-rate, either. The capable supporting cast includes Lloyd Gough as a nosy reporter Eddie, Otto Kruger as a producer, Patricia Medina as an actress Valentino nearly marries, and Dona Drake in another fiery role as Valentino's dance partner, boss, and lover early in the picture. [Drake was memorable as Bette Davis' slovenly maid in Beyond the Forest.]

Because Valentino wasn't successful despite his fine performance, Anthony Dexter later wound up in such films as Fire Maidens of Outer Space.

Verdict: A bit colorful but not enough. **.

For the real story of Valentino's life, click here to read an article by Lawrence J. Quirk and to see many photos of Valentino and his films.