Valentino ** (1951, Eleanor Parker, Anthony Dexter, Richard Carlson, Patricia Medina) – Classic Movie Review 7865

Director Lewis Allen’s 1951 Technicolor adventure drama biopic Valentino is misleadingly billed as the life story of film legend Rudolph Valentino and stars near lookalike Anthony Dexter, who at least looks right in his film debut as Rudolph Valentino, in this otherwise askew biopic of the great Latin screen lover.

It ends up being a largely fictional account of Valentino’s life and movie career. Facts are treated with disdain and to no advantage in the best tradition of Hollywood biographies, except even more so than usual, in this fanciful tale of the Smouldering One’s ship trip from Italy to America, his romance with actress Joan Carlisle (Eleanor Parker), his spell as dishwasher and dancer, making it big in Hollywood in silent movies, his marriage to actress Lila Reyes (Patricia Medina), and his tragic early death from peritonitis at the age of 31.

Sadly, the fiction presented here is a lot less interesting that the truth. At least four books, including the notorious Hollywood Babylon, have suggested that Valentino was gay despite his marriages to lesbian actress Jean Acker in 1919 and to Winifred Shaughnessy, stage name Natacha Rambova, on May 13, 1922, as well as his relationship with Pola Negri.

Edward Small could not get clearance from Acker or Rambova, so the script does not feature either and there are three fictitious lovers in the film, which Allen describes as ‘an imaginary, romantic story with acting as a background’. The script was also heavily fictionalised to avoid lawsuits from Valentino’s industry associates and his brother Alberto. Really, when the truth was impossible to share, what was the point of doing a Valentino biopic under these circumstances? But, on the plus side, film does include re-created sequences from Valentino’s films The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921), The Sheik (1921), Blood and Sand (1922), A Sainted Devil (1924) and The Eagle (1926). And George Melford, who directed Valentino in the Twenties, has a supporting role.

However, after all that, Alice Terry sued the film-makers for $750,000 alleging she was depicted as carrying out an illicit love affair while married, while Valentino’s brother and sister launched a $500,000 lawsuit. Both cases were settled out of court. And it turned out to one of Edward Small’s few box office failures.

It was estimated that there were more than 30 drafts of the screenplay, first written by Florence Ryan in 1939, and later written by many others including Edward Chodorov, Stephen Longstreet, Sheridan Gibney, Frederick J Jackson, Virginia Van Upp and George Oppenheimer. George Bruce is the final credited writer.

It also features Richard Carlson as Bill King, Joseph Calleia as Luigi Verducci, Dona Drake as Maria Torres, Lloyd Gough as Eddie Morgan, Otto Kruger as Mark Towers, Marietta Canty, Paul Bryar, Eric Wilton, Lester Dorr, Sally Forrest, Fred Graham, William Henry and Almira Sessions.

Filming took place from 2 June 1950 at the Columbia Ranch and at the Samuel Goldwyn Studios.

Dexter was picked from 2,000 auditioning hopefuls, then going on to take acting and dancing lessons. Dexter and Small followed it with The Brigand (1952), their only other film together.

Ken Russell followed it up with his 1977 Valentino biopic, with Rudolf Nureyev.

RIP Anthony Dexter (19 January 1913 – 27 March 2001), known for portraying many real-life characters such as Captain John Smith, Captain William Kidd, Billy the Kid and Christopher Columbus.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 7865

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