Valentino (1951)

• 58%
• 1951
• Drama
• Romance
• Lewis Allen
• Anthony Dexter
• Eleanor Parker
• Richard Carlson

Largely fictional account of the last few years in the life of matinée idol Rudolph Valentino. Regardless of what he was doing professionally, women were attracted to him, and he in turn loved them back which often got him into trouble. After voluntarily leaving a dancing gig due to a dispute with the troupe's leading lady, that gig which brought him to the US, he needed to work a series of odd jobs before movie director Bill King discovered him working as a taxi dancer/gigolo in an upscale dance club. In reality, King's companion that evening, his professional and personal leading lady Joan Carlisle, unofficially discovered Valentino earlier when they had a romance aboard the transatlantic crossing which brought Valentino to the US. At the time, she was traveling incognito under the name Sarah Gray. Valentino's movie career was somewhat stalled until he campaigned for and won the leading role in The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921), after which his career skyrocketed. By his side for most of this period was his friend, Luigi Verducci, who he met at one of those odd jobs. He remained in love with Joan over the remainder of his life, often acting solely in her best interest, but she in return was hot and cold toward him, the coldness due to her belief that he was often using her to further his acting career. It was also both their fondness for King that they often repressed their feelings for each other, but which made working with each other difficult if not impossible.