Sunday, January 23, 2011
Photos from the film, The Eagle
These are five photos from the film, "The Eagle." In my opinion one of Valentino's best films. The film had great settings and fantastic costumes. This film and The Son of the Sheik had a big budget feel to them, as if they were making Valentino movies for the next level in Hollywood, which at the time were talkies. Many people feel Valentino would have never made it in the talkies, I totally disagree, I know, I am a Valentino fan, besides that fact, I feel his stardom would have made him very successful through the 30's and 40's. Others feel the mystique would have been lost when the fans heard his Italian accented voice, which I understand; but, I feel that would have added to his appeal. This of course is one of the big Valentino debates, I feel like Chaplin his appeal and stardom would have carried his career.
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I agree with you, but audiences from that day were more fickle than today's audiences. maybe he wouldn't made it.
ReplyDeletebut again, when the talkies first came out, greta didn't have a speaking role for 2 years.
You are correct about audiences back then. The question is would audiences accepted the foreign accent? For most I would say probably not, but for Valentino in the right roles, I think he would have had success.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree more. I think his (from all accounts) cultured and genteel Italian accent would have only enhanced his appeal. After all, much of his charm was due to the fact that he was different from the all-American leading man. He was European, cosmopolitan and EXOTIC.
ReplyDeleteThe latin lover character was still popular in the 30s and 40s with actors like Cesar Romero, Ricardo Montalban,and others. I think Rudy would have been just fine.
The only thing that would have held him back maybe would have been the roles he played. He was so diverse in the roles he played: a Russian Soldier, a Spanish Toreador, an Arab Sheik, a Prince of India, and so on. I really do agree with your assessment. They would have found roles for him to play, to appeal to his core fan base.
ReplyDeleteThe problem that he had was his money spending ways, I think he was a great actor but personally he was not good at managing his career or public image.
ReplyDeletei think the media of the day was kinder compared to today's news coverage.
He definitely loved to spend money, that is evident from the auction catalog of his personal items when he died. The amount of belongings he owned was staggering. I do believe that he may have "lived it up," so to speak, after Natacha left him.
ReplyDeleteThe media was much different then than now; however, they did come after him a few times, especially with his bigamy trial and his contract disputes with Famous-Players about the artistic freedoms he and Natacha wanted in his films.
Darlings, if he could say so much with those eyes and his expression, can you imagine what would come out of that beautiful mouth? !Dios Mio! At any rate, it seems that Valentino was already looking ahead to creating films, perhaps directing. Fitzmaurice allowed him a free hand in playing it his way in SOTS and is quoted as saying that Valentino had an affinity for and enjoyed character work. I think he was growing as an artist and would have found his way as a mature actor.
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