Thursday, July 26, 2012

Candid Photo of Valentino with Secretarial Signature

This is a rare, candid photo of Rudy dated 1925. This candid snapshot is signed, "To Lyle, Sincerely Rudy, 11-14-25." After some great feedback and taking the time to review the photo closer, this is definitely not signed by Valentino. Thanks for the call-out! I would be very interested in finding out who signed this on his behalf, a secretary, Pola, George Ullman, who knows?. Valentino appears to be wearing the same ensemble from the film Cobra. Candid shots of Rudy that were not mass produced are extremely desirable. Donna gave some great background to this photo, thank you for that. The photo was taken at Pola Negri's home, with different variations appearing in Donna's book. The fact this is not signed by Valentino obviously brings the value down. It is still a rare photo and these types of items do not surface very often.

Monday, July 23, 2012

Paramount Publicity Poster

This is a rare publicity poster, also known as a personality poster, produced by the movie studio. Posters such as these were often displayed at the studio or the movie theater to promote their top or up and coming stars. I believe this poster to be from 1921 or so, it is a fantastic piece. I have to believe these were not produced in the quantities of the standard movie posters. This helps with the rarity and value of a poster such as this. I would be interested to know if there are any other variations created. Regardless, I will need one of each for the ever growing collection.

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

The Young Rajah Insert Card

I know, that title is a bit confusing; however, I found this photo many years ago and have it filed under movie herald's. It appears to be the art for a window card, whatever it is, it is a fantastic, colorful piece of rarely seen movie art from the 1922 film, "The Young Rajah." This film is known for very colorful memorabilia, often depicting missing scenes from the current copy of the film that exists. If this window card exists it would be quite valuable, the same would go for the movie herald due to the rarity. With that in mind, a movie herald pales in comparison to an actual poster, it's just that both would be very desirable. If anyone has any further insight or information, feel free to comment. All in all, a wonderful, artistic piece.
Update: Bob, who does a fantastic job of restoring photos, updated the Rajah Insert Card, see the photo below, thanks again Bob!

Photos from The Son of the Sheik

These are five photos from the Rudy's last film, "The Son of the Sheik." For non-collectors / non-fans, items and photos from The Sheik and The Son of the Sheik are easily mixed up. As a collector / fan, this of course drives me crazy. These films were made five years apart and rarely do the photos look similar except for a few of the costumes; anyway, I digress. This early sequel was a great film and if Valentino had not died during the release of the film, I still feel it would have been a great success.

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

The Eagle Newspaper Advertisement

The is a newspaper ad from the film, The Eagle from 1925. This ad is actually not from 1925, most likely from the 1930's re-release. Many of these newspaper ads are more common than you think. These are not very valuable, just great pieces to add to the collection.