Photos from Beyond the Rocks

This is five photos from the recently discovered film, Beyond the Rocks, co-starring Gloria Swanson. This is an interesting film, not only because it starred Valentino and Swason, but because there were so many costume changes for Valentino in this film. I do enjoy more of the obscure photos from the less popular films.

Rudolph Valentino Blues Sheet Music

This is a piece of sheet music called the Rudolph Valentino Blues. The cover is very similar to the more common piece of sheet music, "There's a New Star in Heaven Tonight." This particular piece is not as common; but, still fairly easy to find. This piece was released in 1922, back in the height of his stardom. Companies were smart to capitalize on his popularity by inspiring songs or featuring him on the cover to sell their music. Obviously, it is still working today, we collectors have to have them!

Swedish Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse Magazine

Well as one of our faithful followers, Lindsay pointed out, today is the 90th anniversary of the release of the film, The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Which I had no idea, thanks so much Lindsay for the information! So, in lieu of this information, I am posting a Swedish Magazine that depicts a fantastic colorized photo of Valentino from The Four Horsemen. The name of the magazine is Allt for Alla, this magazine has produced some rare fantastic color covers depicting Valentino. This would be one of the more valuable foreign magazines with Valentino on the cover, these are not too common and sought after because of the color covers.

Colorized Blood and Sand Photo

I do not normally list newer, manufactured items or promote other websites, but, this a very cool item I wanted to post. This photo is from a blogger named Kevin, who is also a follower of this blog, his blog is named Claroscureaux. He takes vintage Hollywood photos of actors and actresses and colorizes them. This blog is a great homage to vintage Hollywood, it is very interesting to see color photos of your favorite black and white vintage films and Hollywood stars. Check out the website, he also colorizes photos for a fee. I enjoyed going through the blog, especially the Valentino photos. This particular photo is from Blood and Sand.

Rudolph Valentino Autographed Henry Waxman Photo

This is a fantastic example of a Valentino autographed photo. This particular autograph is personalized, which in the autograph world normally detracts from the value; however, when dealing with stars such as Valentino, Marilyn Monroe, and James Dean the personalization has little effect on the value due to the rarity of the star's signature.

Not only is this a great example of Valentino's signature but it is on a Henry Waxman thick stock studio print, which in this case increases the value even more.

As far as Valentino's autographed photos this would definitely be on the high end of one of the more valuable and desirable examples.

This photo was sent to me from one of faithful followers of the blog, Ana. Congratulations on acquiring such a fantastic piece! If you are a collector, or a fan, send me photos from your collection to post. Thanks again Ana!

Happy Valentine's Day...Rudolph Valentino Style

The day of love, Valentine's Day. We have to celebrate the great lover himself at what he does best...the act of love! I have included a few photos of his art of seduction.

How about a quote from the man himself, which I find very comical:

I really believe I was happier when I slept on a bench in Central Park than during all of the years of the "perfect lover" stuff.

Rudolph Valentino

Rudolph Valentino and his 88 American Beauties Glass Slide

This is a glass slide for a film short called Rudolph Valentino and his 88 American Beauties. Glass Slides were utilized by movie studios and theaters to promote upcoming and other attractions, think of it as a movie preview, only it was not a clip, just a slide show. This short featured Valentino judging a beauty contest. This occurred in 1923, while he was having contract disputes with Famous-Players, so any new footage of Valentino was a sought after commodity for his fans. Glass slides are very collectible and are often found cracked or broken, this one is especially unique because it is not for one of his feature films. One last thing these have been reproduced so, do some research before making a purchase.

Rudolph Valentino's Suit of Lights Jacket from Blood and Sand

I normally do not list personal effects, due to the fact they are difficult to authenticate; however, this is currently in a museum. This is Valentino's Suit of Lights Jacket from the film, Blood and Sand. I compared the photo of this jacket and questioned if this is the one he wore; however, I forgot he wore a vest underneath the jacket. The Jacket is housed at the FIDM in Los Angeles. This past summer the Jacket was on display in the Oklahoma City Museum of Art as a part of the Sketch to Screen: The Art of Hollywood Costume Design. This photo was taken by Jim Meeks.

Original costumes are extremely valuable and very difficult to care for and to display. This is one of the reasons most of these types of items are in museums. Most collectors do not have $20,000 to $30,000 laying around to purchase items such as this. I do continue to play the lottery, just in case.

1976 Rudolph Valentino "The Sheik," Statuette

This is a random item from 1976. It is a statuette of Valentino from The Sheik. This is one of 12 movie statuettes created by Raymond Richard Lamb. I appreciate Mr. Lamb for including Valentino in this set, unfortunately the image of Valentino does not resemble him very well. Even still do I want one for my collection.....of course I do. There really should be some medical name for people who collect things pertaining to one person that continually buys everything that can be found, regardless if you think it is attractive or not. I mean, it is a sickness! Haha, more like an addiction, my name is Brad I have a Valentino collectible addiction. Anyway, I still want one!

1923 French Cinea Magazine

This is a French magazine from 1923 called Cinea. It depicts Valentino on the cover from the film, "Blood and Sand." This is another example of an obscure foreign magazine. This is not a common item; but, would not likely be overpriced to obtain. I do not own this one myself, you get to a point as I have said in past posts, where you simply run out of wall space to display items. You either have to switch out items to be displayed, put them in a binder, or simply buy a larger house!

Five Photos From The Son of the Sheik

The following are five photos from the film, The Son of the Sheik. When you watch this film, it is difficult to imagine only a few months after making this film he would dying of an ulcer and peritonitis. He appeared to be in the best physical shape of his life in this film, especially when you compare photos of him from The Sheik, just five years earlier, the difference is very evident. As a collector and fan it is often frustrating when these two films are confused for the other. You see this often in modern magazines or media outlets.

Being Valentino's last film, along with the fact this film was re-released there is a great deal of memorabilia available. The first photo I find very unique, unfortunately, I do not own this one. It is difficult to find rare or unique items from this film.

Rare 1927 Italian Love Life of Rudolph Valentino Book

This is a rare book from 1927 entitled, La Vita Amorosa DI Rodolfo Valentino. The book was wrote by Edouard Ramond and is in Italian. This book was published by A. Mondadori, Milan. This particular book was published in many different languages. I have this book in a couple of languages, this is the first copy I have found in Italian. Older Italian books tend to be more scarce. Being a big Valentino book collector, I was very excited to add this to my collection. I am unsure if this book came with a dust cover, if anyone knows, or has a copy of a dust cover, please let me know or send a photo.

1926 Daily News, Newspaper from Valentino's Death

This is a 1926 Daily News from the time of Valentino's death. His death made headlines across the world, along with this funeral service in New York and Hollywood. Original newspapers from his death is not as common as you may think. This is a classic Grandma-drawer item, as I call it. I feel many people saved the papers; however, over 84 years later many did not survive. They are not worth a fortune, some can still bring up to $100 or so, that is on the extreme high end.

1926 Revista Serrador Brazilian Magazine

This is a wonderful magazine from 1926. This Brazilian magazine is called Revista Serrador, which translates to Serrador Magazine. The magazine depicts a great colorized photo of Valentino from the film, Cobra. I really enjoy the foreign magazines and their covers, they are often unique. Still looking for this one myself.

Valentino, An Intimate and Shocking Expose

This is a paperback from 1966, entitled Valentino, An Intimate and Shocking Expose by Brad Steiger and Chaw Mank. This edition was published by Macfadden-Bartell. This book was re-issued in 1975. I am unsure of the accuracy of this book, it is simply another book to add to the collection. This is actually one of the more modern paperbacks that is more difficult to find; however, it is just a paperback, unfortunately not worth thousands, just a few dollars.

Photos from the lost ending of The Sheik?

I have always been confused / curious as to information about these photos. Without trying to ruin the ending for anyone who has not seen The Sheik (come on, you have had 90 years to see this film!) . These two photos appear to be from some scene after the film ends, due to the fact we never see Valentino in this outfit. This leads me to believe either these photos are from a scene that was cut out of the film, or from the original film that was unedited. If anyone wants to chime in with their thoughts or knowledge, please enlighten me.

German Mein Film, The Son of the Sheik Magazine

This is a German magazine from 1927 called Mein Film. The magazine's cover depicts Valentino from the film, "The Son of the Sheik." I have not come across a great deal of early German memorabilia. German books and magazines from the 1920's that are still around today would obviously make them more valuable than other countries editions. This is one I do not own, I would really like to know just how many magazines Valentino graced the cover of, it has to be in the thousands, if not tens of thousands.

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.

The Sheik Newspaper Advertisement

This is a newspaper ad for the film, "The Sheik." The artwork for this ad is the same as the French paperback book, Le Cheik. This was the film that really launched Valentino into stardom. After this film, the word Sheik had a new meaning in the English language, for something to be very sheik.

These newspaper ads are not extremely valuable, I find them to be a great collectible and also look great framed if of course, you have the wall space again, or more frames for that matter.

Wooden Michael Back Orignal Rudolph Valentino Art

This is another great piece of original Michael Back art I just obtained. This piece depicts a side profile of Valentino from The Eagle. The bottom left corner reads RV, the bottom right corner reads, "Back, 89." This is a wonderful one of a kind piece from Michael Back, who's Valentino collection was featured in Jack Scagnetti's book, the Intimate Life of Rudolph Valentino.