Newspaper Ads from Cobra

These are four Newspaper Ad for the film, Cobra. Notice a couple of these ads do not feature the image of Valentino. Some of these ads also say, "Valentino as you like him." Cobra was released in 1925, his first film since Monsieur Beaucaire from 1924. Many of Valentino's fans disliked Monsieur Beaucaire. There were not used to seeing Valentino in white powdered wigs and in frilly period style clothing. Fans wanted to see Valentino with his hair slicked back, seducing a woman. These simply did not get Monsieur Beaucaire. Critics of Valentino had a field day with this film. Beaucaire was the first film Valentino did after walking out on his contract with Paramount. He and Natacha felt the studio was exploiting his in dumbed down movies. Valentino and Natacha felt they wanted to do something artisitc, the result: Monsieur Beaucaire. Since Beaucaire was Valentino's first film since Beyond the Rocks in 1922, his fans were eager for him to star in a movie again. This film was not wanted they wanted to see.

So, when promoting Cobra they had to let people know that this was the Valentino people wanted to see, slicked back hair, an Italian playboy seducing women. I find it surprising some of the ads did not feature Valentino, there must have been worries from the studio that Valentino's career might be in jeopardy. This was obviously not the case.