Rare Glass Slide, Post Valentino's Death

This is a rare glass slide with an image of Valentino from the film, A Sainted Devil. This had to be a very offensive message to his family, fellow actors, and his fans. The slide reads:

My Friends and Admirers

I want you to know I am dead only in body. It now lies in a places belonging to a person not yet dead.

When death takes that friend my body again will be moved and in another generation it will find a final resting place in the potters field. So I wish to take this opportunity to beg my friends in Hollywood to buy for me a final resting place and attend to it as soon as possible, then I will be happy.

I wish to have it known I was murdered by a jealous woman because I would not consent to her divorcing her husband and marrying me. I wish my friend Ulman to be in charge of the money for my final resting place, because he is honest; not my Brother or Sister as they only love me for my money as do some women of the silent pictures, who try to make people think I was in love with them, when they know I did not care for their company.

I am

Rudolph Valentino


After Valentino's death there were many rumors about his death, one of the many rumors was that he was poisoned by a jealous husband, this slide suggests a jealous wife. Regarding his brother and sister, I know of no ill feeling he had toward them. During this time there was talk about where to bury Valentino, originally it was to be in Italy; however he ended up in one of June Mathis's crypts. The slide also makes mention of his business manager George Ullman; however, Ulman, with one l, is misspelled.

The part that bothers me the most is that the slide attempts to speak for Valentino after his death, it seems a disrespectful act so soon after his death. I am unsure about the source of this slide. It could have been something created by the movie studios, George Ullman, or possibly a local theatre owner, I am unsure. I have never come across another one of these slides, this is a great example of a random Valentino item.

Postcard from the Valentino Memorial in Italy

This is a postcard from the Valentino Memorial which is located in Castellaneta Italy, Valentino's birthplace. I hope to be able to visit this someday.

Rudolph Valentino Promotional Token

This is a Rudolph Valentino promotional token that was most likely given out at a re-release of The Sheik. The front depicts Valentino along with his name and the years of his birth and death, 1895, 1926. The back reads, "Hollywood's top silent star of all time, Idol of millions as "The Sheik." I have not come across many of these tokens, I believe they are difficult to find and very sought after by collectors. I am looking for one of these myself.

Photos of Rudolph Valentino with Dogs

Two of these photos are from movies sets. The third photo is from the set of The Eagle with Clarence Brown, the second photo is a rare photo from the set of Uncharted Seas. Valentino was an advid dog lover, therefore there are many photos of Valentino with his dogs.

A Rogue's Romance Mailer

This is a cardboard mailer for the film, "A Rogue's Romance." The film was originally released in 1919. This mailer was mailed by Vitagraph and is dated 1922. The film was re-released to capitalize on Valentino's up and coming fame even though he had a supporting role in the film. The original star of the fim, Earle Williams is also called out on this flyer as well. I would assume something such as this would be sent to theatre owners by the studios. This is a very unique item.

1925 Rudolph Valentino Theatre Handout Photo

This is a theatre handout from 1925. It depicts a color drawing of Valentino in a v-neck sweater with a bow tie. On the back of this handout are advertisements for a few upcoming movies. The comical fact is that none of the advertised movies are Valentino films. This is simply advertising with Valentino's face on it so that people picked it up and looked at it. These handouts are difficult to come across.

Spanish Son of the Sheik Booklet

This is a Spanish booklet that depicts Valentino on the cover reading mail. This is from a Spanish Chocolate company. The top reads Evaristo Juncosa, collection of movies, Rodolfo Valentino from The Son of the Sheik. This appears to be promoting Valentino and The Son of Sheik. This is not a very common booklet, but not extremely valuable.

Photos from The Son of the Sheik

These are five photos from the film, "The Son of the Sheik." This film was made in 1926, Valentino's last film. One year later, The Jazz Singer was released, this was the first film that included sound. It is a tragedy that Valentino never made a talkie. I am sure he was so big that he would have been able to cross over into talkies as well. However, in the film "Chaplin," he talks about not wanting to make a talkie where the tramp talks, because the magic would be gone, in a sense the same holds true for Valentino, since we never had the chance to see him in a talkie, the magic still exists and makes him larger than life.

Rudolph Valentino Cobra Movie Program

This is a movie program from the film, "Cobra." With the mild success of Monsieur Beaucaire, notice this program reads, "A strictly modern story of tempestuous love, stirring drama , and touching sacrifice." Some Valentino fans did not care for the period film, with occasional comedy, Monsieur Beaucaire, this is why this was touted as a modern drama.

German Son of the Sheik Magazine

This is a German magazine called Film-Kurier. The cover depicts Valentino from "The Son of the Sheik." This is not a common magazine. This would be considered a more valuable magazine because of the cover. Magazines that feature Valentino in color or with a desireable photo tends to be more valuable unless the magazine is very common.

The Son of the Sheik Newspaper Ad

This is a newspaper ad for the film, "The Son of the Sheik." Notice this ad does not feature an actual depiction of Valentino. Once Valentino died it was a difficult decision what to do about advertising for the movie, some people felt it was disrespectful to capitalize and market a deceased person. Others wanted to see his image plastered on everything, everywhere.

Photos from The Young Rajah

These are five photos from the film, "The Young Rajah." The screenplay was wrote by June Mathis, who is pictured in the last photo on the set. This was the film that Valentino felt the studio was exploiting him and walked out on his contract. He and Natacha wanted more control of the films he was starring in, this film did not satisfy their wants and needs. This is yet another of Valentino's lost films that was recently found. The copy in existence is incomplete and is accompanied with spliced in stills to compensate for the lost footage. It is a rough copy in places, but is much better than no copy at all.

The Dalemans Brothers Valentino Mania

This is a rare book entitled Valentino Mania by The Dalemans Brothers. This book was published in 1996, there were only 500 copies published. The Dalemans Brothers wrote the silent film Taxi Dancer which is a film about a deaf elevator operator who becomes obsessed with Valentino after his death. I have yet to see this film, if anyone knows where I can get a copy of it please let me know. This book is a collection of various Valentino items, places in Italy and scenes from the film. Most copies of these books are in the hands of Valentino collectors, so this book is very difficult to find and quite valuable.

Personal Note Hand Signed by Rudolph Valentino

My favortie part of this note is when he talks about someone who brought him "vile red wine." He states that if he tried to bring him this wine again he would shoot him. He also wanted a note with some fresh fruit that reads: Ton Querido. I looked this up, Ton is French for Your, and Querido is Spanish for Dear. Valentino spoke fluent Italian, English, Spanish, and French. I have read that in most of Blood and Sand he spoke Spanish, in most of Monsieur Beaucaire he spoke French. This is a one of kind piece that would be very valuable.

Spanish Rudolph Valentino Magazine

This is a magazine that depicts a color photo of Valentino from The Four Horsemen of the Apocolypse. The magazine simply reads: Rodolfo Valentino edition, the lover of Hollywood. The magazine appears to be from the 70's. This is not a common magazine; however, it is not extremely valuable. This is the same cover used in the July 1922 Photoplay magazine.

Photos from Beyond the Rocks

These are five photos from the film, "Beyond the Rocks." This was one of three films Valentino made in 1922 along with Moran of the Lady Letty, and Blood and Sand. This film was lost for over 80 years until in 2000 an 87 year old man from the Netherlands passed away and willed his film collection to the Netherlands Film Museum. His collection was comprised of over 2000 films in rusty metal containers. They were lucky enough to discover the two reel footage of Beyond the Rocks. The Museum took years to restore the film, it premiered at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival. Since then, the film was featured in a worldwide film festival and was realeased on DVD. Now if someone could find "A Sainted Devil" and "Uncharted Seas," Valentino fans could have a complete collection of his films featuring him in starring roles.

Rudolph Valentino Bigamy Newspaper Headline

In 1922 Valentino married set designer Natacha Rambova. Valentino's marriage from his first wife Jean Acker had recently ended in divorce. California law at that time stated a person could not remarry until one year after the divorce. Valentino was arrested on bigamy charges, he spent three days in jail and was fined $10,000. This is a newspaper headline discussing the turn of events.

Rare Domino Style Rudolph Valentino Chocolate Card

This is a rare Spanish domino style chocolate card. The card was produced by The Jaime Boix Chocolate Company. The card depicts Valentino and Mary Pickford. There was a whole set of these produced with various silent stars. I have never come across any of these, I would estimate these would bring a premium price compared to other chocolate and tobacco cards.

A Sainted Devil Newspaper Ad

This is a newspaper ad from the film, "A Sainted Devil." These newspaper ads are not difficult to find, they are great for creating a scrapbook. There are many different variations of artwork for these movie ads.

Rudolph Valentino Photos from Blood and Sand

These are five photos from the film, "Blood and Sand." Blood and Sand was one of the first films Valentino received credible acting praise. It is also one of the films where Valentino's relationship with Paramount began to deteriorate. Famous Players Lasky told Valentino they would shoot part of the film in Spain, instead it was shot on the backlot of the Famous Players Lasky studios in Hollywood.

Rudolph Valentino Publicity Postcards

These are five postcards that depict Valentino in various publicity poses. Most of these postcards are very common; however still very collectible. Most of the Valentino postcards in my collection are unused, which makes the postcard more valuable. Most fans bought these postcards to keep as momentos instead of something to mail to someone else.

Dark Lover by Emily W. Leider

These are three variations of Emily W. Leider's book, Dark Lover. The bottom photograph depicts the edition published in 2003 by Farrar, Straus, and Giroux. The middle edition is the hardback UK edition also published in 2003 by Farber and Farber. The top photo is a paperback UK copy published in 2004 by Farber and Farber as well. These book are very common, the UK editions seem to be harder to come by, but still very common.