Rudolph Valentino sings 2 songs~~

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SDIjrC70Sw

Valentino remains something of an enigma (nice avatar by the way). His films seems to have aged quite badly, due to his rather over-the-top performances, even for the era. The Sheik is particularly bad in this regard, although a few years later when he made the sequel, Son of the Sheik, he appears not only to have toned the acting down a little but realised the errors from his earlier starring roles and pokes quite a bit of fun at himself. That said, Four Horseman of the Apocalypse still holds up very well, as does Camille, and some of his pre-stardom roles, such as the rather bonkers Wonderful Chance from 1920. And no man has ever looked more beautiful than Valentino in The Young Rajah (or, rather, what's left of it!)

can we call him the first major movie star....the first heart throb for woman.....woman actually killed themselfes when he died.
From rags to riches....from a jack to a king......similar to Elvis but Rudolph actually had nothing to start with.
Makes you wonder what would have happend if he ever entered the world of the "spoken" film.
Again, nice posting Elvis Lady

can we call him the first major movie star....the first heart throb for woman.....woman actually killed themselfes when he died.
From rags to riches....from a jack to a king......similar to Elvis but Rudolph actually had nothing to start with.
Makes you wonder what would have happend if he ever entered the world of the "spoken" film.
Again, nice posting Elvis Lady

Thank you SunHero~

There were major movie stars before him - Chaplin, Fairbanks, Pickford etc - but Valentino was undoubtedly the key one where mass hysteria broke out over his sex appeal. His pretty (rather than handsome) looks were quite at odds with what were seen at the time as "masculine", and America was in the midst of what has since been called a "masculinity crisis" - leading papers of the time to question Valentino's sexuality and refer to him as a "pink powder puff". He was also the first major film star to have the "pretty" rather than rugged looks, and he paved the way for literally hundreds of actors with similar pretty looks, such as Ramon Novarro, Charles Rogers, Richard Cromwell, Ben Lyons, Lew Ayres and Richard Arlen. It was actors with these types of looks which eventually became the norm in Hollywood, with the more rugged leading men becoming a dying breed by the 1930s.

As with so many actors, the talkies would either have killed Valentino's career or elevated his status even further. Even by his death in the mid-20s, his looks were starting to fade - his skin was beginning to age, his hairline was receding (see the pic below). Whether Valentino could have remained as popular following this is something we shall never know, but the record for sex symbols remaining as popular after their looks fade is not great.

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There were major movie stars before him - Chaplin, Fairbanks, Pickford etc - but Valentino was undoubtedly the key one where mass hysteria broke out over his sex appeal. His pretty (rather than handsome) looks were quite at odds with what were seen at the time as "masculine", and America was in the midst of what has since been called a "masculinity crisis" - leading papers of the time to question Valentino's sexuality and refer to him as a "pink powder puff". He was also the first major film star to have the "pretty" rather than rugged looks, and he paved the way for literally hundreds of actors with similar pretty looks, such as Ramon Novarro, Charles Rogers, Richard Cromwell, Ben Lyons, Lew Ayres and Richard Arlen. It was actors with these types of looks which eventually became the norm in Hollywood, with the more rugged leading men becoming a dying breed by the 1930s.

As with so many actors, the talkies would either have killed Valentino's career or elevated his status even further. Even by his death in the mid-20s, his looks were starting to fade - his skin was beginning to age, his hairline was receding (see the pic below). Whether Valentino could have remained as popular following this is something we shall never know, but the record for sex symbols remaining as popular after their looks fade is not great.

Well as for Rudy's receding hairline, I read the other day that it was rumored by his girlfriend at the time of his death ' Pola Negri ' that he was taking a drug for his receding hairline.. a possible illegal drug that caused his perforated ulcer, & death,, on the other hand he was into the Ouija Board..( occult) & could possibly have been bad karma~
Such a shame he died so young, I believe he would have been successful at making the transition to talking movies, he did by the way learn English when he moved over here in 1913. Those who knew him said he spoke very well with his English~
And, by the way, he was very much concerned about the way 'men' saw him too, & was in Great physical shape, he didn't want to be seen as just a 'Latin Lover' but also taken seriously by the male audience as well. He was into boxing, & challenged a writer to a boxing match, a man named Frank O'Neill, volunteered to fight Rudy & Rudy won~

Too bad they sound so muddy. When did sound recording improve from that? I know by 1929-30 there is some good music on film that is clear. I think Robert Johnson's stuff sounds way better than that but that's a few years later 1927 I think most of his stuff was cut.

Too bad they sound so muddy. When did sound recording improve from that? I know by 1929-30 there is some good music on film that is clear. I think Robert Johnson's stuff sounds way better than that but that's a few years later 1927 I think most of his stuff was cut.

Robert Johnson was 1936-37 in the main.

It depends on the source Mike. If you're using good source recordings, even from back then, you'll have better sounds. It seems somewhere around the mid-1930s there were dramatic leaps in recording technology in both movies and on record. Listen to the Crosby releases from later in that decade and they sound really respectable.

Poormad- What do you think of The Eagle? I recently stumbled on this on a P.D. release and found it quite the decent entertainment.

By necessity though, because everything is acted out as opposed to spoken, isn't silent acting a little broader, even hammier than sound acting?

It depends on the source Mike. If you're using good source recordings, even from back then, you'll have better sounds. It seems somewhere around the mid-1930s there were dramatic leaps in recording technology in both movies and on record. Listen to the Crosby releases from later in that decade and they sound really respectable.

Poormad- What do you think of The Eagle? I recently stumbled on this on a P.D. release and found it quite the decent entertainment.

By necessity though, because everything is acted out as opposed to spoken, isn't silent acting a little broader, even hammier than sound acting?

I'd forgotten about The Eagle. Haven't seen it in years, I'm afraid. The broader/hammier silent acting is true, but only with regards to a handful of actors - Valentino being one, John Barrymore being another. on the whole, though, acting was as subtle then as it was later. There were always going to be hams as actors moved from Broadway to Hollywood and didn't adapt their style accordingly, but those who learnt their trade within films didn't generally suffer from this problem - Clara Bow, Louise Brooks, Jack Pickford, Lon Chaney, Lillian Gish, Colleen Moore etc

His hair doesn't look bad.