Valentino (1951 film)
| Valentino | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Directed by | Lewis Allen |
| Produced by | Edward Small |
| Written by | George Bruce II |
| Starring |
Anthony Dexter Dona Drake Eleanor Parker Otto Kruger |
| Music by | Heinz Roemheld |
| Cinematography | Harry Stradling Sr. |
| Edited by | Daniel Mandell |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
|
Release date
|
March 10, 1951 |
|
Running time
|
102 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $1.3 million |
| Box office | $1,550,000 (US rentals) |
Valentino is a 1951 American drama film billed as the life story of film legend Rudolph Valentino. Valentino was played by near lookalike actor Anthony Dexter.
Rudolph Valentino arrives in America and becomes a movie star. He falls in love with an actress and dies an early death.
Edward Small had announced the project in 1938, with Jack Dunn first mooted to play the title role as a follow up to his debut in The Duke of West Point. However the film had been delayed by script troubles, legal threats, the war, troubles making a movie with the lead character was Italian, and looking for the right actor to play the lead.
Florence Ryan wrote a script in 1939 but this was often rewritten. Others who worked on it (there were an estimated over 30 drafts) include Edward Chodorov, Stephen Longstreet, Sheridan Gibney, Frederick J. Jackson, Virginia Van Upp and George Oppenheimer. Eventual director Lewis Allen described the film as "an imaginary, romantic story with acting as a background." Edward Small could not get clearance from either of Valentino's wives, Jean Acker or Natacha Rambova so the script did not feature either; instead he has three fictitious lovers in the film, one of whom is his married co-star
Del Casino and Louis Hayward were mentioned as early possibilities. In 1946 it was announced Small tried to secure Cornel Wilde for the lead but was unable to. Frederik Vayder auditioned and Louis Jourdan, Helmut Dantine and John Derek were also considered.
The final script was heavily fictionalised to avoid lawsuits from Valentino's former wives, industry associates and his family namely his brother Alberto.
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