Valentino (1977 film)
| Valentino | |
|---|---|
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| Directed by | Ken Russell |
| Produced by |
Irwin Winkler Robert Chartoff Harry Benn |
| Screenplay by | Ken Russell Mardik Martin |
| Based on |
Valentino, an Intimate Exposé of the Sheik by Chaw Mank and Brad Steiger |
| Starring |
Rudolf Nureyev Leslie Caron Michelle Phillips Carol Kane Felicity Kendal Seymour Cassel Huntz Hall Linda Thorson |
| Music by |
Stanley Black Ferde Grofé Sr. |
| Cinematography | Peter Suschitzky |
| Edited by | Stuart Baird |
| Distributed by | United Artists |
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Release date
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Running time
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128 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $5,000,000 |
Valentino is a 1977 American biographical film directed by Ken Russell and starring Rudolf Nureyev as Rudolph Valentino. The film is very loosely based on the life of Valentino as recounted in the book Valentino, an Intimate Exposé of the Sheik, written by Chaw Mank and Brad Steiger. The film also stars Michelle Phillips, Leslie Caron, and Carol Kane.
Upon its release, Valentino was a critical and commercial failure. Russell later described his decision to make the film as the biggest mistake of his career.
The film begins with a mock newsreel sequence showing the chaos around the death of 31-year-old film star Rudolph Valentino (Rudolph Nureyev). Thousands of fans mob the funeral home until order is restored, at which point the important women in Valentino's life come to mourn. Each remembers him via flashbacks.
The first of these women Bianca de Saulles (Emily Bolton) who knew Valentino when he was a taxi dancer, and gigolo in New York City. He shares with her his dream of owning an orange grove in California. After mobsters rob him, he decides he must make the move west.
Next is a young movie executive and screenwriter named June Mathis (Felicity Kendal), who has an unrequited love for Valentino. She first meets Valentino in California, where he upsets Mr. Fatty (William Hootkins) by grabbing the starlet next to Arbuckle and romancing her into becoming his first wife, Jean Acker (Carol Kane). Acker's glamorous and luxurious life, made possible by acting in movies, motivates Valentino to try acting himself. Mathis recalls seeing him in a bit part in a movie and, based on that alone, recommending him for a larger role in her next project, The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. The hugely successful 1921 film launches Valentino to superstardom, and she is proud to have discovered him.
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