Valentino (1977)

Load of rubbish!!

Instant Favorite.

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

This was to me a most impressing surprise, a fantastic film of multiple aspects and observations of the very bizarre world of Hollywood when it was still all experiments, with Rudolph Nureyev accomplishing an astonishing stardom in convincingly impersonating Rudolph Valentino, while all the dancing scenes naturally remain the chief asset of this phantasmagorical fireworks of a film, with both plenty of humor, mainly hilariously ironic, virtuoso caricature scenes, a great deal of romance and passion going to extremes, with Leslie Caron excelling and actually outshining the leading lady Michelle Phillips, with also some very revolting scenes, especially the nightmare at the prison and the grotesque abominability of Peter Vaughan, with splendid music all the way; but in spite of the wild caricaturizing throughout the film, it gives a rather convincing and even realistic picture of Hollywood in the 20s, and the portrait of Rudolph Valentino in all his complexities, building up towards an apotheosis of a finale, when he actually succeeds in crowning his life with happiness and success after all and dying the more triumphant for his shortcomings, could hardly have been made more colorful, dramatic and interesting. Perhaps the best scene of all, and the most baroque, is the grotesque recreation of the case of Fatty Arbuckle.

The movie is utter trash! The actors and actresses seem to put more trash on poor Rudy. The movie was not really true to life. I've researched and read many a biography and Valentino was NOT the way the director portrayed him to be, other than a great dancer and an excellent actor. I loved Nureyev; nothing personal against any of the actors and actresses; it's just that the story is so over inflated with a bunch of false accusations.Natasha Rambova never even appeared at his memorial. Rudy was not homosexual, and was not a gigolo. He was a dancer and danced with women prior to getting into movies, yes, that is true, but he wasn't the "clown" the way the movie puts him out to be in the movie.It stinks.

As in all of his biography films Ken Russell takes no prisoners. A series of warped biographies on composers (Mahler, Tchaikovsky, List)incensed more than entertained audiences and critics. Laced with dark humor, vibrant costuming and Russell's sardonic use of the composers works in conjunction with his colorful and outlandish compositions the films were visual feasts that bordered on character assassination. In Valentino, Russell comes to America to offer his take on silent Hollywood and its biggest star of the era, Rudolph Valentino. Russell is relentless in his depiction of the exploitative and greedy nature of producers who in the opening scene stand over Valentino's body lamenting financial loss. Russell also works over newspaper reporters, actresses, Valentino's ex-wives and a comedian known as Fatty (Arbuckle?). Dancer, Rudolph Nureyev is no actor but as Valentino his poorly pronounced flatly emoted English fits and contributes to his sympathetic character. As in all Russell films there are scenes that are lush and grandly staged (ably assisted by ex-wife, Shirley Russell's original and over the top costuming) such as Leslie Caron's entrance at the funeral home, the fight sequence where ball room dancing takes place in between rounds, the producer with the pet gorilla in his living room, and a cult fan gathering outside Valentino's mansion. This film quickly sank from sight when it was released and thirty years later consensus remains the same. I personally believe however that Valentino is a sharply drawn dark humored satire that spits cynicism at two institutions (Hollywood and the media) that it depended heavily on for its success. Valentino succeeds on every level and that was probably its problem.

This film topped the British box-office for two weeks and in doing so made Ken Russell the most successful filmmaker in Britain in the 1970s. It was his fifth No.1 hit in that decade. Guy Hamilton had four No.1s (Bond films), Sam Peckinpah had three No.1s; no one else had more than two. Ken Russell also spent longer at Number one than Spielberg, whose two No.1 hits, Jaws and Close Encounters, failed to match the record set by The Music Lovers (1 week at No. 1); Devils (Eight Weeks at No.1); Tommy (14 weeks); Lisztomania (2 weeks) and this. Valentino is not one of Russell's masterpieces, but there are mightily glorious things to see here.