Rudolph Valentino and his dog……..
I don’t know if I understood Rudolph Valentino's appeal or why women were so obsessed with him. Maybe it was the attraction of his mysterious presence or the way he carried himself on the movie screen that charmed so many.
I could be wrong, but I think the public's perception of him as an ideal romantic figure was a bit overblown and not based on reality. The idea of him as a great lover was so powerful that it obscured a more realistic, and likely less glamorous, assessment of his character for audiences of that era. I really don’t know.
Many of his photographs show a sleepy-eyed look, as if he's about to nod off. But after watching “The Sheik” (1921) and “The Son of the Sheik” (1926) on tv I was, well, I went Whoa. He truly took my breath away. The sleepy-eyed look was the look he gives the female on screen about to make her, his.
Perhaps audiences were captivated simply because Mr. Valentino offered something new and exotic that had never been seen before. The silent film era actors had the ability to convey intense emotion without a single spoken word. Relying so much on facial expressions and gestures. Music. Music played an important part evoking emotions on the viewer. I like this. (The symphony orchestra provides background music during silent film screenings in my home city.)
I suddenly understood how viewers could be swept up in the fantasy, drawn in by romance and adventure that was so different from everyday life during that time period.
His real name is long: Rodolfo Pietro Filiberto Raffaello Guglielmi di Valentina d’Antonguella. He was born on May 6, 1895, in Castellaneta, Italy and passed away on August 23, 1926, in Manhattan, New York City. His death was caused by complications from a ruptured gastric ulcer and peritonitis following surgery for suspected appendicitis and other issues. He was 31. Source, Wikipedia
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