Author: Colin Evans
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1493011685
Category : True Crime
Languages : en
Pages : 309
Book Description
In 1922, Rudolph Valentino was one of the most famous men alive. But few knew that the star had a dirty secret that he desperately wanted to bury. The lurid tale began a decade earlier when former Yale football star and notorious playboy Jack de Saulles made headlines across three continents by pursuing the beautiful young Chilean heiress Blanca Errázuriz, known as the Star of Santiago. After the birth of their son, though, the marriage soured. Jack was going after every chorus girl on Broadway, claiming that Blanca had banished him from their bed. By 1916, Blanca wanted a divorce, rare then and even more so in a wealthy, powerful Catholic family. Enter Valentino, then still known as Rodolfo Guglielmi, a professional dancer in New York City, famous for the Argentinean tango. Blanca discovered that her husband had been sleeping with Joan Sawyer, Rodolfo’s dance partner, so she set about cultivating the hungry young performer. Whether Blanca and Guglielmi became lovers remains unclear, but the ambitious Italian gave evidence on her behalf in divorce court. Furious, de Saulles had Guglielmi arrested on trumped-up vice charges, tarnishing the dancer’s reputation. But Blanca was fighting bigger battles. De Saulles’s family had been pulling strings, persuading the courts to grant him partial custody of their child. When it appeared that he wasn’t going to return the boy to his mother’s care, Blanca exploded. On a sweltering August night in 1917, she drove to Jack’s mansion and shot him dead. Several people witnessed the act, but Blanca’s family hired the best defense lawyer around, who salvaged de Saulles’s reputation and made Blanca out to be a saint. During the “most sensational trial of the decade,” millions devoured the juicy details of how a high-society marriage violently unraveled. Guglielmi, desperate to avoid further poisonous publicity, fled to California, changed his name to Rudolph Valentino, and the rest is Hollywood history.
Valentino Affair
Author: Colin Evans
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1493011685
Category : True Crime
Languages : en
Pages : 309
Book Description
In 1922, Rudolph Valentino was one of the most famous men alive. But few knew that the star had a dirty secret that he desperately wanted to bury. The lurid tale began a decade earlier when former Yale football star and notorious playboy Jack de Saulles made headlines across three continents by pursuing the beautiful young Chilean heiress Blanca Errázuriz, known as the Star of Santiago. After the birth of their son, though, the marriage soured. Jack was going after every chorus girl on Broadway, claiming that Blanca had banished him from their bed. By 1916, Blanca wanted a divorce, rare then and even more so in a wealthy, powerful Catholic family. Enter Valentino, then still known as Rodolfo Guglielmi, a professional dancer in New York City, famous for the Argentinean tango. Blanca discovered that her husband had been sleeping with Joan Sawyer, Rodolfo’s dance partner, so she set about cultivating the hungry young performer. Whether Blanca and Guglielmi became lovers remains unclear, but the ambitious Italian gave evidence on her behalf in divorce court. Furious, de Saulles had Guglielmi arrested on trumped-up vice charges, tarnishing the dancer’s reputation. But Blanca was fighting bigger battles. De Saulles’s family had been pulling strings, persuading the courts to grant him partial custody of their child. When it appeared that he wasn’t going to return the boy to his mother’s care, Blanca exploded. On a sweltering August night in 1917, she drove to Jack’s mansion and shot him dead. Several people witnessed the act, but Blanca’s family hired the best defense lawyer around, who salvaged de Saulles’s reputation and made Blanca out to be a saint. During the “most sensational trial of the decade,” millions devoured the juicy details of how a high-society marriage violently unraveled. Guglielmi, desperate to avoid further poisonous publicity, fled to California, changed his name to Rudolph Valentino, and the rest is Hollywood history.
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1493011685
Category : True Crime
Languages : en
Pages : 309
Book Description
In 1922, Rudolph Valentino was one of the most famous men alive. But few knew that the star had a dirty secret that he desperately wanted to bury. The lurid tale began a decade earlier when former Yale football star and notorious playboy Jack de Saulles made headlines across three continents by pursuing the beautiful young Chilean heiress Blanca Errázuriz, known as the Star of Santiago. After the birth of their son, though, the marriage soured. Jack was going after every chorus girl on Broadway, claiming that Blanca had banished him from their bed. By 1916, Blanca wanted a divorce, rare then and even more so in a wealthy, powerful Catholic family. Enter Valentino, then still known as Rodolfo Guglielmi, a professional dancer in New York City, famous for the Argentinean tango. Blanca discovered that her husband had been sleeping with Joan Sawyer, Rodolfo’s dance partner, so she set about cultivating the hungry young performer. Whether Blanca and Guglielmi became lovers remains unclear, but the ambitious Italian gave evidence on her behalf in divorce court. Furious, de Saulles had Guglielmi arrested on trumped-up vice charges, tarnishing the dancer’s reputation. But Blanca was fighting bigger battles. De Saulles’s family had been pulling strings, persuading the courts to grant him partial custody of their child. When it appeared that he wasn’t going to return the boy to his mother’s care, Blanca exploded. On a sweltering August night in 1917, she drove to Jack’s mansion and shot him dead. Several people witnessed the act, but Blanca’s family hired the best defense lawyer around, who salvaged de Saulles’s reputation and made Blanca out to be a saint. During the “most sensational trial of the decade,” millions devoured the juicy details of how a high-society marriage violently unraveled. Guglielmi, desperate to avoid further poisonous publicity, fled to California, changed his name to Rudolph Valentino, and the rest is Hollywood history.
Hollywood Bohemians
Author: Brett L. Abrams
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 0786482478
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 257
Book Description
Between 1917 and 1941, Hollywood studios, gossip columnists and novelists featured an unprecedented number of homosexuals, cross-dressers, and adulterers in their depictions of the glamorous Hollywood lifestyle. Actress Greta Garbo defined herself as the ultimate serial bachelorette. Screenwriter Mercedes De Acosta engaged in numerous lesbian relationships with the Hollywood elite. And countless homosexual designers brazenly picked up men in the hottest Hollywood nightclubs. Hollywood's image grew as a place of sexual abandon. This book demonstrates how studios and the media used images of these sexually adventurous characters to promote the industry and appeal to the prurient interests of their audiences.
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 0786482478
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 257
Book Description
Between 1917 and 1941, Hollywood studios, gossip columnists and novelists featured an unprecedented number of homosexuals, cross-dressers, and adulterers in their depictions of the glamorous Hollywood lifestyle. Actress Greta Garbo defined herself as the ultimate serial bachelorette. Screenwriter Mercedes De Acosta engaged in numerous lesbian relationships with the Hollywood elite. And countless homosexual designers brazenly picked up men in the hottest Hollywood nightclubs. Hollywood's image grew as a place of sexual abandon. This book demonstrates how studios and the media used images of these sexually adventurous characters to promote the industry and appeal to the prurient interests of their audiences.
Rudolph Valentino
Author: Natacha Rambova
Publisher: 1921 PVG Publishing
ISBN: 098164404X
Category : Motion picture actors and actresses
Languages : en
Pages : 352
Book Description
In 1926 Silent Film Icon, Rudolph Valentino, died unexpectedly at the age of 31. That same year, he had finalized a bitter divorce from his wife of four years, Natacha Rambova. Valentino had been madly in love with the gorgeous and very talented designer, yet they had been unable to make their marriage work. Since their first marriage in 1922, the public had been critical of Rambova, blaming her for any mistakes in Valentino's career or life. As Valentino laid on his deathbed in New York, Rambova was in Paris. The two exchanged telegrams to the very end, with both sides believing they would soon reunite and a reconciliation had taken place. Upon hearing the news of his death, Rambova was so distraught she locked herself in her room for three days. With many estate issues to fulfill, Valentino's manager George Ullman took the reigns. To help keep Valentino's name in the spotlight, Ullman wrote a book detailing his time with the gifted actor. Ullman and Rambova had never gotten along, fighting for control of Valentino's career. Feeling she had been unfairly portrayed not only by Ullman, but also by the press, Rambova decided to write her own book. First published in the UK in 1927, "Rudy: An Intimate Portrait by His Wife," presented Rambova's side of the story, providing many amusing stories and anecdotes about her time with Valentino. Both Valentino and Rambova had been firm believers in the practice of Spiritualism. Rambova decided to utilize her beliefs for this book, adding a section titled "Revelations," consisting of things supposedly told to her by Valentino's soul, through seances. Rambova felt the need to publish these 'messages', believing these were things his soul wished to communicate with the world. However things soon got out of hand, with boisterous fans and attention seekers bombarding the legacy of Rudolph Valentino with their own claims. Rambova would remain firm in her beliefs, eventually becoming a renowned Egyptologist. After the publication of this book, she never spoke of her time with Valentino again. "Rudolph Valentino: An Intimate Portrait by his wife" is proudly reprinted by The Rudolph Valentino Society for the first time in over 80 years, under a new title, "Rudolph Valentino: A Wife's Memories of an Icon." In addition to the original text there is a new section containing biographies, filmographies, bibliographies, notes, and new forwards. This section also contains groundbreaking biographies on screenwriter and film executive June Mathis; as well as silent film vamp Nita Naldi. 70% of proceeds from this book benefit The Rudolph Valentino Society and Film Festival.
Publisher: 1921 PVG Publishing
ISBN: 098164404X
Category : Motion picture actors and actresses
Languages : en
Pages : 352
Book Description
In 1926 Silent Film Icon, Rudolph Valentino, died unexpectedly at the age of 31. That same year, he had finalized a bitter divorce from his wife of four years, Natacha Rambova. Valentino had been madly in love with the gorgeous and very talented designer, yet they had been unable to make their marriage work. Since their first marriage in 1922, the public had been critical of Rambova, blaming her for any mistakes in Valentino's career or life. As Valentino laid on his deathbed in New York, Rambova was in Paris. The two exchanged telegrams to the very end, with both sides believing they would soon reunite and a reconciliation had taken place. Upon hearing the news of his death, Rambova was so distraught she locked herself in her room for three days. With many estate issues to fulfill, Valentino's manager George Ullman took the reigns. To help keep Valentino's name in the spotlight, Ullman wrote a book detailing his time with the gifted actor. Ullman and Rambova had never gotten along, fighting for control of Valentino's career. Feeling she had been unfairly portrayed not only by Ullman, but also by the press, Rambova decided to write her own book. First published in the UK in 1927, "Rudy: An Intimate Portrait by His Wife," presented Rambova's side of the story, providing many amusing stories and anecdotes about her time with Valentino. Both Valentino and Rambova had been firm believers in the practice of Spiritualism. Rambova decided to utilize her beliefs for this book, adding a section titled "Revelations," consisting of things supposedly told to her by Valentino's soul, through seances. Rambova felt the need to publish these 'messages', believing these were things his soul wished to communicate with the world. However things soon got out of hand, with boisterous fans and attention seekers bombarding the legacy of Rudolph Valentino with their own claims. Rambova would remain firm in her beliefs, eventually becoming a renowned Egyptologist. After the publication of this book, she never spoke of her time with Valentino again. "Rudolph Valentino: An Intimate Portrait by his wife" is proudly reprinted by The Rudolph Valentino Society for the first time in over 80 years, under a new title, "Rudolph Valentino: A Wife's Memories of an Icon." In addition to the original text there is a new section containing biographies, filmographies, bibliographies, notes, and new forwards. This section also contains groundbreaking biographies on screenwriter and film executive June Mathis; as well as silent film vamp Nita Naldi. 70% of proceeds from this book benefit The Rudolph Valentino Society and Film Festival.
The Divo and the Duce
Author: Giorgio Bertellini
Publisher: University of California Press
ISBN: 0520301366
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 328
Book Description
At publication date, a free ebook version of this title will be available through Luminos, University of California Press's Open Access publishing program. Visit www.luminosoa.org to learn more. In the post–World War I American climate of isolationism, nativism, democratic expansion of civic rights, and consumerism, Italian-born star Rodolfo Valentino and Italy’s dictator Benito Mussolini became surprising paragons of authoritarian male power and mass appeal. Drawing on extensive archival research in the United States and Italy, Giorgio Bertellini’s work shows how their popularity, both political and erotic, largely depended on the efforts of public opinion managers, including publicists, journalists, and even ambassadors. Beyond the democratic celebrations of the Jazz Age, the promotion of their charismatic masculinity through spectacle and press coverage inaugurated the now-familiar convergence of popular celebrity and political authority. This is the first volume in the new Cinema Cultures in Contact series, coedited by Giorgio Bertellini, Richard Abel, and Matthew Solomon.
Publisher: University of California Press
ISBN: 0520301366
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 328
Book Description
At publication date, a free ebook version of this title will be available through Luminos, University of California Press's Open Access publishing program. Visit www.luminosoa.org to learn more. In the post–World War I American climate of isolationism, nativism, democratic expansion of civic rights, and consumerism, Italian-born star Rodolfo Valentino and Italy’s dictator Benito Mussolini became surprising paragons of authoritarian male power and mass appeal. Drawing on extensive archival research in the United States and Italy, Giorgio Bertellini’s work shows how their popularity, both political and erotic, largely depended on the efforts of public opinion managers, including publicists, journalists, and even ambassadors. Beyond the democratic celebrations of the Jazz Age, the promotion of their charismatic masculinity through spectacle and press coverage inaugurated the now-familiar convergence of popular celebrity and political authority. This is the first volume in the new Cinema Cultures in Contact series, coedited by Giorgio Bertellini, Richard Abel, and Matthew Solomon.
Hollywood Death and Scandal Sites
Author: E.J. Fleming
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 147661850X
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 409
Book Description
For more than a century, people have been drawn to sites of tragedy involving the rich, beautiful and notorious of Hollywood. Tourists at the center of the movie universe flock to Rudolph Valentino's grave, the house where Marilyn Monroe died, the "O.J. murders" condo, the hotel where John Belushi overdosed, a myriad of haunted mansions. In its extensively researched and enlarged second edition, this book tells the stories of these locations and makes finding them simple. Seventeen driving tours include more than 650 sites. Each tour covers a specific area, from Hollywood and the Sunset Strip to Brentwood and Malibu, covering the entire Los Angeles basin. Concise, easy-to-follow directions are given to each location with 145 photos and the fascinating story behind each stop.
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 147661850X
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 409
Book Description
For more than a century, people have been drawn to sites of tragedy involving the rich, beautiful and notorious of Hollywood. Tourists at the center of the movie universe flock to Rudolph Valentino's grave, the house where Marilyn Monroe died, the "O.J. murders" condo, the hotel where John Belushi overdosed, a myriad of haunted mansions. In its extensively researched and enlarged second edition, this book tells the stories of these locations and makes finding them simple. Seventeen driving tours include more than 650 sites. Each tour covers a specific area, from Hollywood and the Sunset Strip to Brentwood and Malibu, covering the entire Los Angeles basin. Concise, easy-to-follow directions are given to each location with 145 photos and the fascinating story behind each stop.
Speed Kings
Author: Andy Bull
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1592409709
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 305
Book Description
Traces the efforts of four American athletes from disparate backgrounds to win the gold medal for bobsledding during the 1932 Olympics, profiling how the American public, deep in the grip of the Great Depression, rallied around their achievements.
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1592409709
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 305
Book Description
Traces the efforts of four American athletes from disparate backgrounds to win the gold medal for bobsledding during the 1932 Olympics, profiling how the American public, deep in the grip of the Great Depression, rallied around their achievements.
Movie Crazy
Author: S. Barbas
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1137103191
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 234
Book Description
While the impact that legendary actors and actresses have had on the development of the Hollywood film industry is well known, few have recognised the power of movie fans on shaping the industry. This books redresses that balance, and is the first study of Hollywood's golden era to examine the period from the viewpoint of the fans. Using fan club journals, fan letters, studio production records, and other previously unpublished archival sources, Samantha Barbas reveals how the passion, enthusiasm, and ongoing activism of film fans in Hollywood's golden era transformed early cinema, the modern mass media and American popular culture.
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1137103191
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 234
Book Description
While the impact that legendary actors and actresses have had on the development of the Hollywood film industry is well known, few have recognised the power of movie fans on shaping the industry. This books redresses that balance, and is the first study of Hollywood's golden era to examine the period from the viewpoint of the fans. Using fan club journals, fan letters, studio production records, and other previously unpublished archival sources, Samantha Barbas reveals how the passion, enthusiasm, and ongoing activism of film fans in Hollywood's golden era transformed early cinema, the modern mass media and American popular culture.
Queer Timing
Author: Susan Potter
Publisher: University of Illinois Press
ISBN: 0252051300
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 340
Book Description
John Leo and Dana Heller Award for Best Single Work, Anthology, Multi-Authored or Edited Book in LGBTQ Studies, Popular Culture Association (PCA), 2020 In Queer Timing, Susan Potter offers a counter-history that reorients accepted views of lesbian representation and spectatorship in early cinema. Potter sees the emergence of lesbian figures as only the most visible but belated outcome of multiple sexuality effects. Early cinema reconfigured older erotic modalities, articulated new--though incoherent--sexual categories, and generated novel forms of queer feeling and affiliation. Potter draws on queer theory, silent film historiography, feminist film analysis, and archival research to provide an original and innovative analysis. Taking a conceptually oriented approach, she articulates the processes of filmic representation and spectatorship that reshaped, marginalized, or suppressed women's same-sex desires and identities. As she pursues a sense of "timing," Potter stages scenes of the erotic and intellectual encounters shared by historical spectators, on-screen figures, and present-day scholars. The result is a daring revision of feminist and queer perspectives that foregrounds the centrality of women's same-sex desire to cinematic discourses of both homo- and heterosexuality.
Publisher: University of Illinois Press
ISBN: 0252051300
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 340
Book Description
John Leo and Dana Heller Award for Best Single Work, Anthology, Multi-Authored or Edited Book in LGBTQ Studies, Popular Culture Association (PCA), 2020 In Queer Timing, Susan Potter offers a counter-history that reorients accepted views of lesbian representation and spectatorship in early cinema. Potter sees the emergence of lesbian figures as only the most visible but belated outcome of multiple sexuality effects. Early cinema reconfigured older erotic modalities, articulated new--though incoherent--sexual categories, and generated novel forms of queer feeling and affiliation. Potter draws on queer theory, silent film historiography, feminist film analysis, and archival research to provide an original and innovative analysis. Taking a conceptually oriented approach, she articulates the processes of filmic representation and spectatorship that reshaped, marginalized, or suppressed women's same-sex desires and identities. As she pursues a sense of "timing," Potter stages scenes of the erotic and intellectual encounters shared by historical spectators, on-screen figures, and present-day scholars. The result is a daring revision of feminist and queer perspectives that foregrounds the centrality of women's same-sex desire to cinematic discourses of both homo- and heterosexuality.
Adventures of a Hollywood Secretary
Author: Valeria Belletti
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520247809
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 264
Book Description
A real-life, behind-the-scenes glimpse of Hollywood in the 1920s is revealed in letters by Sam Goldwyn's secretary.
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520247809
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 264
Book Description
A real-life, behind-the-scenes glimpse of Hollywood in the 1920s is revealed in letters by Sam Goldwyn's secretary.
Damsels and Divas
Author: Agata Frymus
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
ISBN: 1978806108
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 244
Book Description
2020 Best Early Career Research Monograph, Monash University Malaysia Damsels and Divas investigates the meanings of Europeanness in Hollywood during the 1920s by charting professional trajectories of three movie stars: Pola Negri, Vilma Bánky and Jetta Goudal. It combines the investigation of American fan magazines with the analysis of studio documents, and the examination of the narratives of their films, to develop a thorough understanding of the ways in which Negri, Bánky and Goudal were understood within the realm of their contemporary American culture. This discussion places their star personae in the context of whiteness, femininity and Americanization. Every age has its heroines, and they reveal a lot about prevailing attitudes towards women in their respective eras. In the United States, where the stories of rags-to-riches were especially potent, stars could offer models of successful cultural integration.
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
ISBN: 1978806108
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 244
Book Description
2020 Best Early Career Research Monograph, Monash University Malaysia Damsels and Divas investigates the meanings of Europeanness in Hollywood during the 1920s by charting professional trajectories of three movie stars: Pola Negri, Vilma Bánky and Jetta Goudal. It combines the investigation of American fan magazines with the analysis of studio documents, and the examination of the narratives of their films, to develop a thorough understanding of the ways in which Negri, Bánky and Goudal were understood within the realm of their contemporary American culture. This discussion places their star personae in the context of whiteness, femininity and Americanization. Every age has its heroines, and they reveal a lot about prevailing attitudes towards women in their respective eras. In the United States, where the stories of rags-to-riches were especially potent, stars could offer models of successful cultural integration.