Upon reading up on Valentino, I heard this was the best biography on him but it's not available in my country. So I purchased it online and I should get it in 2 months, sigh. LOL!
Anyway, I've been reading up some reviews of the book, even the negative reviews are interesting. Take this negative review for example, it isn't a negative view of the book itself but of the character of Valentino. And in reading it, despite its dismissive, condescending and insulting references to the dead actor, it made me think of how he was probably criticized by his haters back in the 1920s. How Valentino's Italian-ness, European-ness, his poor eyesight, insecurities, and inability to join the army 2x due to his myopia and undeveloped chest - are all presented as a negative, a criticism against the actor. But through reading it, it made him feel more real, more relatable, and I could empathize with the unfair treatment of him.
Stuart Holmes, who appeared with Rudolph Valentino in 1921's "The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse," dismissed Rudy's much-touted magnetism by saying, "All he thought about was Italian food. He'd turn those big slumberous eyes on some woman, and she'd just about swoon with delight, but he couldn't have cared less."
So apparently, even his love for spaghetti and his 1 woman-man preference is taken against him. LOL!
Each page widens the gap between the cinematic stud who fueled mass feminine hysteria after his death at 31, and the dull, superficial personality he was in real life.
Handicapped by an underdeveloped chest, weak vision, a lazy left eye and cauliflowered left ear, the actor had enough smoldering camera presence to graduate from heavies to romantic leads. Leider offers other intriguing details, such as studio insistence that his dark skin be bleached white and that he keep out of the sun to avoid looking too black for pictures. Conjecture about Valentino’s sexuality grew more threatening when his bisexual first wife Jean barred him from her bedroom on their wedding night.
It's a wonder though where the author's hostility comes from, his physical imperfections and dark skin are taken as reasons to all the more think badly of him. And it's a wonder because it's the 21st century, not the 1920s and I certainly doubt the author was alive and one of the critics of Valentino almost 100 years hence.
Much of the time, Rudy comes off as an amiable narcissist, attracted to those who physically resemble him. Leider balances this with a few flattering anecdotes, including one showing him as considerate of his co-stars.
Ultimately, the emotion we’re left with is frustration that such a legend is nothing more than a self-pitying Hollywood cliche who whines, “I do not think one woman in my life has ever loved me deeply, sincerely. The great lover — loved by all but his loves.”
And through the book it seems, the reviewer gathers that Valentino is nothing more than a whiner, a cliche, and narcissist YET with this quote, all I feel is tremendous sympathy for someone who I'll paraphrase Valentino's words "only ever loved one woman" - his wife Natacha who grew bored of him and left despite his futile efforts.
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Reply by vicky_lc2001
on March 23, 2017 at 8:36 PM
I hope you guys don't mind me posting another review of the biographical book. The book will take so long to get here, I need to get my fix from somewhere, lol!
Here's a more balanced review that I found interesting as there are details here not found in the one above:
The Telegraph Review
The title of the review is - For fear of pink powder puffs - and it seems appropriate as Valentino was hounded by it, regaled against it, and was very much affected by such accusations. He even called out one of his critics in a duel - in the boxing ring.
I never knew Valentino had myopia, or poor vision. And this intensity linked to his myopia reminds me very much of Christopher Lambert who is now legally blind and known for his intense gaze linked to his myopia.
Christopher Lambert btw is the actor who portrayed Connor MacLeod in the Highlander films.
Christopher Lambert's IMDB Trivia Section:
It seems like the critics have somehow touched upon the very things that hounded his insecurities and vulnerabilities. Coming from a macho Italian culture, the blemish and criticisms of his manhood compounded by rumors of his gigolo days as a dancer and inability to join the military 2x due to not meeting the physical standard.
I had read that Valentino despite having a vast library, didn't really read except for books on health and exercise and he even released a book on it:
How You Can Keep Fit By RUDOLPH VALENTINO
And upon reading this review, it makes sense that he would obsess over his physicality as a man and try to over compensate by exercising or improving upon it. And he was rather fit actually, lol! Especially in a time when actors were not as defined or toned as Valentino was.
Valentino posing in an exercise squat
Valentino in swimming attire
Reply by wonder2wonder
on March 23, 2017 at 8:48 PM
I didn't know about the myopia. Did he wear glasses when not in public?
Reply by vicky_lc2001
on March 24, 2017 at 1:50 AM
IDK, but based on the few things I've read about him, he didn't wear glasses. Perhaps he associated it with weakness? Or maybe a vanity?
But wouldn't his eyesight get worse if he didn't wear glasses? The only one I know that has it is Lambert, and he's legally blind. While filming the first Highlander, he almost hurt whoever he was fighting multiple times because he had such a poor eyesight and couldn't wear contact lenses. He had to memorize his movements based on his actions and exactness, and couldn't rely much on sight.