Good Night Valentino

As a fan of Rudolph Valentino and having read every book on the man, "Good Night Valentino" is by far the best depiction of the silent screen star ever captured. When I first saw Edoardo Ballerini in the film "Dinner Rush" I could not believe how much he physically resembled Valentino without in any way trying. When I later heard Ballerini was starring and directing a film about the legend, I knew I had to see it. I was not disappointed."Good Night Valentino" is an excellant two character study that beautifully captures the mood of 1926 (and the state of mind of Valentino in the days before his untimely death at age 31). Both actors are so good that you feel as though you are watching a documentary on Valentino. Let's hope that we see more work by this talented actor/director soon!

Much of the narrative here is quoted from Mencken's essay (a Baltimore Sun column) that appeared a few days after Valentino died. Mencken wrote that he was puzzled by Valentino's request to meet with him; the dinner was arranged by an actress (Aileen Pringle, who had actually appeared in a couple of early Valentino movies) of the men's mutual acquaintance. The maid here is an artistic addition, not mentioned in the essay, & Ms. Pringle was not cited by name.

This short gives a fair account of their encounter, & we are watching two very fine actors at work. (John Rothman, who appears as Mencken, is in fact from Baltimore.) Mencken described the evening as infernally hot & Valentino as essentially an honorable man & even his clothes as not those "of his horrible trade." I'd always thought that Mencken's description of the dinner would make an excellent albeit brief stage play & found this short film only recently.

First of all I really adore this movie. It was like getting a secret glimpse into one of Valentino's most private moments. It was heartbreaking to see how upset Valentino was in his final days. The public often confused him with the characters he played on screen. In reality he was a decent, shy, funny, caring man who longed for a happy family life, children and true love. I do believe that Natacha Rambova was the love of his life and that he eventually would have ended up happy with her if he had lived. It's awful how the newspaper questioned his manhood and so sad how much pain it caused him. He just wanted the public to know the truth. Being the first "Superstar" of film in history it must have been overwhelming to have to deal with it all. I think that Mencken read a little too much into what Valentino said and that Valentino was specifically upset about this particular situation. His manager George Ullman said that it was one of the last things that he spoke of and it did contribute to his death. It's so sad that Rudolph Valentino didn't live to get the happiness that he deserved - to either get back with Natacha or fall in love with a woman who would have given him the happy family life he so desperately wanted.

Saw this film at the Valentino tribute at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. It's an essay that was written about the writers last encounter with Valentino. The actor and director, writer who wrote this piece was there and introduced the film. Valentino at the time was upset with a writer who had said he was a powder puff, homosexual. This writer met with him days before his death and Valentino told him it was true. Great little film.

First, this is a meeting between two 20's personalities, not 30's. Secondly, Valentino would have never have admitted he was a homosexual, because that was the very thing he went to see Mencken about, and, contrary to what people may want to believe, he was heterosexual. The rumor about him being homosexual came from a film, and the costume he wore, in which he was called a pink powder puff. Valentino, being from Italy, had that machismo, and was deeply offended and crushed by the newspaper article that described him as less than a he-man, although, he wasn't much of a he-man. More Importantly, American men were threatened by Valentino because American woman were in love with his image, and men were jealous. Douglas Fairbanks was very rude to Valentino: couldn't stand him. There was a lot of rivalry. Valentino himself was awed by his power, liked it, but was ambivalent about it. I don't think Mencken was exactly correct.

There are a couple of reviews that are noteworthy about this film, but please avoid these two, obviously written by two people who didn't understand what they were watching.