by Paul R. Spitzzeri
It is hard to overstate the phenomenon caused in America by the film stardom of Rudolph Valentino, the Italian actor whose smoldering looks and screen presence mesmerized filmgoers, especially women, from the time he made 1921’s The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse until his final film, 1926’s The Son of the Sheik, a sequel to the The Sheik, also from 1921. Though Valentino tried to shake the “sheik” image that defined him to the movie-loving public, the return did follow some tough times in his career.
When Valentino signed with United Artists, started by contemporary stars as Charles Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford and the famed director D.W. Griffith, his first production for the studio, The Eagle, released in 1925, proved to be a success and something of a comeback for the actor.
The 3 February 1926 edition of the Los Angeles Illustrated Daily News reported that “Rudolph Valentino’s next starring vehicle will be produced on the [Pickford-Fairbanks on Santa Monica Boulevard] lot and it entitled ‘The Son of the Sheik.'” Producer Joseph M. Schenck signed a long-term lease to share the studio with the stars and a $2.5 million improvement program was launched, as well.
Under a week later, the Hollywood Citizen of the 9th noted that Vilma Bánky, “popularly known as the ‘Hungarian Rhapsody’ of the screen, has landed another of filmdom’s coveted roles,” as Schenck announced that she was cast to be the female lead, Yasmin, and love interest for Valentino’s Ahmed. Bánky, co-star in The Eagle, was loaned for the production by Samuel Goldwyn and the article observed that production was to start under George Fitzmaurice, who directed her first American picture, The Dark Angel, from 1925.
Schenck’s general manager was John W. Considine, Jr., son of a vaudeville impresario and later the husband of Carmen, the daughter of theater mogul Alexander Pantages. Considine told the press that, with the success of The Eagle, “a tidal wave of letters from theater-goers has come to my office requesting that Miss Banky appear again with Rudolph” and that “we are happy, through the co-operation of Mr. Goldwyn, to be able to grant these requests.”
The Citizen added that George Barnes, who was the cinematographer for The Eagle was hired to work on The Son of the Sheik, while “one of the leading scenarists of the industry,” Frances Marion (1888-1973), was working on the script. A San Francisco native, Marion moved to Los Angeles in 1912 and a few years later became a scriptwriter and, excepting a World War I stint as a correspondent in Europe, became a very successful figure in the industry, including as a close friend and collaborator with Pickford. She won two Oscars and continued working until she was fired by MGM in 1946.
On the 16th, the Citizen reported that Montague Love, a British stage-trained thespian, was cast for a major role as Ghabah, “a murderous Moorish bandit” in what was said to be “the most villainous role in his career.” Also noted was that “a terrific knife-to-knife encounter between [Love and Valentino] will be one of the highlights of the picture.” On the last day of February, the Los Angeles Times briefly commented that Valentino returned recently from Europe with “trunkloads of genuine Arabian garments” for the shoot.
On 19 March, the Citizen commented that “Mack Swain is about to become the world’s biggest sheik” as the portly actor, who weighed in at north of 300 pounds, signed the prior day to play the role of Ramadan and that this would make Swain as well recognized as the villain the Chaplin’s recent landmark film, The Gold Rush. The performer, however, took ill and had to be replaced by a much-leaner Karl Dane, best known for his comedic work. On the 24th, the paper reported an incident occurred on set during early shooting when the wife of a Pittsburgh broker lost a $2,500 diamond brooch and a janitor returned it—and refused to accept a reward.
The day prior, the Citizen went into some detail about the shoot, as it observed that “sans makeup and plus an amazing wardrobe of genuine Arabian costumes, Valentino has entered the spirit of the picture with the zest of a boy.” Moreover, it was remarked that “visitors to the set on the opening day said he had never looked younger or more romantic.” The actor told the press that (assuming this wasn’t the product of studio publicists),
Five years ago, when I made the old “Sheik,” I had only a vague idea of Arabian life. For five years I have been utilizing every opportunity to study the desert people in the belief that some day I would make another Arabian picture.
On the last trip, I picked up more than a dozen complete Arabian outfits. These, coupled with a true reproduction of Arabian costumes, makes it certain that “Son of the Sheik” will be technically authentic.
The account concluded that “it is estimated that production will require three months” and that “much of that time will be spent on a lonely stretch of desert near Yuma, Arizona, where many of the colorful wasteland scenes will be taken.” Later, reported the Times of 25 May, filming was extended into June by a move to the coast near the northern Santa Barbara County town of Guadalupe where sand dunes allowed for the shooting.
A later report, from early June, in the Times remarked that Valentino did not use makeup for the first time in his career because screen tests showed that the actor’s complexion did not require it, while it was added “much greater expression is possible” as a result. The 1 April edition of the Citizen commented that Bánky’s blonde hair, which needed to be dark for the film, did not require a wig because of “a new photographic process perfected” by Barnes and achieved, said Fitzmaurice, “wholly by an arrangement of lights” including “using various diffusers and unusual arrangements and effects” and done in sunlight “with great success.”
The Los Angeles Express of 8 April observed that the role of Ali was to be played by Bull Montana, a professional wrestler born Luigi Montagna in Italy, with Fitzmaurice, who’d employed the performer previously, commenting that “I wanted someone who looked as terrible as possible” and adding that Montana “is perfect” because “I know of nothing more terrible than Mr. Montana in a burnoose” and that, as with the star, but for entirely different reasons, “he needed no makeup.” That is, except for the fact that Montana had many tattoos on his chest, so brown grease paint was amply applied to hide them.
The 20 April issue of the Citizen noted that “a new tongue was added yesterday to the motley assortment of languages spoken on the set . . . when ‘Eagle Eye,’ an American Indian was signed for a part.” Speaking of languages, it was asserted in the Times of the 15th that the star spoke five on set—Italian to his brother; Spanish to assistant director Manuel Reachi; German to his co-star; French to the director; and, of course, English to others. The Citizen account continued that Eagle Eye (1877-1927) was “born in a tepee in an Apache reservation” but “foreswore the life of his forefathers and became something of a terpsichorean,” or a musician.
One source suggests that the native was the first stunt performer in Hollywood, having appeared in Griffith’s 1916 epic, Intolerance, and the paper stated he was among the first, specializing in falls from moving horses, though it added that Eagle Eye often ended up in the hospital because of his daring stunts. For The Son of the Sheik, however, his role involved the need “to fight several desperate knife duels and to be thrown from a galloping horse,” and, upon signing the contract, he merely remarked, “it will be easy.”
Claims of authenticity in Hollywood are generally to be questioned, but the ease with which films appropriated ethnic identities (Josephine Workman, granddaughter of Homestead founders William and Nicolasa Workman, built a career on her Indian maiden persona of Princess Mona Darkfeather for much of the Teens) is notable. Bánky needed makeup and Barnes’ light and camera trickery, while Italians, Anglos and American Indians played Arabs.
Valentino’s co-star from The Sheik, Agnes Ayres, returned to play “the Sheik’s wife” while the lead performed both father and son roles, though she performed as Lady Diana, so was one of the few actors not taking on the identity of another ethnic characterization. While the Times of 18 May reported “it took a power of persuading . . . to get Miss Ayres to play the part of anybody’s mother, Considine told the Citizen of four days later that “she gladly consented to enact the role” as he and Valentino “felt that the picture would not be complete without” her and even as she’d planned to refrain from acting until later in 1926.
Another bit that was said to be true to the novel by Edith Maude Hull, who also penned The Sheik, was reported on by the Times of 11 May, which noted that falconry was in vogue in much of Asia and north Africa, while “the only place that it is popular now in the United States is in Hollywood at the Pickford-Fairbanks studios” for the film. It added that “Valentino was the one to insist that the art of falconry be made part of the picture as in the original book,” so a pair of African hunting falcons were imported for desert filming scenes.
Speaking of animals, the star’s horse, Jadan, was the subject of a short article in the Los Angeles Record of 3 July, which commented that “no prima donna ever received more courteous attention.” It was noted that “although insured for $50,000, the horse was given the close personal attention which the most temperamental diva might envy,” with a special car taking the steed to the Arizona film location and being “held on a siding for two weeks until the animal was ready to be returned to Los Angeles.”
The sixth of May was Valentino’s 31st birthday and work halted at the Pickford-Fairbanks studio, established in 1922 by the married stars, renamed the United Artists Studio the year after the The Son of the Sheik was made, rechristened in 1940 as the Samuel Goldwyn Studios on a smaller property, renamed as the Warner Hollywood Studios four decades later and, since 2012, known as The Lot, though many of the early structures were razed for an office park, to celebrate with a pink ice cream sandal.
As filming wrapped and post-production was hurried, critic Grace Kingsley in the Times of 2 June reported that Valentino planned to travel overseas for a rest after making one more movie for United Artists. He told Kingsley he intended to spend a few months in Europe, but would look to take a short vacation locally after finishing The Son of the Sheik by sailing in his 40-foot motorboat around Catalina (he was a member of the yacht club there) and San Clemente, if not Santa Cruz, islands.
A preview of the picture was held in Santa Monica on the 20th and the Citizen two days later reported that “one of the greatest demonstrations ever witnessed by students of ‘audience reactions’ occurred.” As the star left to go to his car, “Valentino was actually manhandled” by an adoring throng that cheered the actor and his co-stars Ayres and Bánky, as well. Other sources suggest that a similar suburban showing took place in Burbank.
Another distinction for the film was the development of a “limited preview showing” arranged by Schenck and Considine with the Million Dollar Theatre and which was distinguished from a “world premiere” in that the showing was for an extended period and well before the movie went into general release. The venue was opened by theater impresario Sid Grauman in February 1918 in the Edison Building at the southwest corner Broadway and 3rd Street across from the Bradbury Building.
In early 1923, Grauman opened a larger theater called the Metropolitan at the northeast corner of Hill and 6th streets, across from Pershing Square where the First Methodist Church formerly stood, and his partners in these two and the Rialto at Broadway and 8th Street were Adolph Zukor and Jesse Lasky, who then purchased Grauman’s half-interest in the trio. Under the aegis of the Famous Players-Lasky enterprise, the venues were operated, starting in 1925, under the Publix Theatres moniker and the Publix News publication established.
The featured object for this post is the first number of the second volume, dated 9 July 1926, offering program information for the Metropolitan and the Million Dollar. The former ran Good and Naughty, a Zukor/Lasky production starring Pola Negri, who said she was Valentino’s fiancée, and Tom Moore. The Record ran photos of the quartet of male/female leads in both movies and gently jibed Negri and Valentino over what they thought of others in their arms for the two pictures.
Also contained in the four-page publication were the results of a contest concerning Eddie Peabody, a banjo virtuoso at the Metropolitan previously mentioned in a post here, but also the subject of a dedicated website; a front page photo of Albert Hay Malotte, also appearing at the Metropolitan, but featured on its “Mighty Wurlitzer” organ and whose claim to fame largely rests on his putting “The Lord’s Prayer” to music in 1935, though he also composed for movies and for Disney cartoons and shorts; and a back page piece on the Valentino picture.
Declaring that “‘The Son of the Sheik’ is in our midst!,” the Publix News also pronounced that Frank L. Newman, managing director of the pair of theatres, wanted readers to know that the use of “preview” did not mean a one-night presentation, as in premieres, but that “its exhibition here is four months in advance of its release in any other city” and that “the picture will continue to show for a limited engagement.”
Also on the bill was a performance by the theatre orchestra led by Constantine Bakaleinikoff (1896-1966), a Russian composer who fled after the revolution of not quite a decade before and conducted for the Los Angeles Philharmonic while he later was the musical director for such studios as Paramount, MGM and RKO. The piece performed was based on an opera aria by Georges Bizet, which Bakaleinikoff thought sounded “oriental,” hence its French name in the program. An “atmospheric prologue” to the feature film was “Algeria” and a “screen novelty” with no description were also included.
The “limited preview showing” was very successful, running for four weeks before large, appreciative crowds, with Valentino appearing on the first night, and reviews were uniformly positive, with praise of the star’s mature acting, as well as Fitzmaurice’s direction, the infusion of unexpected comedy, and other elements. Bánky and other co-stars were give kudos and, generally, it was agreed that The Son of the Sheik was likely Valentino’s best film.
He went on the road to promote the picture, which did very well at the box office and broadly among critics, but, in August, was struck by perforated ulcers leading to pleuritis in a lung and then sepsis. He died on the 23rd and a shocked world mourned the star’s untimely death, including a massive crowd that greeted the train that brought Valentino’s remains to Los Angeles for interment at what is now Hollywood Forever Cemetery.
This issue of Publix News is another notable object in the Museum’s collection related to the film and motion picture theater industries and we’ll look to share other like artifacts in the “That’s A Wrap” series of posts.