A note regarding Natacha Rambova being banished in Valentino's United Artists' contract which Tracy Terhune commented on recently. He stated, “as any examination of the contract would prove untrue”... I want to say that “examining” that contract was impossible until I found those appeals court records. Until that time, and until I reproduced the entire contract in the Affairs Valentino Companion Guide, to the very best of my knowledge it was never publicly available and hence impossible to “examine”. The only people who could “examine” that original contract were collectors, because I do know the original copy ended up in Bill Self's hands.
I make the point that no one could fact check that document for years on end. Even Michael Morris was shocked to read it (my recovered copy) and find out Natacha was not mentioned. Bill Self told me he had the original contract but never shared it with me. To the best of my knowledge no collector or member of the Valentino family with access to that original document ever corrected that point in history. Yes it was "inside information", leaked or maybe just a rumor... but no one could "examine" the contract to prove this was true or false.
As I am not allowed to comment on Terhune's post about the contract, because we are banned from his Facebook group, I just mention here it was not possible to “examine” the original and it still is. I would ask him to share scans of the entire original document. The provenance of that document is dubious imo, because would this not be kept in Ullman's files/wicker baskets in his garage... as he was Valentino's manager? How did Self get this?
Someone sent me the text of Terhune's comment and the newspaper clipping he references. I did not see if anyone in his group corrected his comment and I am sure they no doubt did. Maybe he caught the typo. But the Valentino's “marital vacation” did not begin two months before August 1926. This all took place in 1925, the previous year. In August 1926... Valentino died.
But Terhune admits the idea that Natacha was banished in the UA contract was “inside” information and then says that “any examination of the contract would prove this untrue”. Well I tried for years to “examine” that contract and only found a court copy of it buried deep in the Appeals Court Library in 2003.
I also will point out that because the appeals records I discovered were copies of the original probate file stolen from its rightful housing in the Los Angeles County Hall of Records, there would also be another copy of that UA contract included in that missing case file. This file should be publicly available by law. So another opportunity to "examine" the UA contract and prove this rumor untrue is lost.
#kookierabble
