Another Striking Resemblance?

George Ullman referred to the men who fancied themselves Rudolph Valentino dopplegangers as the “applicants”. I always found that to the point. They were indeed applying for Valentino's job. No need to rehash them all but I had to be sure this gentleman was on the long list.

The news broke on February 1, 1929 along with the dramatic photo of the plaintiff being wheeled into the court room, his ruined legs outstretched. Joseph Kashioff could have been a contender to the throne of Valentino had he not been crushed between two buses on Coney Island.

In this article (see below) it is reported that Joseph Kashioff arrived in court with lawyers who were armed for battle with photos of Kashioff dressed in the costumes of Valentino's movies.

According to the report, the case “dwindled” and even though I love a good romp through court archives I am not about to take this one any further. But wow those two characters behind Khasioff....

Renato said, "Ma che povero!" ... "poor guy!"...hearing this story. I guess a career that could have been. 

"The Absolute Worst of Them"

I have posted excerpts from Cindy Martin, “Dark Mum's” attacks on us in previous posts and been accused by her of bullying in doing so. Defending oneself against unthinkable and cruel defamation is not bullying. Responding to vicious lies about me, my husband and my work is not bullying but standing up. I stand up again today.

Recently Martin/Dark Mum made another attempt to convince us she was “through with Terhune and Bret” and ready to be pals with us all over again. What is the expression? Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. We did not buy it this time. Just before she made her statement to us that she had nothing more to do with these people, she left Terhune's group through the back door. After our silence to her request through a friend of ours, she returned triumphantly to Terhune's group through the front door, with a "Welcome Cindy Martin!" 

Renato made a point saying Cindy Martin was the absolute worst of all of them and reminded me that her so-called, “apology” to me was done privately but her defamation was done publicly. I still await her apology... the public one. And in light of her continued behavior her private apology is worthless.

She could begin by apologizing for things like this (excerpted from MY Tumblr account) And I add that before I could even present Affairs Valentino to a single publisher, "they" had destroyed my online reputation and attacked me personally online for over a year:

And this which is preserved on MY Tumblr account:

And this (below) being one of the most vicious examples of her defamation of us and our work:

Two things here in this excerpt above... one, her saying I published Michael Morris' book without the family's “consent”. This is a sadistic lie. Of course we had a contract, a year of e-mails exchanged and a wonderful collaboration between us, Michael's family and the priests. It is Michael's book. Martin stating this as fact publicly was a blatant attempt to impede our right to do a fair business and defamation by definition. You can not stand outside a restaurant telling prospective diners the food is poison when it is not. Cindy Martin knew nothing about the legalities of Michael's book and acted as if she did. 

But the most disgusting thing about this exchange above was that Donna Hill was right there on that very thread. Within two comments she was writing and surely saw what Martin wrote about Beyond Valentino. So she said nothing? I hold her complicit as she sat by and let that lie stand? Really awful and obvious on Donna Hill's behalf in my opinion.

So I hope there will be no more attempts by Cindy Martin to feign sincerity as she plies our friends to use them to her sad advantage. And I am sure you all know I have a huge amount of screenshots of Dark Mum's vile attacks. Plenty more where this came from. The abuse and bullying from her was and is appalling. 

I await that public apology. And it needs to be long, detailed, sincere and with names named. 

A Commentary from Renato Floris

The Latin poet Tibullus asked in the first century BCE: Quis fuit horrendos primus qui protulit enses? (Who was the first to invent hideous weapons?)

Well, there is no need to go further when looking for ways to offend, it is enough to resort, for those with a criminal disposition, to use terribly improper weapons ... adjectives and nouns.

How many nouns and adjectives, used as weapons, have caused irreparable damage to myriads of innocents!

At one time it was enough to say: that man is a sorcerer, that woman is an adulteress or, in times of fascism it was enough to report to the political police that a man was making Communist propaganda in order to see him imprisoned, tortured, destroyed! At the fall of Fascism, on the other hand, it was enough to say that a certain person had been a black shirt to decree his death sentence, without appeal.

Nowadays it is enough to repeatedly trumpet, because, as the Latins said “repetita iuvant” (repeating things helps) that one is a racist or worse homophobic, to be able to portray someone like a “monster”and grab some front page headlines.

On Evelyn and my path, someone who specializes in the improper use of adjectives and nouns, a squalid and painful being who can do nothing but insult and defame, brandishes as "homophobes" every single person who he does not like and those who dare to contest the validity of his theses, theses which are indefensible by any logic or education, thesis which he defends only by firing off the word, "homophobe" in his outbursts ...

"Substance From Imitation Spun Sugar..."

In 1965, Valentino biographer Irving Schulman wrote the following (see below) and I can not help but point this out, as I have done a few times, because it is astounding to me he faced a great deal of the same opposition and BS as we do now. Fifty-six years ago... and this could have been written today. I have transcribed the commentary for those of you who use translators. Here follows from Irving Schulman:

“...The private individuals who assisted me prefer to remain anonymous; what they had to say about Valentino was certain to be resented by the professional keepers of the myth whose big fat mouths froth at the use of published photographs, printed materials, and citations that can be documented.

In addition, I must note that in the summer of 1964, I was scolded by a group of oviparous females of both sexes, who among the intellectually underprivileged of Hollywood are much admired. The tips of their brown noses aquiver, they chided me for not liking movies. I deny their silly charge. I don't like bad or poor or pathetic or maudlin or silly or stupid or banal or pointless or meretricious or wearisome movies; nor do I like movie magazines, gossip columnists, or any of the truck with which these lickspittlers are associated. To compound my heresy, I hated The Singing Nun which starred Debbie Reynolds, and after seeing this movie I can only conclude that Louis B. Mayer is alive in Argentina.

But even if I didn't like all movies, I submit that a comprehensive abjuration of this soporific would place me in the company of many perceptive men and women of good purpose, all of them able to distinguish fact from fancy, reality from myth, history from legend, religion from idolatry, substance from imitation spun sugar; for they are beholden to intelligence and not to stupendous colossal stupidity even when it is presented with a cast of thousands and is-Lord, help us-popular and profitable as entertainment. Signed, Irving Schulman”

The Pallbearer

For years David Bret has attempted feebly to perpetuate his absolute hoax claiming Andre Daven was Valentino's “Greatest Love” and one of his points made is that Daven was in New York after Valentino's death and was a pall bearer. We proved this was completely false, Daven was not in New York and the person he was identifying as Daven was in fact Michael Romano. (see video clip below)

Romano was a close friend of Valentino, best man at the Crown Point wedding and it was Romano who published My Private Diary. Renato addresses Romano's input in the diary in his fine and definitive analysis of My Private Diary in our new book, The Rudolph Valentino Case Files.

The entire absurdity of the Bret fabrication about Daven and Valentino has been addressed by our research in the new book and may also be read here: https://andredaven.blogspot.com/

Renato made this little clip (see below) to show Romano as pallbearer, walking in front of the esteemed godfather Frank Mennillo. To me this shows how far Bret went to create his hoax and how incredibly easy it was to disprove it all. Considering what really happened between Valentino and Daven, it would have been 100% impossible for Daven to have even been allowed to attend Valentino's funeral.

As a point of historical fact.... this pallbearer was not Andre Daven and in fact was Michael Romano.

No Stuff Shirt

I once asked Bunny Ullman if her father George was not upset watching Valentino drink heavily in the last months of his life. She answered without hesitation, “What? He would have been right there with him!”

I think that was one of the most interesting things I learned about Rudolph and George... they were the same age. Ullman was a year older. And Ullman was no stuff shirt as they say.

Another story Bunny told me which she requested I not include was the Sunday roast beef story.

George Ullman liked to cook Sunday dinner and one Sunday he had a bit too much to drink. He pulled the roast out of the oven to check it and it slid off the rack and flew across the kitchen floor. Bunny said she and her brothers were screaming with laughter but her father was “so angry.”

The brotherhood of Rudolph and George was genuine, imo. And included the imbibing of spirits, etc. etc. etc.

After one interview with Bob Ullman, he drove me back to the airport. That was the last time because he became too ill to do so after that. I thought it was a rather non-productive interview but then he told me how his Dad George, when he was upset would pour himself a “tall, green glass of bourbon” and go out to the den to play his violin or go out to the garage to go through his Valentino bins of papers. He said they all knew when he had the green glass of bourbon in hand he was not to be disturbed. 

How valuable was that? ( below the "anti-banker" George Ullman)

"...Until You See The Whites of Their Eyes"

I do not remember who sent me these fabulous photos of Ms. DeSaulles. (see below) I think they say the world about this lady. The first one with the chin up... the word "haughty" comes to mind. Not so lovable for me.

In the second photo she looks rather vacuous I think and if you look carefully you can see the whites of her eyes under her pupils. Someone told me once that this was a sign of someone capable of evil. Seemed reasonable. 

She did get away with cold blooded murder and trashed the reputation of her victim in the process. Perhaps these two photos belie her true nature and she might have been acting the badass part with her furs.

I think she was the woman who nearly ended things for Valentino before he began in America. For me she was either a calculating bitch or incredibly stupid... maybe a little of both? She lured Valentino to get her divorce, used him as a lover in the absence of her husband and proceeded to do so with mind-boggling recklessness. 

Alberto claimed Blanca DeSaulles was Rudolph's true love. I dispute that. 

"As Believers In Fair Play..."

Natacha Rambova was not universally hated and she had her support. (see below) Whenever I hear people bashing her to the rocks today, I just think they are sexist, misogynistic and jealous. If ever there was a point in Valentino's history to place within historical context it is the banishment of Natacha Rambova from Valentino's business. 

The one person who did support Natacha and the Valentino marriage was George Ullman. Until I brought forth those court records it was not known that Ullman funded Natacha's movie What Price Beauty. Ullman put his own money up to make her movie happen. He also accompanied her to New York after the separation, secured a talent agent for her and sought a distributor for the movie for a few years after Valentino's death. 

Those who try to portray Ullman as some calculating villain in the Valentino marriage are missing one huge point; Valentino paid Ullman's paycheck and it was not the other way around. The people who actually tried to control Valentino were the people who paid his paycheck as that is the way that works. Ullman had a family to support and in this he was a serious provider. I think there is a great deal to realize in Natacha's play, "All That Glitters". There was no animosity or the meekest hint of resentment towards her Ullman character in the play... quite the opposite.  #rudolphvalentinosqueen 

From Photoplay Magazine, April 1926 and the Michael Morris' archive: 

The entire page.....

Victory Lap

 https://caselaw.findlaw.com/ca-court-of-appeal/1778993.html

I know I posted this link here before but can not find it. Thank you to a reader who left this link in their comment. (I can not find a way to make a link in a comment live so I repost it.) 

I can scarcely believe it has been eighteen years since I found S. George Ullman's Appeals Court records. I searched for those Rudolph Valentino probate court records for almost one year until I lamented my struggle to a research law librarian. She asked me, "Did George Ullman ever file an appeal?" "Yes he did!" How satisfying was that. 

I like to think of the day, probably some time in the early sixties, when the "mastermind" who orchestrated the theft of the original records...palmed the actual thief the wad of cash. I like to think of the actual theft, the removal not only from the shelving but from the building. 

I like to think of that collector/scavenger and those in on the heist, glowing with the thrill of possession...to have the case file gone from any public access and forever.

I like to think, my god, they were all idiots! Did they not think that George Ullman filed an appeal and that some day someone would find that? 

It is a great and satisfying victory to see the decision online.  I will see to it that every record I found is online because the internet makes it way harder for thieves to steal them, doesn't it?

* Sorry Morocco but just no. I was traumatized by the place. Renato said it was like going back in time to the year 900, only with cells phones. Exactly.

**https://caselaw.findlaw.com/ca-supreme-court/1836477.html

Off Topic

 A tiny slide show from the Morocco home. 

Me...obeying the rules for women in Morocco. 

Women are always together in the streets. If a woman walks outdoors alone the other women will confront her. Happened to me when I took out the trash once by myself. 

Renato in the Lanai on his birthday

The household maid, Malika bought a bolt of this fabric and covered everything with it. Surreal. 

This is Malika. Queen. #savethewomenofmorroco

"What About Those Gray Ledgers..."

For years, “they” accused me of forging all the court records I discovered. Incredibly, they continued to say this despite my sharing the location of the publicly housed documents. Because their defamatory lies and collective refusal to publicly deny I forged documents, many unquestioning people traipsed along believing this was true.

My husband Renato and I published a book of the documents of the Rudolph Valentino court records as a companion guide for Affairs Valentino. Yet there was no public outcry by these people as they continued to imply, directly accuse and defame me.

Now the bottom line in this story is that Tracy Terhune eventually said he knew the records existed and that he had seen them (the stolen case file) in the hands of three Valentino memorabilia collectors. Cindy Martin (under her nefarious alias of “Dark Mum”) still directly accused me of forging the documents and confronted me on my Tumblr account by demanding, “What about those Gray Ledgers you say you have?”

I always clarified I recovered official court copies filed in the California Appeals Court Library. I also made it perfectly clear that I did not have all of the original file and that this file is, according to two credible sources... in the hands of collectors and the Alberto Valentino family.

Of course I did not and could never have forged over a thousand pages of Rudolph Valentino's probate court file. It is absurd to accuse me of knowing or even having access to all of the information contained within. It was all just a desperate strategy to ruin our business and bury the book.

Here follows a few pages from the “Gray Book” which served as the Falcon Lair household ledger dating from January 1926 to August 1926. All of these records were subpoenaed for a court-ordered audit which found all of executor George Ullman's books in perfect order.

To Be Called, The Firebrand

Sometime before I completed writing Affairs Valentino, Kevin Brownlow read the book and kindly contributed. He sent me photographs, editing commentary and this telegram (see below) from his own collection.

The telegram was sent by United Artists' producer John Considine to cinematographer Charles Rosher. According to the telegram it was sent on August 5, 1926 (European date written with day before month) to Rosher at the Adlon Hotel in Berlin. Rosher is an interesting figure in Hollywood history and more about him here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Rosher

The movie was to be called, The Firebrand (based on the life of 16^th century Italian sculptor Benvenuto Cellini) and production was well underway when Valentino died. After his death, the life insurance policy United Artists secured on Valentino in advance of production on this film was cashed in to pay for the expenses incurred to that date. Ullman would transact these reimbursements and when he discovered a surplus he demanded United Artists' return this to the Valentino estate as it was deemed a profit generated by Valentino.

His effort was successful but did not ingratiate him with the head of the studio Joe Schenck. But what a great costume venue for Rudolph and his dream of filming an historical Italian drama almost came true.

Thank you to Kevin Brownlow for sharing this intriguing artifact. And I guess we can file this subject under, "What would have been..."

The Gift

I guess what I have been trying to say in a previous post is that there is no room in the Valentino community, or any community, for mean, cruel people. Life is cruel enough.

I could dispute these people on points until every last cow in the world came home and they would keep on being mean I guess. Because it is not the data involved it is their mean behavior.

George Ullman was and is the great hero of Valentino's story. Rudolph Valentino was not gay or bisexual and Renato and I are honest and kind people. I am not bullying to stand up. No matter how hard they all try to bend those truths otherwise, it will never happen.

When I was little the bullies on the playground were obvious. They were always huddled together as if hatching some plot and collectively sneering jealously over their shoulder at some next victim. They were the sad, disturbed, mean and unloved children who made others suffer.

In this situation, absolutely nothing has changed. The bullies of the Valentino community are obvious, unified and sneering jealously.

The world just does not need one more moment of mean. What is that expression?

“Life is a gift not a war.”

(*the jelly fish are fake)

Responding to Some Grade A Innuendo

Simon Constable is truly a one-note Johnny... slathering his innuendo once again on Ullman. I ask why. What does he have against this man? 

He never offers a tiny explanation as to why Ullman would be so cruel to plant the Pink Powder Puff editorial and publicity is not an answer. Does anyone disagree that at that time Valentino needed no publicity as he was fairly drowning in it? Does anyone disagree that the one topic Rudy would never have agreed to use as publicity was the subject of his being effeminate? Never. Are we to believe Valentino agreed to having his father insulted? 

Every aspect of Constable's concocted version of events is ridiculous. Shapiro would know much less than George Ullman and everyone else in Valentino's actual inner circle at the time who were first hand witnesses to the situation. Ludicrous. There were almost countless witnesses testifying to the opposite. This is a prime example of Constable cherry picking things out of context to create a false scenario. And he does this while attempting on many occasions to take credit for my discoveries and while banning even my name from the Facebook group so I could not respond or comment. (see below)

I think Constable is obsessed with impugning Ullman (and Mennillo) because these are the two men whose families I discovered and met with. I had exclusive access to their family archives. I found the Appeals Court records and told the story according to court records and for the first time.

The only reason Constable stays on this one, in my opinion, is to gain favor with Tracy Terhune and the Alberto Valentino family. God help us if he ever decided to get off the, “Get Ullman” band wagon and do some ground breaking research on a new topic...such as investigating where those court records are today, why they were stolen and by whom? There is a mystery he should really and heroically sink his teeth into and he might begin by interviewing Jeanine Villalobos, Tracy Terhune, Donna Hill, Sylvia Huber and Jim Craig.

In the course of researching a book I am currently writing, I did uncover new facts (not hearsay) about that Pink Powder Puff editorial and Constable's smarmy innuendo will look pretty idiotic when this is presented. I would invite Constable to review the entire body of evidence in Ullman's story and not just search desperately for anything he can use against him. I think this says much, much more about Constable than Ullman.

Why would Ullman engage in anything which could affect Rudy in a negative way as this clearly did. Anyone implying that Rudy was in on this is fairly insane. In my opinion this is Constable brand crap innuendo served up with Terhune salivating all over it. It is getting boring and really obvious.

What a shame these awful people, who ban all of the new documentation we share openly...are permitted even the tiniest presence in the Valentino community. Their motive and intent is to assassinate the very people Rudy loved most and their efforts stand as a tragic vestige of the resentment of Alberto Valentino. (Below evidence of the true motive behind these assaults on Ullman and Mennillo on Mad About the Boy)

Natacha Bristles

I think both Natacha and Rudolph separated and divorced deep in anguish believing they could just move on. It did not happen. She was heartbroken and furious he sent her away and cut her out of Cosmic Arts and she made many statements claiming he wanted her to stay home and eat spaghetti. I used to think the press invented her saying bitterly that, “You can't eat spaghetti every day”. But there is something to that.

She did not limp away defeated and for a while she battled back to have a show career of her own. It did not happen.

But according to those with her at the chateau when Rudolph died, she was destroyed by his death and I think she did have a nervous breakdown. The reports from the chateau of Natacha and Rudolph's reconciliation via their love lorn cablegrams during the last week of his life... has been further confirmed by Baltasar Cue.

The Cue book reinforced so much and his mention of Natacha's cablegrams under Rudolph's pillow said it all.

She did not leave Rudolph happily or in my opinion willingly. But as I learned they would have had another go at it if he lived. It did not happen.

And the reality of what had just happened prior to the parting scene at the train station is one of my proudest discoveries. Bob Ullman realized reading the court records how that all took place on his second birthday. Go figure.

Here (see below) Natacha bristles at theaters exploiting her divorce and refuses to appear on stage after one of Rudolph's movies. How could any one in their right mind claim theirs was a platonic marriage? 

Yet Another Musing on The Great Lover

How discreet was Rudolph Valentino? It makes one wonder reading the various first hand eye-witness accounts. Paul Ivano, with his report of Rudolph panicking after Natacha fainted during their love making. George Ullman writing how Rudolph met Mae Murray in the parking lot after a boxing match and they began kissing and then drove off leaving him stranded in the parking lot.

Lou Mahoney saying how after Valentino's death, he took Pola Negri's lingerie which she left in Rudolph's bedroom... home to his wife who sewed them into dresses for their daughter.

Make-up artist Mont Westmore steering Valentino's yacht while overhearing him make love to Nita Naldi below deck.

And Baltasar Cue wrote:

“Rudolph was again fully living the bachelor life and the public often witnessed the accompaniment of a lady actress he might be dating. But the women who would truly gain his attention were, of course, the ones the public did not see. There was one woman one day and another the next, countless women who disputed the honor of being intimate with him.

Whether in Hollywood or in the surrounding area; in his house or in the ladies' homes or his friend's homes, in hotel rooms, in cabarets, in his yacht of such sad history; here these affairs took place to fill him with joy.”

Was this a devil-may-care attitude about sex on Valentino's part or another cultural manifestation? Generalizations are dangerous and I do not want to offend anyone... and I will say today things are changing in Italy thankfully. 

But fact remains, in Italy, prostitution is still somewhat legal and public. It is against the law to pimp but not to prostitute and it is open. I once passed a display kiosk in the street which was full of vintage and antique sex toys and this was in a main, heavily-trafficked part of Turin. Sex for Italian men in general is not tinged with a puritanism element of shame and discretion. It is more about pride and status and discretion does not really factor in. 

I do not mean to be putting Italians down but the freedom to be open about sex is primarily for men in Italian culture. The only public sexual display overtly tolerated for women in Italian culture would be March 8^th, the International Women's Day when women are gifted a cheesy spray of mimosa/yellow weed and then many go out to male strip clubs. I think the dichotomy was especially defined back in Valentino's day, but alas for many women it is still too often the case that the rest of the year they are either Madonna or whore.

Just my thought that the oft lack of discretion exhibited by Valentino was not so unusual in his homeland and boy it really played well in America.

Ask Them Why

So without a bit of admission that Ullman has been lied about for decades as initiated by Alberto Valentino, Terhune and Constable forge forward to abuse this poor man even more with their innuendo ridden crap.

I have yet to hear either of these BS artists respond to the fact that the insane amount of money Ullman owed the Valentino estate was money he advanced in good faith to Alberto, etc. They smear a man who was the victim of a horrendous miscarriage of justice and in doing so both Terhune and Constable reveal they ignore the court records... (which although stolen have been seen by Terhune in the hands of three collectors)... Terhune and Constable ignore the facts contained in those court records which not only reveal the outrageous attacks by Alberto Valentino on Ullman over the years as being false...they also reveal George's incredible performance as executor, his complete exoneration and praise from the appeals court judge.

Any attempts by Terhune or Constable to further insult Ullman will be seen as efforts to ingratiate themselves with the Alberto Valentino family and will be met by a flurry of facts directly from the court records.

Meanwhile why don't they use their time to research something valuable and interesting and contribute more than ludicrous character assassinations only to attack me. Alberto cried for decades how he never got a penny but he managed to actually get nearly a million dollars by today's exchange rate and then he attempted to have Ullman pay him the same money a second time.

Maybe Simone C. could ask the Valentino family to let him read the stolen case file as last I heard they took possession of it from Jim Craig as Donna Hill and Bill Self (in writing) told me... and in exchange for one of Rudy's shirts.

As Simon Constable has done in the past, he finds tidbits he takes out of context and then “implies” what he wants it to be. Another one of his smarmy patchwork work ups.

The last thing the Valentino world needs is someone like Simon Constable pounding the drums of war for Alberto Valentino when the truth is already out there. You see, I did not forge those records and they were stolen for a reason. Mr. Constable why don't you investigate where those records are now and why they were stolen and by whom. 

I invite them to tell the story of those stolen documents which 100% vindicate Ullman. The whole story and leave nothing out. Maybe Tracy Terhune can begin by naming all the collectors he knows who had them and explaining why they are still not available to the public?  Maybe they could ask Jeanine Villalobos why she did not return that case file to its proper housing? 

In my opinion neither of these men act as heroes and they are doing this only because I found the truth. To everyone else I say ask these two men why this is a priority for them.

"Black Coffee, No Sugar"

From The New York Daily News, June 2, 1924 (see below) Nita Naldi confronts the paper for publishing reports she was gaining weight. Her entrance in the news room somewhat says it all about this lady's personality. 

"If You Know Your Material, Words Will Come"

I am told “they” do not matter, but “they” do because “they” are still allowed a platform, a voice and paid homage to. As they continue to storm troop across the Valentino world, I know one thing as fact... I will never forgive them for all the cruelty they have inflicted on us. It is one thing to tell us these people do not matter, but their every lie, their shunning, their wickedness is still allowed.

Renato has worked so hard researching, writing, editing and all while committed to his intellectual honesty and while the likes of Tracy Ryan Terhune savages him with insults and cruelty. How small a man this make Tracy Terhune appear... as he now readies for his appearance at Valentino's tomb. There is only one man fine enough to stand at a podium in that crypt and that would be Renato Floris.

It is a desecration to allow Terhune near that crypt in my opinion... this man who has systematically mocked us, run count downs to our deaths, permitted Bret to post his sickening lies about us on a blog stolen from me years ago. How sick is it that people gather at the final resting place of Valentino believing they are paying respects when the Bible-wielding emcee just spent one more year running a designated hate blog against us and a “campaign to ruin Evelyn” as it is called?

Does it matter? Maybe in the long run it does not... but the organized and aggressive cruelty that man has extended to us over the years and so unjustly so is outrageous. Shame on his sycophants... Donna Hill, Eleanor Gribbin, Simon Constable, David Bret, Cindy Martin, Sylvia Huber. I will never forgive any of them for the misery they conspired and executed on us. You are all horrible people.

Our new book The Rudolph Valentino Case Files is the most important book ever to be written and published on Rudolph Valentino. And I say that proudly. It is a college textbook on Valentino and Renato's analysis of My Private Diary a masterpiece. We rise over their cruel bullying of us and say with all pride that they have failed.

Rem Tene Verba Sequentur!!! 

Rudolph Valentino's "Stern Purpose"

Ms. Penelope Perrill of The Dayton Daily News receives the nod today for well-turned phrases. This was published on the day of Rudolph Valentino's death (see below) and it is a concise observation in my opinion. 

 

To the Attention of Ms. Sylvia Huber, Ms. Eleanor Gribbin and Ms. Donna Hill

In my opinion it behooves anyone, such as yourselves, claiming to be experts on Valentino to read/study Professor Aurelio Miccoli's work and ours too for that matter. Instead of banning these books...might I suggest you read them.

For the record, from Professor Aurelio Miccoli, the obituary notice of Rudolph Valentino's sister, Maria Guglielmi Strada. She died on July 25, 1969. Ms. Huber was off by some 19 years and Ms. Hill's guess-timate was off by 7 or 8 years. Thank-you Professor Miccoli for sharing your source!  (see below the notice as posted by daughter Gabriella and the full page of La Stampa from July 27, 1969 from which it is excerpted)

"Valentino Gave it Authority"

The article below is one of my favorite things written about Rudolph Valentino. I share it to preserve it and found the author, Dwight Newton an interesting personality. A columnist covering television and film, I think he was a great writer who deserves all mention. (see below)

This website appears to have been set up by his grand daughter where you can see the author of this neat review. (from the San Francisco Examiner on August 6,1960)

https://emmysf.tv/membership-2/july-2020-off-camera/dean-of-tv-columnists-dwight-newton-gets-a-fan-page/

Bill Self & Valentino's Ladies

The past couple of day's comments here have made me think about Valentino memorabilia collector Bill Self's comments about Rudolph Valentino's women... the ones he knew. In the course of the interviews I conducted with him in 2003, he did mention some and I find his insight memorable.

Pola Negri – He said he tried to contact her many times but she refused to meet with him saying he “only wanted to talk about Rudy”.

Natacha Rambova – Self said he never met her but he carried a letter from Paul Ivano with him at all times. Ivano wrote the letter of introduction addressed to Natacha saying Self was a “good guy” and she could trust him. ? I am not sure if he tried to meet her when she came back to Pasadena in the last months of her life.

Jean Acker – Oh, brother he knew her well. Curiously, he seemed to own quite a bit of memorabilia from Jean whether she sold it to him or offed it in exchange for work in Self's television programs. He asked me once if I knew where Valentino's undershirt and toupee were which I believed Ullman gave to Acker in the Polyclinic Hospital. But as Acker's Valentino collection was also stolen it makes one wonder. She did, however, manage to secure work from Self.... so no doubt exchanges were made.

One other woman who was not romantically involved:

Bee Ullman – Self said he interviewed her and had the recordings of her interview. Although he promised to share them with me for one solid year, he never produced them and it is a tragic shame they are not shared publicly. Where are they now?? He did tell me Bee said “Rudy always had a girl on his arm.”

It is always amazing to me that “they” work so hard to construct some hysterical fictionalization of Valentino as having gay lovers, when I found his heterosexuality to be incredibly unambiguous/obvious. The ladies were just out there, front and center, with no doubts about it.

The Rudolph Valentino Case Files by Evelyn Zumaya & Renato Floris

Those "Stories"

One thing in Italian culture I have an issue with is the word they use for “affair”... they call it a “story”. A man will say, “I had a story”... My problem with this is that it trivializes infidelity and makes it some sort of natural occurrence. They are not cheating or unfaithful but merely having a “story” with another woman. This is still the reality and I exclude my dear husband for god's sake.

But Valentino back in the day... was he just having many “stories” with these women? And Mae Murray comes to mind. This, if any of them, was a “story”. That passionate and lusty kiss she shared with Rudolph in the parking lot after the boxing matches. The kiss which left George Ullman standing alone in that parking lot wondering how he would get home. Mae, in my opinion, was a “story”.

Natacha wrote in that letter which is included in the Baltasar Cue book, “one woman or a hundred” and she lays it out as clear as day. Rudolph was having many “stories”.

I may be stepping on some toes here and if so I apologize.... men and women in Italy have their “stories” and move on. No big deal. In a land where, until very recently, divorce was nearly impossible... marriages were often for social acceptance and the sex life of the spouses was a different issue entirely.

I once stood in an elevator with a friend of Renato's who was a nurse in a pulmonary department in a hospital. Renato needed the xrays and she expedited it. She was the mistress of his friend and his sister-in-law. As an American this was outrageous but on we went. We can not judge Rudolph Valentino based on our cultural mores.

Mae Murray was a “story” and I will say Pola was also. Not serious contenders for the throne of #valentinosqueen but chapters in the grander narrative which would make Mr. Valentino known as “The Great Lover”.

In regards to my previous post about the date of Maria Guglielmi Strada's death:

I suggested someone pass the information along to the family that she died on July 25, 1969. As Donna Hill added she believed Maria “passed in 1961-1962” she might want to be informed also. According to Donna Hill, Maria had some form of lingering death which transpired over a two year period? Maybe she might want to read the work of Professor Aurelio Miccoli. Even if she bans our books, she might want to read the books... maybe on the sly.

That "Dancing Partner"

A post from Mad About the Boy was passed on to me in which Eleanor Gribbin cited Sylvia Huber in regards to the date of the death of her Aunt, Maria Strada, saying she “thought it was around 1950.” According to the impeccable research of Professor Aurelio Miccoli, Maria Strada died on July 25, 1969. As we are banned from any participation in that group, perhaps someone might want to inform the family of this date. I find it sad they do not even know.

Meanwhile:

It is somewhat quizzical to me how various women have been tagged as the great love of Valentino's life. I think the general consensus would be Natacha Rambova but at one point Alberto made the statement that his brother told him Blanca DeSaulles was the great love of his life. Blanca and the “dancing partner” (see below) were certainly involved to a serious degree and enough to be mentioned in articles, divorce proceedings and the murder trial.

Since Alberto also claimed Valentino's divorce from Natacha was like an “early death”, I wonder about that claim he made that Blanca was the great love. It made for some interesting copy but who knows?

From the Oakland Tribune, August 7, 1917.

An Artful Dodge

Of all the good and bad bandied about in discussions about Rudolph Valentino, would his clever tactfulness with the press be considered good or bad? I guess in this one instance, (see below) if you were Pola Negri it would not be optimal.

Valentino had an interesting rapport with the press I think. And sometimes I wonder if even half of what is attributed to him by the press was true. I was once interviewed for a show I worked on and was blown away reading the article. The free-wheeling reporter put a lot of words in my mouth which I never said and it made me cynical about news coverage ever since.

Was Rudolph Valentino an artful dodger and distracting a reporter with some witty banter? (see below) Or was this the truth? Here he is flanked by his manager Ullman and United Artist's publicity head Charles Moyer and I wonder if this was a talking point agreed upon. How free was Valentino to speak his mind?

Extending Some Good Will

*someone sent me a very sweet message which accidently was deleted. If you send it again I will post! My apologies.

July 13^th and it is my birthday. This year I turn a tender 73. Wheee? Wtf?

As this year rolls around, I have to say I feel like the luckiest woman alive. After a lifetime of hardship, genuine struggle and tragedy, my friend Michael Morris took me to Turin in 2009 and introduced me to his friend Renato. And for that I am eternally blessed. Better late than never I say! How fated and fortunate!

Renato made me my birthday dinner last evening; a tender steak which was grilled rare to perfection with some brussels sprouts, a green salad dressed in the finest Italian way with just olive oil and salt, bread fresh from the oven, a great chianti and for dessert some tiny almond cookies from Tuscany.

And a new bottle of Meletti was opened. I share this with you my friends so you can enjoy the festivities with us and I extend this good will even to you hecklers out there too... you sad sacks you just need more wine... and make it some good Italian reds. 

Some pics of the evening. (All of the below is highly recommended)

#feelingblessed #italiansdoitbetter #notdeadyet #yeah

"A Screen Star's Luggage"

The following (see below) is an article translated by Renato which we found interesting and amusing. Valentino's arrival in Deauville! From the La Dépêche – Journal de la démocratie – Toulouse on Monday, August 27, 1923:

"A Screen Star's Luggage

Deauville, August 26 - The kings of the screen are like heads of state. When they move about, they do so with a great deal of luggage, accessories and of course automobiles as obligated by dignity and publicity.

The great star of the moment, Mr. Rodolfo Valentino, who is currently our guest, arrived in Deauville in the middle of a procession of three cars; heavily but distinctly loaded.

In the first car were the three dogs of the star and a police dog, which Mr. Valentino bought in Paris.

In the second car rode the young actor with his wife, Mrs. Natacha Rambova and two of their friends.

The third car carried the luggage and in particular all the paraphernalia needed to cause a sensation on the fashionable beach: flannel outfits, authentic Panama hats and white shoes of all shapes and in countless numbers.

For a European gentleman, this does not seem very normal. But for the champion of the screen, it is without doubt, this sartorial luxury which provides this young screen ace with so many declarations of love that he needs four secretaries to answer them all."

Strong Emotions

How honest can I be? How many way have I said this? How many times have I been told to ignore it all? “They don't deserve the time of day”, “Move on”, oh I have heard it all. But I have also been told to fight like hell, never be bullied into silence and stand up.

It is closing in on a decade that Tracy Ryan Terhune has been viciously attacking Renato and I on every level. He runs that blog under the title of my book Affairs Valentino disguising his hatred for us under a fake “literary critique”. It is by virtue of the blog's history and purpose that it becomes the very definition of a “designated hate blog”. There he hosts David Bret's comments about us which are delusional lies designed to torture.

So there you have it and more. I won't belabor the history of their endless attacks on us. Anyone wishing to know more can just read back through my previous posts. Its a sordid story.

This said I am so proud that Renato and I have stayed strong, done the work we set out to do and will continue to do so. Tracy Terhune can try his hardest to erase us and our books from his “kingdom” with his "pure fiction" tirades. He fails and fails again.

In my opinion he and Bret (as Albert Morris, Kim Edleman/Maximilian Kraft, Joey Jenkinson, et al) desecrate the memory of Rudolph Valentino, 100%. How could it be otherwise? The evidence tells the story. Tracy Terhune's “tick-tocking” in his sniggering countdown to our deaths, Bret's transphobic mocking calling Renato, “the man who wears dresses” because he wore the robes in Morroco. They are both veritable fonts of miserable behavior.

I am sure they are sharpening their wicked tongues and scouring for typos already set to assault our new work. While neglecting to mention we did do the research, we did work very hard putting together books and the new book was a lot of work obviously. I hope our intent and as Renato likes to call it our “intellectual honestly” shines through and I believe it does.

And more to come soon from us in this “summer of love”.

The Case Files

This one was born a little early. We thought it would be another week or so, surprise, surprise. Enjoy! 

 https://www.amazon.com/dp/0998709859/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Rudolph+Valentino+Case+files&qid=1625870256&s=books&sr=1-1

The Scope of the Probelm

The story of the Ice Man Hansen and his “hatred” for Valentino inspired insightful comments and I want to add this (see below). The “Summary of Disbursements” as part of the “Executor's First Account”, reveals a great deal about this I think. These three pages are just a small portion of Executor George Ullman's accounting of bills paid as he sought to have his First Account approved by the court. He was anxious to close out Valentino's estate but as we know this did not happen for a very long time.

I highlighted one item. That being the total of general bills paid by Ullman after Valentino's death. I have posted and published the more detailed version of these bills but the total is rather mind-boggling. By today's rate of inflation (x 15), the current value of those paid bills itemized as $191,581.79 would be a grand total of: $2,873,726.85.

I do not think this out-of-control spending and subsequent debt was something that came about after Ullman arrived. This because in his account of his first meeting with Rudolph and Natacha, he relates how he was told about the outstanding debt in Los Angeles. But there is no disguising the scope of the problem and seems the more money Valentino made, the more the situation intensified. It really became a sort of atomic bomb of spending and debt. 

And the Ice Man's hatred? It reminded me of the Dick Dorgen, “I Hate Valentino”, piece. Maybe those ladies at Valentino's Leviathan tea parties just did not favor the “Rodin” style ice work. 

The Iceman's Tale

The article below was sent my way (thank-you) and I thought it an interesting insight. At first it seemed to be a tale of Rudolph Valentino not paying his bills. Then it seemed to be a reinforcement of the “plum incident” George Ullman wrote about which I included in Affairs Valentino. According to Ullman, Valentino fumed over spending his actual cash on hand but if he could sign on credit he spent and indulged himself with little restraint.

After thinking about this anecdote as relayed in 1938 by the ice sculptor, I think his comment that Valentino was “lax” in payment meant he had to submit an invoice to Ullman to be paid. So what was the iceman's beef with Valentino? Was iceman Hansen jealous because Valentino had tables full of women/admirers enjoying the fancy ice work?