Pola Negri Spins the Tale

The other day I was looking for a reference in Pola Negri's autobiography, Memoirs of a Star and I came across this passage:

Something was very off about this version of the story for me. I referred to the Registry of Actions which stands as the official account of all transactions of the Valentino estate. There I found the entry of Pola filing her claim for $15,000 made on January 7, 1927.

Going back to read her account of Alberto Guglielmi claiming he had no money, “Until then, what do I live on?” and referring to “Alberto's predicament” and how she writes the money “enabled Alberto to send for his family”, I had to question the account. And this because this conversation took place obviously before she filed for the $15,000 on January 7, 1927.

Taking into consideration that Alberto's “family”... being Jean.... did not come to America for another two years, arriving July 8, 1929... this was not the reason for the “loan”.

When this conversation occurred between Alberto and Pola Negri, Alberto had just two weeks before received $10,000 from Ullman and in June would receive another $10,000. (document below taken from Valentino's probate court records I discovered as filed in the “Reporter's Transcripts” where Alberto as "A." testifies he received these advances.)

Bear in mind Alberto was also receiving the $100 a week stipend. Putting this into perspective by today's exchange, the value of each of those $10,000 advances from Ullman, (in December 1926 and then again in June 1927) would be x 15 or $150,000. When Alberto was crying poor to Pola Negri, just two weeks after he received that first $10,000, he had some $150,000 at his disposal and this without her loan.

We add to this the $15,000 Pola received from the Valentino estate which she claims she gave to Alberto which today would be, $225,000. Alberto was burning through money at an astounding rate if he was indeed broke just two weeks after he received that first advance from Ullman.

I file this under complete BS and think it is worth pointing out the facts as they appear in court records. Was Pola conned? Could be. But she does admit she never considered the money a loan to Valentino? On this one point the documents tell a very different story. 

And this is not speculation or fiction, but the facts.