So many times while discussing Rudolph Valentino, the inevitable question is posed..."What if he had lived?" I disagree with those who believe his accent would have kept him from having a career in movies with the advent of sound. I think he would have always been loved and appreciated on screen.
George Ullman relates how during the filming of The Son of the Sheik, Valentino told him he wanted to direct, work behind the camera and even move to Spain and studying bullfighting. Whether these were musings of the day or serious plans we will never know.
But as I wrote in Affairs Valentino, in The Son of the Sheik, Valentino gives us a glimpse into what would have been his old age. And he wore it well I think. Just uncanny.
