Some Daven Information

I recently found an image on a Rudolph Valentino Facebook fan page with member of the group, Cindy Martin asking for help in identifying Valentino in an image. They also wondered if the person sitting next to this gentlemen (which I do not think is Valentino) was Andre Daven. The image was dated in the end of 1925. They were also searching for pictures of Andre Daven for comparison.

I comment on this because it occurred to me that in the book Renato and I produced The Rudolph Valentino Case Files, we have a section on Andre Daven, p. 247...with images and he also appears in Monsieur Beaucaire. I hope this helps. We also set up a blog with the information. https://andredaven.blogspot.com/ ...and recorded a podcast @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xS4Rehgv2S4

This aside Andre Daven would not have been sitting next to Rudolph Valentino in 1925.

In June of 1924 Daven left New York, leaving the Valentino a debt of what today (x15) of almost $20,000.00. I am surprised, not surprised, that Ms. Cindy Martin would not correct the impression Daven would have been socializing with Valentino over a year later. She worked so feverishly to suppress sales of our books over the years (torment, harass and defame us) and the logical assumption in this instance is that I guess she never read them. Why would someone devote years to trashing a book they had not even read. If she had read it she would know Daven was long gone by then.

For her information I cite the following excerpt from the Case Files, pp.256-257. I add we included images of the sourced material, i.e. Valentino's letter to Hebertot.

“The documentation of the true relationship between Valentino and Daven was discovered by Valerie Verneuille, who contacted me regarding her translation of the Robert Florey piece, The Magic Lantern. Madam Verneuille discovered an item for sale in the catalog of the auction house in Paris, Drouot Richelieu Appraisals, dated March 31, 2006. For sale was a letter written by Rudolph Valentino to Jacques Hébertot, one in a lot of Hébertot's personal letters. The letter was transcribed in part within the description section of the auction catalog and stated the letter was written by Valentino in New York on July 4, 1924. 

“He (Rudolph Valentino) thanks him (Hébertot) ' for the always loyal and generous way with which you defended me against the quite nasty slanders that Ciné-Magazine and Comedia made toward me'.  Then he, Valentino talks at length about their friend André Daven whom he took under his wing in New York, '... it seems that I think it is my duty, knowing the sincere affection you have for the boy, to let you know the very dishonest way that he has thanked me for all that I did for him and tried to do for him'…….Valentino gave him numerous clothes, paid for his voyage, paid him a salary, set him up in a good hotel, got him ' hired by Paramount to play the role of my brother in Beaucaire', etc.  Then he advised him, he got him a job as ' publicity man' for Paramount in Paris, he paid for his return and an advance…….He learns now that he borrowed and tried to borrow money from many friends to whom he had introduced him:  '... he owes me nearly 35,000 francs, which I consider lost.  What hurts me most is not the money, but the ingratitude and hypocrisy with which he has acted toward me'…..etc. “

The calculated exchange to today's market value (2020) of the amount Daven owed Valentino would be $17,419.26 U.S. Dollars.”

A Formidable Harmony

https://evelynfloris.substack.com/

I commemorate the day Renato and I met sixteen years ago today with a new Substack post (link above) and by sharing the Foreword he wrote which he included in his book titled, "The Rudolph Valentino Case Files".

Renato writes:

"For most of my life I had a limited knowledge of Valentino, like most Italians it was a minimal awareness. For me Valentino was an emigrant expelled from a ruthless homeland which offered him no means of survival. I believed like most other people that his success was due to the terrible sufferings he endured, his great dignity and a stubborn will. Most Italians, including myself know something about how Valentino became one of the most loved and acclaimed, yet envied movie stars in Hollywood history.

I first entered the world of Rodolfo Valentino, in 1997, on the occasion of the filming of a documentary about him titled, “El Squardo di Valentino”. While shooting various scenes and interviews for this documentary, I realized there was not just one Valentino, but many. Everyone had clear and individual ideas about their "own "Valentino.

Valentino left my life only to return twelve years later on the occasion of a conference organized in his honor by the University of Turin. It was then I had the opportunity to reunite with a friend I met while filming the documentary, Michael Morris, the author of Madam Valentino. Michael was one of the few people who had not created his “own” Valentino and was a serious researcher supported by an adamant intellectual honesty.

At the Valentino conference in Turin, Michael Morris introduced me to his friend, Evelyn Zumaya, a researcher conducting difficult and complex investigations into the life of the star. A formidable harmony immediately took off between Evelyn and myself. Perhaps guided by the spirit of Rodolfo, we began to collaborate to try to understand who Rodolfo Guglielmi really was and how he became Rudolph Valentino.

Another twelve years have passed since that evening with Michael Morris in Turin. Evelyn and I are still hard at work separating the wheat from the chaff, the good from the bad and above all, the true from the false. We entered a labyrinth of research together, a challenging operation with countless obstacles to overcome and pitfalls to avoid.

Our work on Valentino has at times reminded me of carnival fairgrounds, houses haunted by evil spirits, halls of mirrors arranged to confuse and deceive. But we, being obstinate, want just to discover the truth, solve the mysteries and share it all. Leaving the carnival haunted houses behind, we emerge from the gloomy darkness, with this book. It is a sort of library or “biblios”, containing many individual books sharing our Valentino research and discoveries. This Valentino Bible is the result of our years of discussion, debate, changes of opinion, research and investigation. Yet, the question remains... what will happen during the next twelve years?

Enjoy,

Renato Floris

Turin 2021" 

Love

Well Valentine's day draws to a close and I contemplate opening up comments on this blog. I did at one point but I inadvertently created a direct line for my haters to have at me. For a while I posted some of their worst on a blog @ https://kookierabble.blogspot.com/  but it was not worth the time. 

I will be reorganizing my social media accounts at some point. Because the topic here is Valentino and this blog has survived many storms in that regard. This said it might be time to open the doors and throw caution to the wind. 

Crossed Swords

Happy Valentine's Day

The element of fight was as much a part of Valentino's valiant mystique as the element of romance. 

The swordsman assumes the posture.

Justice exacted. 

 

Valentino Chatting

 https://www.facebook.com/WCPT820/videos/1306494013971961

I was interviewed today for the radio show, "Where Are They Now" from Chicago station WCPT. 

Affairs Valentino Lives