Rudy-y Valentino
I watched a really interesting movie last night. I thought I had seen it before, but apparently, It was only in one of my adolescent fever-dreams. Earl suggested that we watch the Sunday-Night Silents on TCM (as we often do), only to find the epic (and I do mean epic) The Four Horsemen of the apocalypse starring Rudolph Valentino in his first real starring roll. Apparently, the women of the day swooned when he did the Tango in this film. I seemed to remember the Tango scene, so we watched on...for almost 2 hours.... OK, for a silent film, OK... an AMERICAN silent film, that's a wee bit long...about an hour longer than most of the silents I'm used to seeing. I'm no Valentino fan, but he was watch-able here. (in my best Indigo Montoya voice) Lemme explain... no, there is too much, let me sum up... Ahem...
Our hero is he spoiled brat grandson of a wealthy Agentine cattleman. Grandpa dies, and leaves his money to his 2 daughters, one married to a Frenchman who fled the draft, and is forever ashamed (Our hero's father), and the other married to a German goose-stepping-overly-dramatic Alan Hale Sr. (Real life father to Alan Hale Jr. A.K.A. " The Skipper" from Gilligan's Island, and they look almost identical). who has 3 sons who are all Hitler-Youth.
Both families move back to their respective "Fatherlands". Valentino, now living in Paris, falls for a beautiful young-thing, but alas, she's married... in a loveless marriage (of course)... He tells her after her "Tango lessons" that they could go to his artists studio, and "I promise to be good", to which he breaks the 4th wall and raises his eyebrows to the camera, in a beautifully subtle way. (I had to rewind and watch that twice and laugh, it WAS good). She agrees, they carry on, until someone sends a note to her hubby that something is rotten in Paris, (and it's not just the annual bath!) The hubby demands a duel, but concedes to a divorce. The next morning we see the husband, joining the resistance against the Nazis. He's off to war!
Our hero is not required to go, as he is, as we all remember, Argentinean... (and bordering on foppish, it's a wonder he ever got a girl). He lounges while the Frogs fall. (there were too many jokes I thought of during this film...) His sweetie decides to become a nurse to help out. Rudy, unlike most males, doesn't want to look at her in her nurses outfit... Can't...bear...to...look...she takes it off, they kiss... (aha! the REAL man comes out! just take it OFF! I get it...)
Of course, she leaves him to do her patriotic duty, and he runs off to find her... As fate would have it, she's pushing her estranged hubby in a wheelchair... he's now blind. She feels that "he needs her" and can't leave... (I think I've head this story line somewhere before!) very dramatic. our hero decides to make her proud and join the military. They pine for each other... a lot. Longing looks, kissing of photos... But they both put on the brave face and do what's right and noble. They're both miserable, and just as she writes her hubby a note saying that she's leaving him.... (how he's going to SEE the note, I don't know...) cut to our hero being blown to bits, face to face with his Aryan cousin, just as they're about to shoot each other. Then a smoldering, ghostly image of Rudy in uniform visits the girl, her bags in hand, shaking his head, and pointing her back to her battleworn spouse. Love is gone, but devotion reigns! (I'm pounding the side of my head at this point, but it was probably because it was almost midnight, and I had gotten sucked into this movie! Earl had LONG since walked off to do his thing, but there I sat, watching a train-wreck).
Yes, there were 4 horsemen, and an apocalypse... Nice effects, matte paintings and hanging miniatures.... but for once, I got sucked into it for the story... I KNEW how it was going to end.... Everyone knows.... It's very story-book. But for once, couldn't it work out that the reformed hero gets the girl? I suppose not. That doesn't make good press. That's how it ends, one dead, the other living in servitude.... Not very uplifting... I think I'm going to go out and see "Brokeback Mountain" to cheer me up....
Ciao
Our hero is he spoiled brat grandson of a wealthy Agentine cattleman. Grandpa dies, and leaves his money to his 2 daughters, one married to a Frenchman who fled the draft, and is forever ashamed (Our hero's father), and the other married to a German goose-stepping-overly-dramatic Alan Hale Sr. (Real life father to Alan Hale Jr. A.K.A. " The Skipper" from Gilligan's Island, and they look almost identical). who has 3 sons who are all Hitler-Youth.
Both families move back to their respective "Fatherlands". Valentino, now living in Paris, falls for a beautiful young-thing, but alas, she's married... in a loveless marriage (of course)... He tells her after her "Tango lessons" that they could go to his artists studio, and "I promise to be good", to which he breaks the 4th wall and raises his eyebrows to the camera, in a beautifully subtle way. (I had to rewind and watch that twice and laugh, it WAS good). She agrees, they carry on, until someone sends a note to her hubby that something is rotten in Paris, (and it's not just the annual bath!) The hubby demands a duel, but concedes to a divorce. The next morning we see the husband, joining the resistance against the Nazis. He's off to war!
Our hero is not required to go, as he is, as we all remember, Argentinean... (and bordering on foppish, it's a wonder he ever got a girl). He lounges while the Frogs fall. (there were too many jokes I thought of during this film...) His sweetie decides to become a nurse to help out. Rudy, unlike most males, doesn't want to look at her in her nurses outfit... Can't...bear...to...look...she takes it off, they kiss... (aha! the REAL man comes out! just take it OFF! I get it...)
Of course, she leaves him to do her patriotic duty, and he runs off to find her... As fate would have it, she's pushing her estranged hubby in a wheelchair... he's now blind. She feels that "he needs her" and can't leave... (I think I've head this story line somewhere before!) very dramatic. our hero decides to make her proud and join the military. They pine for each other... a lot. Longing looks, kissing of photos... But they both put on the brave face and do what's right and noble. They're both miserable, and just as she writes her hubby a note saying that she's leaving him.... (how he's going to SEE the note, I don't know...) cut to our hero being blown to bits, face to face with his Aryan cousin, just as they're about to shoot each other. Then a smoldering, ghostly image of Rudy in uniform visits the girl, her bags in hand, shaking his head, and pointing her back to her battleworn spouse. Love is gone, but devotion reigns! (I'm pounding the side of my head at this point, but it was probably because it was almost midnight, and I had gotten sucked into this movie! Earl had LONG since walked off to do his thing, but there I sat, watching a train-wreck).
Yes, there were 4 horsemen, and an apocalypse... Nice effects, matte paintings and hanging miniatures.... but for once, I got sucked into it for the story... I KNEW how it was going to end.... Everyone knows.... It's very story-book. But for once, couldn't it work out that the reformed hero gets the girl? I suppose not. That doesn't make good press. That's how it ends, one dead, the other living in servitude.... Not very uplifting... I think I'm going to go out and see "Brokeback Mountain" to cheer me up....
Ciao
posted by Earl at 8:06 AM
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