Rudolph Valentino, Hollywood's legendary Great Lover, died in August 1926; fifty years later, in August 1976, Hollywood began to bring the legend back to life. A new Valentino rode out in front of the cameras. The portrayer of screen heroes himself became a screen nero - in a film which bears his name.
Its star is Rudolf Nureyev, its director Ken Russell -two personalities known for their prodigious but idiosyncratic talents. This book describes the five-month encounter between the two men and portrays the remarkable film which resulted. It tells the story of its creation, from the first days in the office of a producer in Los Angeles, to the last shots in a studio outside London.
Alexander Bland has talked to all the major figures involved in the multi-million dollar operation and describes the preliminary preparations - the overall budgeting, the casting, the set and costume designing; the atmosphere in the studio during shooting; and the problems posed by location filming - such as turning a gorilla cage in a Barcelona zoo into a set, burying 40 foot palm trees in concrete to withstand high winds and finding hairdressers to give a twenties haircut to 600 extras.
He examines the achievements and methods of the director, Ken Russell, and the career and life style of the star, Rudolf Nureyev, who gives his own account of how he approached the role. He tells the true story of the real Valentino and then its transformation in the hands of the director and star'.
The book ends with a pictorial account of the film itself, told with extracts from the script.
The 160 stunning illustrations have been chosen from some 15,000 photographs taken during shooting and include off set shots, original set and costume designs, and scenes that were eventually cut, as well as coverage of every major sequence in the film.