Valentino Page #4

At least, I said,

let's give the guy a screen test.

Well, the rest is history. June?

- Hello, June.

- Morning, folks.

Just running the tango scene, Richard,

trying out some music.

That sounds good. OK...

I'm gonna leave you here with June.

Let me know what you think, huh?

Au revoir, Richard. Merci bien.

Is that Valentino?

Well, he certainly can dance.

Yes. I like...

Yes, I like very much.

Very good. Oh!

Beautiful, beautiful animal!

Like a tiger.

He moves like a tiger.

What grace.

What sensuality.

Oh, how clever you are,

dyevushka.

Thank you, Nazimova.

I think he's got class.

This is the guy

you've been looking for.

He would make perfect Armand

to my Camille...

...if he can act.

(Natasha) With you,

they don't have to act, darling.

What a treasure.

June, dyevushka.

Come and meet my latest discovery.

Natasha Rambova.

- Hi, Natasha.

- Hello.

Since last night,

she's my new designer.

Two discoveries in one day?

Mmh! What dignity!

I must meet him today. Where is he?

Well, at the moment they're

out in the valley shooting a battle scene.

If you like him, you'd better

stake your claim right now

because when this movie's released,

there's gonna be a second gold rush.

Merci, ma cherie.

Oh, what glamour, what elegance.

Almost like a woman.

- Maybe his wife thought so, too.

- Oh, you naughty girl.

Every day is Halloween in Tinseltown.

Holy cow!

Where is he?

Where is my sweet Armand?

Ooh!

Hey, Nazimova, we missed it.

One more time for the New York Post.

And what a shame!

She would've made

tomorrow's front page for sure.

Armand, my love.

It is I, your Camille.

I must be brave.

No! No! No!

I cannot.

The pain is too great.

Ah, I think I will faint.

Hey, come on.

(Clapping)

(Laughing, cheering)

Bravo!

Please, please...

Bravo! Wonderful!

How well I remember

that fateful meeting.

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

were loose in the land.

(Horses approaching, whinnying)

(Gunfire)

(Horse whinnying)

(Klaxon)

(Horse whinnying)

Cut it!

- Cut it!

- (Car horn beeps)

Hey, what the hell

do you think you're doing?

Get that heap out of here.

What daring! What symbolism!

What an awful lot of horseshit!

- Andrew, my boy.

- Yes, sir?

- Your outrage was commendable.

- Well, thank you, sir.

- You like your job?

- Yes, sir.

Then you'd better learn to recognise

the uncrowned queen of Metro.

- Nazimova!

- Get me a drink.

- Come on, let's go.

- (Horse whinnying)

Rex! Melyushka!

Which one is Italian boy whose name

wafts like garlic on every breath in town?

Randolph something or other.

- Any more, sir?

- Take her to Valentino.

That woman will be the death of me.

Reload!

Death?

No, this is truly symbolic.

Our meeting on this wasteland

harbingers death of commerce

and for you, my dear sweet boy,

birth of art.

You can take your art, lady,

and stuff it up your ass!

Natasha, translate please.

He has picked up terrible accent.

He said... (Translates)

(Swears in Russian)

Miss Nazimova, that's not Valentino.

He's over there.

Ugh! Rex is naughty boy

to playjoke on Nazimova.

Fellow artists should only playjokes

on studio bosses, not on each other.

Drive on!

(# Italian song on gramophone)

Get us a coffee while you're in there,

will you?

(Chuckles) Anyway, it's terrible cliche

to show death as man.

Is it?

- Well, where is he?

- Over there.

You will forgive me, Miss Nazimova,

for saying so,

but I don't think Rudy's really exactly

in the mood for company.

- I beg your pardon?

- I am sorry.

It's just that, well, he's had

a letter from Italy this morning.

His mother just passed away.

Natasha... we have found our Armand.

We'll have to do something

about those awful eyebrows.

Ooh...

Oh, that I could have sacrificed my life

for him in reality

as I sacrificed myself for him

long ago in Camille.

Do you ever plan on

making a comeback, Nazimova?

I am waiting for the right vehicle.

A hearse yet.

Did the failure of Camille

set back Valentino's career?

Camille was a triumph.

Only money lenders equate

box office receipts with artistic merit.

Camille was turning point

in Valentino's life.

Is it right that he turned down

the part of John the Baptist

in your homosexual production

of Salome?

He was unavailable.

- So, Rudy never worked with you again?

- Oh, poppycock!

We worked on History ofDance project.

Russian ballet, Greek dancing.

Big production.

We even made storyboard

in my own home.

Isn't that so, Natasha?

Only no studio would finance it.

No vision.

Were you the art director

on that one, Natasha?

Naturally!

We were one big happy family.

Oh, Natasha, dyevushka.

Come to Nazimova.

Come into my arms, my little one.

(Reporter) Did Rudy's death

come as a shock to you, Mrs Valentino?

Nazimova never stops thinking about...

(Reporter) Was he ill

at the time of your separation?

- We were never separated.

- June!

We were torn apart physically for a while

by the evil forces in Hollywood.

But we never lost contact

on the spiritual plane.

- (Reporter) Which ended with his death.

- Not at all.

(Reporter) Has Valentino any message

for his host of worshippers?

(Laughs)

He has a message for everyone.

"Dreaming when dawn's left hand

was in the sky,

"I heard a voice

from out the heavens cry,

"awake my little one and fill the cup

"before life's liquor in its flask be dry."

(Reporter 1 )

He's advocating an end to prohibition?

(Reporter 2)

Is that a quote from his book of poems?

(Reporter 3) Sounds more like

the Rubaiyat than Rudy.

Under my tutelage

Valentino became both a poet

and a disciple of Omar Khayyam.

(Reporter) Is Omar the spirit medium

through which you contact Rudy?

Meselope.

(Reporter) Meselope? Who's Meselope?

Take the bones of Meselope

and cast them in the sand before me.

What is Meselope?

A key from the past to unlock

the mysteries of the future.

Meselope was a High Priest to the God

Osiris in Egypt, 3,000 years ago.

Sacra Madonna!

What do you see?

Do you see love?

I see trouble.

Hi, Rudy. I just saw the dailies.

You're terrific.

We're gonna wrap early, Rudy,

because we've got a light problem.

Hello, Natasha, what are you doing here?

Having a picnic?

Will you save those bones for my dogs?

I'd really like to

send your dresser home early.

It's all right, George. I'll manage.

- Well, just remember to fold...

- ...everything away neatly. Yes, George.

Well, watch out for sand snakes.

And if you ever want a job as a slave girl,

just give me a ring.

- Yeah.

- Fine.

If you ever want to learn

how to run a studio, just give me one.

Good night, Mr Lasky.

Good night.

And try to save a little something

for the big rape scene tomorrow, huh?

- Let's go, George.

- Yes, sir.

"Here with a loaf of bread

beneath the bough,

"a flask of wine, a book of verse,

"and thou beside me

singing in the wilderness,

"and wilderness is paradise enough."

- Did you write that?

- (Chuckles) Omar Khayyam.

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