Item description for Ken Russell's VALENTINO (1977) Rudolf Nureyev Is Rudolph Valentino As THE SHEIK

Vintage original 11x14 in. US lobby card from the infamous 1970's silent film era-themed biopic, VALENTINO, released in 1977 by United Artists and directed by Ken Russell. Based upon a book by Brad Steiger and Chaw Mank, the film tell of the life of 1920's movie star and sex symbol, Rudolph Valentino (Rudolf Nureyev). The cast includes Leslie Caron, Michelle Phillips, Carol Kane, Felicity Kendal, Seymour Cassel, Peter Vaughan, Huntz Hall, Anton Drifting, and Jennie Linden.

The image features a great shot of Rudolph Valentino (Rudolf Nureyev) during the making of The Sheik (1921), as he holds actress Agnes Ayres (Jennie Linden) in his arms against her will inside of his desert oasis. As indicated in the left side of the bottom border, this is lobby card #3 from the set of 8 cards. It is unrestored in very fine condition without any pinholes, tears, stains, writing, or other flaws.

Romantic lead co-stars Rudolf Nureyev and Michelle Phillips got along so poorly during the making of this film that they were reported to have engaged in an on-set slapping match during shooting of the love scenes.

Director Ken Russell later admitted the film played better without the film's most controversial scene. The Spinning Image website states: "The most infamous sequence has [Rudolph] Valentino jailed overnight for bigamy, where he is assaulted by a furiously masturbating Dudley Sutton and made to piss himself by savage prison guard Bill McKinney . . .". Rudolf Nureyev said of the notorious sequence: "Well, it was pretty gruesome. But I believed it could actually have happened and so I overcame my misgivings about doing the scene. What happens is that Valentino is the object of scorn by his cell-mates and the gaolers. His so-called sexual prowess is put to the test. They want to see the real thing. The gaoler takes away my bathroom privileges, and I'm forced to urinate in my pants, while all sorts of depraved things take place around me. It's a sadistic scene, but there is some possible truth in it. Anyway, I did it, and I think it works for the film".