Cinema: Rudy II as Rudy I in a Gaudy Bust

VALENTINO. Directed by Ken Russell. Screenplay by Russell and Martin

Rudolph Valentino was among the most put-upon of movie stars. Forced to live in—and with—a screen persona that could not have been at wider variance from his true spirit; bearing the crushing load of fame in an era unfamiliar with violations of privacy; bewildered by two absurd marriages and harassed by studio bosses intent on protecting their "property" at the expense of the man, he provides the stuff of primal screen drama.

Alas, poor Rudy: his bad luck with producers and directors extends 50...