San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1925-10-25
Sheik" and
Whether They
Will Get a
Paris Divorce
This Fall
NJ course it is nobody's business why
Mrs. Rudolph Valentino packed her
trunk several wenks auo and went

~ course it is nobody's business why
Mrs. Rudolph Valentino packed her
trunk several weeks ago and went
to Paris for martial vacation" But
Rudolph himself has finished his new pic
ture and is on his way to Europe-wll the
movie sheik" take cab from the station
in Paris and drive straight to his wife's
apartment in the gay French capital? Or
will he drive to a firm of lawyers in
Paris which fixes up swift divorce de-
crees for busy Americans?
Of course the studios of Hollywood
echo with the tireless discussion of the
Valentines. Natacha Rambova Valentino
used to be the whole thing. Wherever
Valentino went his wife was at his side
what Rudolph ate, did, where he went,
and even the clothes he wore at home
and in the studio was decided by Natacha,
it was said.
But Mrs. Valentino has gone. And the
Hollywood boulevardiers stand about and
watch in amazement new and carefree,
rejuvenated young Valentino, who seems
to bubble over with the new found joy of
being cut loose from a woman's apron
strings. And so it is that Hollywood
looks on and smiles at the recent exploits
of Valentino in his reckless automobile
dashes, his furious horseback rides, his
motor smash-up, his fight with bear, his
arrest and fine in police court for speed
ing, and his knockout fight with a pro-
fessional boxer. Nothing like this ever
happened while his wife was at his side.
Existence has been more or less I'M
eventful for the king of "sheiks" the
last few years. Persons with unkind
tongues have declared that Rudolph, the
idol of all flappers, was under the thumb
of wife who ruled The roost" and took
him unto herself to the exclusion of all
others. Which is a perfectly certain
means of dispelling any romance they
had woven about him. 1t did not please
Valentino-all this talk. The flappers
wanted an idol who was all herman, deb
OMAR, broad-shouldered, liberal, hand
some and, withal, unafraid.
But they read in the newspapers how
Mrs Valentino went onto the set when
he was all ready to start filming "The
Sainted Devil and summarily dismissed
little Jetta Goudal from the cast after
her costumes were all made and the
cameras were set ready to start.
They read how Natacha screamed that
June Mathis, the great scenarist, had
"rueened" story she (Natacha) had
written especially for him and how she
sent Rudy" back to Miss Mathis office
An fbo, Iun
had opened the door suddenly, violently,
and Valentino had emerged with troubled
face and heard the door slammed after
him, and he crept back to his wife's
bungalow carrying her original script in
his hand. They knew that no one since
has tried to whip Natacha's original of
"The Hooded Falcon" into shape where
it is produced on the screen.
And that wasn't all the embarrassing
situations into which he was said to have
been plunged. They knew that under
the contract with Ritz-Carlton, "Rudy's"
wife had the authority to "hire or fire"
and that she, not he, was superior Then.
thew had seen "The Sainted Devil flop
and heard what critics had to say about
it. Monsieur Beaucaire," filmed also
under her supervision, was noa the great
box-office success it was expected to be-
But when Valentino changed his motion
picture contract, conditions changed
somewhat The chairman of the board
of the new movie companies sent blunt,
summary word to Natacha to stay off the
set when Valentino was working and if
she did have urgent business with him, to
remain only so long as it was absolutely
necessary to transact that business, then
depart; so it was reported.
That was the beginning of new deal
Natacha faded from the picture to de-
cided degree. The flappers took notice.
Through it all, though, Valentino stood
up for his wife.
"She is wonderful woman" he said.
"She's done lot for me People just
don't understand her."
He never once admitted, openly at
least, that his Natacha might be wrong.
But what took place behind closed doors
at their home, neither has revealed. Shorn
of her power by the movie companies,
she was merely the "wife Of" with no
opportunity for showing the artistic abil-
ity she believed she possessed. She be-
came only "Natacha- Sit-by-the-Fire" and
the thought ranked. Gossip says that
little quarrels broke out and presently
sitter words. Conditions in the Valen-
tino home became strained. Then, fol-