Valentino
Film released 1977
127 minutes
Cinema release: 1977
Video cassette release 1994 MGM Home Entertainment
DVD release March 2003
Actors: Rudolf Nureyev, Leslie Caron, Seymour Cassel, Felicity Kendal, Michelle Phillips, Linda Thorson and Peter Vaughan
In 1975, Ken Russell sent Nureyev a script based on the life of Rudolph Valentino. Initially, he invited Nureyev to play the role of Nijinsky, who allegedly taught Valentino to dance the tango. Soon afterwards, Russell proposed that Nureyev should play the silent-screen star himself.
Nureyev accepted the role, partly so that he would be obliged to step back from dancing for a while, to rest his body. But he was also interested in how Valentino moved, and the way in which he used minimal movement to carry emotion.
Filming took place in Spain and at Elstree Studios. Nureyev struggled to adapt his Russian accent to suit the role and told friends he felt ‘abandoned’ by Russell who, by his own admission, had little idea how to direct actors.
As things turned out, filming Valentino did not result in the total break Nureyev had anticipated. He frequently returned to London to perform, to work on his next choreography and to learn new roles.
Valentino was released in the United States in July 1977 and, three months later, in the UK. While the reviews in both places were uniformly negative, Nureyev gained from the experience of observing Russell at work and from at least some break from his relentless performance schedule.