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Ghapter I 6 arge estates began to proliferate around their hill and Jack Gilbert's new home was right opposite theirs in Benedict Canyon. One night Frances went out to check on her nieces, who were supposedlytaking a late-night swim, but instead found them congregated around the telescope that was to be for stargazing,now directed at the Gilbert home. The girls were taking in every detail of the "uninhibited parties on his terrace."1 The Thomsons' newest and closest neighbor was more to their liking. Rudolph Valentino consulted with Fred on where to build a stable for his Arabian horses and once again the hillside sustained blasting to create flattened tiers. Rudy built his Falcons Lair by substantially adding on to the small house that was alreadyon the land. Frances had first met Rudythrough June Mathis, who had created a sensation by casting him in The Four Horsemen of theApocalypse. In contrast to the impression made by publicity about his fur-lined bathrobes, the Thomsons found him to be shy and modest as they became friends riding the hills together and joining him for his homemade pasta.2 Frank Case confirmed Valentino's low self-esteem after his daughter Margaret worked with Rudy on a Vanity Fair article and brought him to the Algonquin for lunch. The dining room was more than used to celebrities and the regulars prided themselves on ignoring them, yet "the buzz of excitement that ran through the room at the sight of Valentino, you could hear it vibrate from one of those ordinarily unimpressionable groups to the next." When Margaretintroduced her father to the star,Valentino quietlysaid, "I am grateful to be here/I have often wanted to come, but I was told it was difficult to get a table unless you were known." After their initial shock, the Cases realized Rudy's comments were without a hint of sarcasm; it was "a genuinely modest statement from a truly modest man." In spite of the obvious excitement he created in public, Valentino could never bring himself to believe he was worthy of the attention.3 In less than five years, Valentino had been through a variety of studios, 190 L CARI BEAUCHAMP two marriages, bigamy charges, hits and flops, but still his drawing power grew. Rudy and his second wife, Natasha Rambova (born Winnifred Shaughnessy in Salt Lake City, Utah), separated after the financing for their increasingly lavish independent productions was pulled, and Rudy was deeply in debt by the time his Falcon's Lair was completed. He signed with United Artists at $10,000 a week and a portion of the profits and committed to make three films in a year. Joe Schenck offered Frances $30,000 to write the first script, and aside from the money, she welcomed the opportunity to work with the director George Fitzmaurice and the challenge of writing a part of substance for Rudy. He told her he was tired of playing"mawkish leads" and would appreciate an "offbeat role." He agreed with Frances and George on a romantic historical setting and she read through Gabriele D'Annunzio's novels and plays to see what was appropriate and available for adaptation. They were settling on The Flame of Love, "a vivid and cruel revelation of D'Annunzio's love affair with Eleonora Duse, Italy's finest actress," when Joe Schenck suddenlyinformed them the story search was over.4 Edith Maude Hull had written a sequel to her popular novel The Sheik, entitled, obviouslyenough, The Sons of theSheik, and the studio had bought it sight unseen. Joe admitted and Frances agreed that "tripe was a refined word for it," but he told her he didn't care if she adapted the material or wrote an original tale as long as the title was The Son of the Sheik, dropping the plural to put the total focus on Valentino. Still, she found that freedom frustrating and spent two weeks struggling to find new ways for a captive maiden to fend off "a fate worse than death" while creating opportunities for that very fate to occur. Frances decided to write an all-out farce of the original Sheik, but when she gave the scenario to George Fitzmaurice, he brought her back to reality. "It is one of the most hilarious satires I've ever read and I'd love to make it, but our hands are tied: Vilma Banky has been signed to play the lead opposite Rudy."5 Frances...

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