HOWARD’S DAILY CHRONICLE
DECEMBER 30-31ST 2007
THIS IS AN ANSWER TO THE PERSON WHO INQUIRED ABOUT MY FATHER’S RELATIONSHIP WITH RUDOLPH VALENTINO!
SINCE I WAS BORN 4 YEARS AFTER VALENTINO DIED WHAT I HAVE REPORTED IN MY CHRONICLE AND HERE NOW WAS PASSED ON TO ME BY MY THREE SISTERS; HENRIETTA, RUTH AND MADELINE AND OF COURSE MY FATHER LUTHER H. MAHONEY!
FOR THE RIGHT INFORMATION ABOUT VALENTINO I HOPE YOU WILL GET AND READ “THE INTIMATE LIFE OF RUDOLPH VALENTINO” BY JACK SCAGNETTI AND MY SISTER MADELINE MAHONEY REID! THIS BOOK WAS WRITTEN IN PART USING TAPES MADE BY MY FATHER BEFORE HIS DEATH IN 1968!
I STARTED HEARING ABOUT MY DADS ASSOCIATION WITH RUDY IN THE 1940s THEN IN 1941 WE MOVED FROM ONE HOME IN NORTH HOLLYWWOD TO A SMALLER ONE MY FOLKS BUILT CLOSER TO TOWN! THE HOME WE MOVED OUT OF WAS RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET FROM THE OLD GANGSTER MOVIE STAR “JACK LARUE”, I STILL HAVE HIS AUTOGRAPHED PICTURE TO ME!
WHAT I REMEMBER ABOUT RUDY WAS THAT MY DAD USED TO TELL ME HOW ATHELETIC HE WAS AND HE RELATED AN INCIDENT TO ME ABOUT HOW RUDY NEVER BACK DOWN FROM ANYBODY: IN THIS INCIDENT A NEWS REPORTER CALLD RUDY A “PANTY WAIST” AND RUDY INVITED HIM OUT SIDE AND ACCORDING TO REPORTS RUDY GAVE HIM THE THRASHING OF HIS LIFE! WE HAD A BIG STEAMER TRUNK IN THE GARAGE THAT WAS FULL OF HIS EQUIPMENT, 16oz SPARING GLOVES, 6oz BOXING GLOVES, A BODY BAG, A HANGING PUNCHING BAG, A MEDICINE BALL I COULD HARDLY LIFT, ALL KIND OF SHORTS, SHIRTS, SHOES, HEAD GEAR SO HE DIDN’T HURT HIS SPARING PARTNER AND HUNDREDS OF STILL PHOTOGRAPHES!
WE ALSO HAD PROPS FROM HIS MOVIES AND THE ONE I REALY REMEMBER WAS A JEWELED HANDLE SWORD! IF YOU WILL LOOK ON PAGE 14 OF THE VALENTINO BOOK YOU WILL NOTICE RUDY’S LEFT HAND RESTING ON A SWORD HANDLE, THAT’S THE SWORD I USED TO PLAY WITH! I THINK THAT PICTURE WAS FROM “THE SON OF THE SHEIK” WHICH MY DAD WAS ONE OF THE PRODUCERS AND CAMERAMAN ON!
WE HAD ONE OF THE OLD RCA VICTOR 1/4 “THICK RECORDS OF HIM SINGING ON ONE SIDE “THE CASHMIER SONG” AND ON THE OTHER SIDE “THE SONG OF THE VAGABOND”! I HATE TO SAY THIS BUT, RUDY NEVER WOULD HAVE MADE IT IN “TALKIES” HE HAD A SOPRANO TYPE VOICE! I DON’T KNOW HOW OR WHEN THIS RECORD GOT BROKE BUT MY SISTER MADELYINE TRIED TO HAVE IT REPAIRED BEFORE SHE DIED AND I NEVER FOUND OUT IF IT WAS SUCCESSFUL!
RIGHT AFTER WWII MY DAD HAD AN ARTIST FRIEND AND HE TOOK THE BLACK AND WHITE PICTURE HE HAD OF RUDY IN AN INDIAN HEAD DRESS TO THIS MAN AND HAD HIM DO IT IN COLOR, IT WAS 20” X 30” AND IN A BEAUTIFUL FRAME GLASS COVERED! EVERYONE WHO CAME IN THE DEN AND SAW IT COMMENTED WHAT A HANDSOME MAN RUDY WAS AND IN THAT HEAD DRESS HE REALLY STOOD OUT! IT HUNG IN OUR DEN TILL MY MOTHER DIED IN 1953 AND MY DAD NEVER WENT BACK IN THE HOUSE! HE TOOK UP RESIDENCE IN THE ROOSEVELT HOTEL IN HOLLYWOOD! MY SISTERS AND SISTER-IN-LAW PAT (MY BROTHER JERRY’S WIFE) TOOK CARE OF EVERYTHING! I’M NOT SURE BUT IT’S POSSIBLE MY BROTHER JERRY HAS THE INDIAN PICTURE!
ALL THE VALENTINO ARTIFACTS WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE 8MM MOUSER RIFLE WITH AN “OGIE BERLIN” TELESCOPIC SIGHT THAT WAS SPORTIZED FOR RUDY AND HAS HIS INITIALS IN THE STOCK IN BLACK EBONY THAT WENT TO MY BROTHER JERRY AFTER MY DAD DIED, AND I KNOW FOR A FACT HE’S NOT INTRESTED IN SELLING IT! AND THE 22 CALIBER REMINGTON PUMP RIFLE WITH THE SAME INITIALS IN THE STOCK ONLY SMALLER CAME TO ME!
THE COLLECTION WAS WILLED TO MY SISTER MADELINE AND ON HER DEATH TO HER DAUGHTER DONNA AND SON ROBERT! THE LAST CONTACT I HAD WITH DONNA WAS JUST AFTER SHE SOLD THE ENTIRE COLLECTION TO A COLLECTOR AND SHE WAS SUPPOSED TO GET ME HIS NAME BUT SHE NEVER DID!
IN 1953-4 I WAS LIVING IN THE LAS VEGAS AREA (HENDERSON) AND DECIDED TO MOVE BACK TO VEGAS TO BE CLOSER TO MY WORK! I WAS ON A BOWLING TEAM AND WE BOWLED ON THE WEDNESDAY NIGHT MENS LEAGUE! I LOADED MY CAR AND PARKED IN THE SHERIFFS PARKING LOT WHICH WAS ½ BLOCK FROM “NEW VEGAS LANES”! WHEN I GOT TO MY CAR AFTER BOWLING IT WAS CLEANED OUT, EVEN THE BACK SEAT AND CARPET WERE GONE! ALL MY CLOTHES, BOOTS, SHOES, A BIG STAMP COLLECTION AND THE 22 REMINGTON PUMP RIFLE! I NOTIFIED THE POLICE AND SHERIFF AND GAVE THEM THE SERIAL NUMBER AND DESCRIPTION OF IT! RAN ADS AND OFFERED A REWARD, COMBED THE PAWN SHOPS FOR NEARLY A YEAR, NOTHING. I WAS SICK! I HOPED WHO EVER GOT IT TREATED IT WITH RESPECT AND PASSED IT ON INSTEAD OF DESTROYING IT! THE ONE THING UNIQUE ABOUT IT WAS IT HAD A HEXAGON BARRELL WHICH WAS UNUSUAL FOR THAT SMALL A CALIBER GUN!
ONE OF THE ITEMS THAT CAME TO ME WAS STATIONARY INCLUDING ENVELOPES AND PERSONAL WHICH HAD HIS INITIALS R.V.G. ON IT; “RUDOLPH VALENTINO GUGLIELMI”! AND FOR “FALCON LAIR”, WITH ENVELOPES RUDY’S HOME IN THE HOLLYWOOD HILLS! IN 1995 I MADE ARRANGEMENT WITH THE CURATOR AT THE MEREL NORMAN MUSEUM AT SAN SYLMAR, CALIFORNIA TO TAKE IT AND INCORPORATE IT IN A SMALL BEDROOM DESK SCENE THEY WANTED TO PUT UP! TO THE BEST OF MY KNOWLEDGE IT IS STILL THERE! MY FATHER STAYED AT FALCON LAIR DURING THE WEEK AND CAME HOME ON WEEKENDS! AN ARRANGEMENT WHICH MY MOTHER WASN’T TO FOND OF! (FROM WHAT I WAS TOLD)! MY DAD WAS HIS BODY GUARD, CONFIDANT AND BUSINESS ADVISOR PLUS BEING HIS MECHANIC AND DRIVER!
WE ALSO HAD RUDY’S DIARY AND SCRAP BOOK! I’LL NEVER FORGET; ONE EVENING MY MOTHER, DAD AND I WERE SETTING IN THE LIVING ROOM LISTENING TO “THE KATE SMITH HOUR”! WHEN SOMEONE RANG THE DOOR BELL! MY DAD GOT UP AND OPENED THE DOOR AND I HEARD HIM SAY:”WHAT THE HELL DO WANT?” THEN HE STEPPED OUT ON THE PORCH AND CLOSED THE DOOR. MY MOM GOT UP AND LOOKED OUT THE WINDOW AND PUT HER HAND OVER HER MOUTH AND SUCKED IN AIR, THEN WENT BACK AND SAT DOWN! I WAS SETTING NEXT TO THE WINDOW AND COULD HEAR EVERY WORD SAID: “WERE DOING A MOVIE ABOUT RUDY AND NEED HIS DIARY AND SCRAP BOOK”! “WHAT RIGHT DO YOU HAVE TO DO A MOVIE ABOUT RUDY?” NOW LOU, DON’T GET ALL EXCITED, WERE CALLING IT “VALENTINO AS I KNEW HIM!” “YOU THIEF, YOU NEVER KNEW RUDY ALL YOU EVER DID WAS MILK HIM FOR LEGAL FEES HE DIDN’T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT!” “I PUT A STOP TO IT BEFORE YOU COULD BANKRUPT HIM!” NOW YOU’VE GOT 30 SECONDS TO GET OFF MY PROPERTY OR I’LL BLOW YOUR LYING HEAD OFF YOUR SHOULDERS!” “DOES THIS MEAN YOU WON’T LET US BORROW THE DIARY AND SCRAP BOOK?” “YOU GOT THAT RIGHT! BUT, LOU, WE WANT THIS MOVIE TO BE AS ACCURATE AS POSSIBLE AND TO DO THAT WE NEED THE DIARY AND SCRAPBOOK! WE WOULD EVEN WELCOME YOU AS TECHNICAL ADVISOR! I’M NOT INTERESTED, YOU’LL FIND SOME WAY TO DRAG HIS NAME IN THE MUD AND, THAT’S ONE THING I WILL NOT STAND FOR! NOW GET OFF MY PROPERTY!” THE MANS NAME WAS GEORGE S. ULMAN! THE REASON MY DAD CALLED HIM A THIEF I FOUND OUT LATER WAS; RUDY HAD A MIRROR LINED DRESSING ROOM IN FALCONS LAIR, THE DRESSING TABLE WAS ALL MIRRORS, IN THE TABLE WAS A DRAWER THAT HAD A SECRET BUTTON TO PUSH TO PULL THE DRAWER OUT AGAIN IN THE BACK COMPARTMENT WERE THE FAMILY HAIRLOOMS, JEWLERY, AND OTHER ITEMS HE WAS PROTECTING! THREE PEOPLE KNEW OF THIS FALSE DRAWER, RUDY, MY DAD AND ULMAN! RUDY WAS DEAD, MY DAD NEVER HAD THE KIND OF MONEY THE ITEMS WOULD HAVE BROUGHT ON THE OPEN MARKET BUT ULMAN CAME UP WITH A WIND FALL ABOUT 6 MONTHS AFTER RUDY DIED!
THEY MADE THE MOVIE AND CALLED IT SIMPLY “VALENTINO”! I’VE SEEN IT ON “TURNER CLASSIC MOVIES” A COUPLE OF TIMES BUT FROM WHAT I REMEMBER IT DOESN’T DEPECT RUDYS’ LIFE IN ANY WAY! IT’S STRICKLY A MADE UP DOCUMENTRY TYPE MOVIE!
I HOPE SOMEDAY A SCREEN WRITER AND SOME PRODUCERS WILL SEE FIT TO TAKE WHAT IS WRITTEN IN THE JACK SCAGNETTI MADELINE REID BOOK AND TELL THE TRUE STORY OF ONE OF THE GREATES LOVERS EVER PUT ON THE SILVER SCREEN! IT REALLY NEEDS TO BE TOLD!
OK GUYS/GALS THIS IS ABOUT ALL I CAN RECALL AT THIS TIME! I REALZE A LOT OF IT’S IN THE BOOK BUT, I TRIED TO GO BETWEEN THE LINES TO BRING YOU ALL UP TO DATE!
RESPECTFULLY
HOWARD A. MAHONEY
YOUNGEST SON OF LUTHER H. (LOU) MAHONEY
1,510 WORDS
IF I CAN HELP YOU IN ANY WAY PLEASE CONTACT ME AT; HOWARD@MAHONEY-RANCH.COM
1 comment:
Howard,
Thank you for responding to my inquiry about Rudy.
You have written so much!
I will respond first to your "childhood" memory of hearing
Rudy's voice on that 78 rpm record.
First off, that record was and
is the only recording ever made of Rudy's voice. [Trust me on this one.]
The first side is Rudy singing the
"Kashmiri Love Song". The lyrics were written by a poet, an English women, who was married to a British Army
officer stationed in Lahore, India,
which after the partition of India, after Gandhi was assassinated, is now
East Pakistan.
The lyrics mix, rather innocently,
Islamic and Hindu gods.
Rudy sang this song in his 1921 film, THE SHEIK. Because of the
"strange and erotic" nature of the
lyrics, the song was changed to
"Beautiful Dreamer", written by the Southern American composer, Stephen
Foster, when the film was distributed to America's
"racist" South, of that time.
This song is very, very difficult
to sing, and Rudy did not have a trained singing voice....which is
why he sounded to you as having that "soprano" voice.
I had the opportunity to hear a famous American tenor sing it, and it was a revelation because this tenor was able to hit the high notes and also to enunciate the English words.
The best way to listen to Rudy's
recording is to read the lyrics as he sings, then you can get a better
idea of what he is singing and how he pronounced his English circa 1923.
The other side of this 78 RECORD,
is "El RELICARIO" by Jose Padilla.
This is a Spanish song, sung by Rudy in Spanish. Rudy as you know
was Italian, but he was also fluent
in French, his mother, as you know was French, and he learned Spanish.
This song was easier for him to sing because it is in a lower key.
Here I believe you get a better
understanding of how his voice sounded. This song was used as a score for his film, BLOOD AND SAND,
where Rudy plays a Spanish bullfighter.
There are at least ten accounts by
people, mostly women, co-stars and friends, who said that Rudy had a
melodious, lyrical baritone speaking voice that was definitely an asset to his charming boyish
personality, and that he would have no trouble transitioning to the talkies.
George Ullman, in his book, "Valentino, As I Knew Him" said that Rudy had trouble speaking piblically if given a speech to memorize, but that left to impovise on his own, that he had no problems.
If Rudy had lived to the talkies,
his dialogue would have had to he
modified as it was for Garbo, to give one example.
Lastly, if you are interested, you can hear these two songs, on a recent CD, produced by Phil Yorke,
a grammy award winning producer.
The CD is titled: "Rudolph Valentino Sings, and Others Sing About Him".
You can purchase this CD by going to Ebay.com, clicking "music" on the drop down menu and typing in
" Rudolph Valentino".
There are 22 songs on this CD. Phil
York, remastered the two songs that
Rudy sings, removing the static and
upgrading the music. He did a great job. The CD includes a 25 page booklet which describes what and how he remastered the songs.
I will try to respond to your other
things, as time permits.
By the way, I took your suggestion,
and attended a mid-night mass on Christmas Eve...and remembered you
and your family in my prayers.
Thanks for the reminder!
All the best to you in 2008.
Mariner
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