The Rule of the Relic

Research on my Rudolph Valentino biography titled Affairs Valentino, involved a unique focus on the marketing of Valentino collectibles. This was the result of my searching for the case file of Valentino's probate court actions. In this effort I would encounter the niche world of collectors who compete in a high stakes game of exchange and all for authority over the market of Valentino relics and thereby control of the narrative of his life.

I was asked recently why I refer to Valentino collectibles as relics. The dictionary defines the word, “relic” as and I quote, “ a part of a deceased holy person's body or belongings kept as an object of reverence.” I think that sums it up perfectly as far as describing the Valentino collectors' inherent imbuing their collectibles with reverence. I can put this no other way. They worship Valentino. And not in a healthy way. In my opinion it is a sinister, shady world of people who regularly bandy about the term, “black market”.

These are people who live the lust of Valentino, the lust of the find and who are so invested they do unthinkable things to anyone threatening their good thing. I do not compare their collecting to someone say collecting coins. In every instance which I encountered, the collectors in my opinion were obsessed with dear Rudolph, hell-bent to defend their personal version of who they wanted him to be. This does not just border on religious fervor, it is religious fervor.

The relics are fawned over breathlessly. I have seen it. The privilege of touching the relics is parsed out as reward for devotion. I stand as witness to the phenomena. This has primarily been going on since the 1950's but today it has taken an ugly turn. Those breathlessly fawning over the relics they own, are poisoned by their ego maniacal delusions to reign supreme over Valentino. It is the kind of mentality that defines a cult leader as they issue their orders, their mandates, banish literature and become unglued over the slightest disobedience.

This in my opinion is what makes the collectibles, relics because they are the holy grails, with the emphasis on holy. I have been accused of being satanic in my opposition to their rule and that alone stands as proof of most all definitive cult activity.

Affairs Valentino exposed this cult and for this my late and greatly loved husband Renato Floris and I paid and continue to pay a very, very high price. The rule of the relic is this: the one with the most toys win. At least that is how it has been since August 23, 1926 when the beloved Rudolph breathed his last. The race was on in many ways and would not pick up speed until the 1950's when his love child Jean and his brother Alberto would begin to sell off things that once belonged to Rudolph. It was then it became a market. Because of the obvious rarity of the family goods, a great deal of money was and is made by all.

I think there are two aspect of this situation to address... One being the market itself and the prices, the exchange rates soaring into the tens of thousands of dollars for certain items whether clothing or documents from Valentino's paper trail. The second aspect of this is the one I address today because it is the one which most directly affected our lives and work.

This is how the marketing of the relics relates to the past and current manipulation of Valentino's history. I add that in my opinion this is all done under the silent, yet watchful eyes of the Valentino family. Their oversight is the currency of control.

As far as their controlling the narrative, in my opinion they get away with some appalling lack of basic knowledge. Even the notable collector William Self asked me some surprising questions, revealing gaping holes in his knowledge base. He once asked me if I could identify a man in a photograph. It was Manuel Reachi, a character in the story who plays a substantial role.

It is not about scholarship or knowledge it is about out bidding the other collectors and scoring a prize. More sinister it is about having the opportunity to censor and edit by withholding, destroying or selling off into oblivion certain relics in order to maintain a ridiculously false version of Valentino's history. In this effort their subterfuge and secrecy is the name of the game. I came to know about this is a curious way.

A person contacted me through my Affairs Valentino Instagram account to tell me they were buying a letter written by Valentino. They wanted to know if Renato could translate it and if we could authenticate it. They had no idea about the content of this fragile artifact. This said when Renato translated the letter, we realized why this particular letter would be sold off as it was.

The content of this letter had never been revealed until Renato translated it and we published it with the permission of the new owner in our book, The Rudolph Valentino Case Files. Valentino wrote the letter to his friend Bruno Pozzan in 1910, at fifteen years of age. He writes on August 29, 1910 and I excerpt:

“Not long ago, a 17-year-old cabaret singer was in Taranto and I had a great time with her. Then, while I am courting cabaret singers, I make love with prostitutes, leaving one to take another.”

Considering the confusion created today about Valentino's sexual orientation and the dominating cult tenet alleging he was gay, this letter solves the confusion. As Renato wrote:

“It seems to me that a fifteen-year-old boy fascinated by those charming and available girls, professional or not, doesn't have enough credential to become a gay icon.”

The new owner of this precious letter was not a major collector and was known for making collages of Valentino. I explained to them why this letter was so valuable and why the contents in the least should be shared for historical reasons. I alleged this particular letter, once in the collection of William Self, was cashed out into oblivion because it proved Valentino was not gay.

I also told the new owner of the letter, that it should be housed in a museum and it should never be cut up and glued on a piece of artwork. For me this was a museum level relic.

I believe these things all belong in the hands of professional curators. Not hauled over to the tomb every year to be handled as a reward for devotion to the cause.

William Self did not take such curatorial care of his artifacts. He showed me his collection, or a great deal of it. Rudolph Valentino's riding boots were covered in dust, he kept his movie stills in a pile and crumpled in a glass case. It was disturbing to me to see these photographs creased and not placed in individual protective sleeves.

Over the years Renato and I discovered many Valentino documents. Because the originals are secreted away in vaults of collectors... we found copies of and proof of their existence.

Some of the most notable of these discoveries include the George Ullman 1975 memoir. I allege the original document was held in William Self's collection and never publicly known about until Ullman's children gave me pages of a copy Self made for the Ullman family after Ullman's death.

This secreting away was done to cover up the truth about Alberto Valentino, for more on that listen to my previous audio note... and to hide the truth about the settlement of the estate. It was covered-up to maintain the false narrative about Ullman. Until I shared the proof, the collectors or the family never announced, Ullman was found not guilty of any mismanagement and the money he owed the Valentino estate was money he advanced to them in good faith.

But the real kill the messenger shit hit the proverbial fan when I discovered one thousand pages of copies of the Valentino probate case file. Within that case file were countless other documents unknown to the public; Valentino's United Artists contract, his household spending records itemizing how much money Rudolph gave his brother Alberto and more.

Of course those sitting on the case file originals began to squirm. The case file was passed about from one collector to another and then traded off to the Valentino family for one of Rudolph's shirts.

Another prime example of the failure to disclose letters involves the story of a French journalist, Andre Daven. Daven met Rudolph Valentino in Paris and he and wife Natacha Rambova believed he was Rudolph's double, convincing him to come to America and work in the movies. He appeared in Valentino's film Monsieur Beaucaire but soon returned to France in a great huff. George Ullman wrote he left because Rudolph discovered he was charging a fortune on his accounts and left without saying good-bye with Rudolph holding the tab for tens of thousands of dollars.

Today it is strictly held that Daven was Valentino's lover and that he left after a lover's spat. Why is this proposed? Because the truth was hidden in collector's vaults and closets and whether they followed their own agenda or the orders of the Valentino family, the content was never made public.

When we found proof of Valentino's fury at Andre Daven and made public the true story of who Daven was in Valentino's life, we were accused of being homophobic. This even though we found the publication of the letters in which Valentino details the truth about Andre Daven to Jacques Herbertot, in an auction catalog published in France.

The manipulation of the facts by selling off and withholding relics is a massive effort and includes a great deal more of the story.

I wonder if any other celebrity, has ever had their history so contorted and controlled by collectors.

I think historical accuracy matters a great deal and should not be held at the mercy of merchants and family members. So many times Renato and I discovered documents, memoirs, letters, contracts which the collectors were then begrudgingly forced to admit they had in their possession. After accusing me for years of forging the court records I discovered, one of the collectors finally admitted they once had the originals in their possession.

Historically relics have been known to create miracles. This is especially true with people attributing a miracle to a saint.

As far as any miracles transpiring because of the movement and exchange of Valentino relics, there is in my opinion nothing miraculous about it at all. It is not a noble adventure to lie.

Thanks for listening. Fiat Justicia Ruat Caelum...and arrevederci!