The death of 31-year-old Italian-born actor Rudolph Valentino on 23 August 1926, from a rare medical condition that has since been named after him, was sudden and premature, though it followed a period of extensive media coverage of his hospitalisation. Valentino had been the first and, probably, the only actor to transition from matinée idol status to a different level of absolute stardom, one bordering on worship. His funeral represented the height of an unprecedented phenomenon of veneration – the likes of which would hardly be seen in subsequent years. Countless accounts exist, whether confirmed, unconfirmed, or exaggerated, regarding the dramatic public reaction to his death. This unattributed footage partly restores a truth that has often been blurred by the inevitable aura of legend around Valentino, from the mass hysteria in the street to the solemn procession, from the worn-looking body of the actor in his coffin to the film stars in attendance.

Tamara Shvediuk