An infamous meeting between two famous men, Rudolph Valentino, silent movie idol, and H.L. Mencken, famed journalist. Based on Mencken’s original essay about the 1926 encounter.

Synopsis: In 1926 silent movie idol Rudolph Valentino was in trouble. The press was attacking him mercilessly, calling him a “pink powder puff” and blaming him for the “effeminization of the American Man.” Valentino, his Italian blood boiling, tried to salvage his reputation in the only way he knew how. He challenged these tabloid writers to duels and fistfights to prove his manhood. But the world only laughed. Finally, he calls on famed journalist H.L. Mencken for advice. This is the story of that infamous meeting between two very famous men, using Mencken’s original essay about the encounter as voice-over atop a picture that goes from a 1920’s style silent film to present day “period piece” and back again.

Director:   Edoardo Ballerini  (their other films)
Producer:	Genre:  Narrative
Country:  USA	Copyright Year:  2003
Original Format:	Color Type:
Sound Type:	Length:  00:15:06
Original Language:	Subtitle Language:
Label:   Film Festival Collection

This film has never been screened

Microcinema Interview/Article:

Compilations containing this film
	Commercial DVD Shorts! Volume 2 (MC-304) 17 Award-winning film festival shorts	2004	Available from the Microcinema DVD Store