Cinema: Return of the Sheik?

It is not the sort of role that Rudolph Valentino, the greatest movie lover of them all, would have enjoyed. The role: an immigrant Italian tango-dancer rises from a gardener’s job in Manhattan’s Central Park to the giddiest heights of Hollywood stardom, and then dies at the age of 31. But independent Producer Edward (The Count of Monte Cristo) Small sees the story as a box-office natural. For eleven years Small has been getting his name in the papers year in & year out by promising to film Valentino’s life.

Until recently, other producers were kind enough to recognize Small’s priority.

Then the harsh blow fell. From 20th Century-Fox came word that Darryl Zanuck was toying with the idea of casting Tyrone Power as the Sheik. A producer at Monogram named Jan Grippo also announced that he would make a movie based on Valentino’s life.

Last week Small, who has come to regard himself as the Sheik’s official cinema Boswell, hastily announced that he had his script in hand and was ready to begin shooting next month. With 20th Century-Fox willing to talk the matter over, Small was threatening Grippo with a court injunction and loudly protesting that he had thought of the movie first. Grippo, who also claimed to have a script on the way, said: “I’m of Italian extraction, same as he [Valentino] was, and I’ve been a fan of his for years.”