A courtesan and an idealistic young man fall in love, only for her to give up the relationship at his status-conscious father's request. An early Hollywood silent film. Director: Ray C. Smallwood Cast: Alla Nazimova, Rudolph Valentino, Rex Cherryman, Arthur Hoyt, Patsy Ruth Miller Alla Nazimova was a Russian-American actress, director, producer and screenwriter. On Broadway, she was noted for her work in the classic plays of Ibsen, Chekhov and Turgenev. She later moved to film, where she served many production roles, both writing and directing films under pseudonyms. Her film Salome (1922) is regarded as a cultural landmark. Nazimova was bisexual and openly conducted relationships with women while being married to a man. She is credited with having originated the phrase "sewing circle" as a discreet code for lesbian or bisexual actresses. Rudolph Valentino and nicknamed The Latin Lover, was an Italian actor who starred in several well-known silent films including The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921), The Sheik (1921), Blood and Sand (1922), The Eagle (1925), and The Son of the Sheik (1926). Valentino was a sex symbol of the 1920s, known in Hollywood as the "Latin Lover" (a title invented for him by Hollywood moguls), the "Great Lover", or simply Valentino. His early death at the age of 31 caused mass hysteria among his fans, further cementing his place in early cinematic history as a cultural film icon.
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