Cobra (1925)

Valentino and Naldi

Directed by Joseph Henabery
Starring Rudolph Valentino, Nita Naldi, and Casson Ferguson
Produced by Ritz-Carlton Pictures

Meet Count Rodrigo Torriani.  He's a man of contradictions.  He wines and dines the ladies, but operates from an estate deeply in debt.  He has the courage to bed a young woman, but sneaks out the back door when her father shows up.  His loverboy lifestyle has made his villa a dangerous and frustrating place to be.


So when he befriends an American visiting his village in Italy, his prayers are answered.  His new friend is Jack Dorning, an antiques dealer who has noticed Rodrigo's knowledge of and affinity for the treasures in his home.  Jack offers Rodrigo the chance to come to America and help him appraise Italian antiquities.  It's a fresh start for the lothario.

Of course, we immediately see this isn't going to be easy.  The count is not even off the boat and he's noticing the legs on the female passengers instead of being struck by Lady Liberty.  Once he's in his new job, "Rod" takes an interest in Mary, Jack's secretary.  And he becomes more intrigued when she does not reciprocate. 

He does resolve to give up his womanizing ways and makes a serious effort, rebuffing Elise, the daughter of one of the antiques house patrons.  Elise gives up her pursuit of Rod and settles for Jack.  The two soon marry.

But Elise, married or not, still has her eye on our Italian count, who is in love with Mary, who is in love with Jack.  Did you get all that?  How will it all turn out? 

Movies like The Sheik and Blood and Sand are considered the definitive Rudolph Valentino films.  His typical playbook sees him in sprawling, epic romances set against exotic, picturesque backdrops.

So why did I enjoy Cobra so much more than any of his other works?

The opening of the movie works on a meta level in explaining my appreciation for it.  Rodrigo is a count who gets all the woman and occupies the cavernous estate set in a idyllic Mediterranean village.  He's the Valentino we are used to seeing.  Except he quickly reveals all of that to be a sham.  He's really living in a poverty that requires him to sell off family heirlooms to get by.  Ultimately, he literally and figuratively leaves that typical Valentino movie behind in Italy and comes to America where he finds a tale more suited to his talents.

Valentino's Rodrigo is a complicated guy.  He wants to blame his lust on genetics.  Or other women.  But he shows us that's not the truth.  He's pursuing the women and loves the game.  He just hates all of the consequences of playing.  The movie at some level is about the count growing up, even as Elise is tempting him to go back.

The movie has a comedic undertone through most of it that suits Valentino much better than the overwrought drama he's typically acting in.  The way he evades the father of one of his conquests is clever.  And the punchline in a flashback scene where he plays his ancestor made me laugh out loud.

NOTE: Spoilers ahead

If there is a misstep in the movie, it's the handling of Elise.  Nita Naldi absolutely nails the role and she's almost successful in seducing her target, but he succeeds in resisting.  So, the movie kills her.

Yes, you read that right. She dies in a fire off-screen.  Her only purpose was that moment of temptation, entreating the count to betray his best friend and her husband.  Once he passes the test, she deemed unnecessary and discarded.

Now, there are ways that may have worked, but up until this point, the movie had been a pretty light romantic drama.  The weight of her death drags the movie to the ocean floor and it never resurfaces.

We do get some moments of eye-rolling overacting by Valentino, but this is the type of role I want to see him in. In dramas like The Sheik, he's playing everything too big and broad.  Here, he uses his intrinsic appeal and charisma while trying to fight women off.  Not a perfect movie, but the best use of the legendary romantic leading man I have seen to date.

***1/2 out of *****

NOTE: This apparently got remade in 1986, except instead of an Italian count, it starred an Italian stallion.  And instead of lust being the disease, crime was the disease.  This guy was the cure.

Photo from Silent Era