The Isle of Love

A drag artist, Valentino in his days before stardom, and the actress who was to die in the Arbuckle scandal: a list perhaps dreamed up in desperation for a story about the wilder shores of early Hollywood? In fact, these three came together for a 1920 film, An Adventuress (written by Charles Taylor, Tom J Geraghty). In 1922, after Virginia Rappe had died and Valentino had become a star, director Fred Balshofer recut his footage and boosted Valentino's part with outtakes. The outcome is pretty loopy: Eltinge in drag, a palace revolution, saucy bathing belles, and huge plugs for US intervention in foreign affairs. Most of the film's interest comes from its blatant efforts to cash in: a silent conversation between Rappe and Valentino takes on dimensions that Balshofer could never have dreamed of in 1920.