L'escroc des coeurs

Restored at UCLA, "Stolen Moments" is an 85-year-old film featuring Rudolph Valentino in one of the villainous roles he played before stardom hit. Here, he has a mustache and looks a bit fuller in the face as he plays a smooth, oily, amoral writer who wants to trade sex for some passionate letters he received from a now married woman (Marguerite Namara).

Not much of this movie remains. When Valentino became a star, the film was recut to enhance his role, as it originally was a showcase for Namara, an opera singer. All that remained after that was the re-cut version, and it has not survived in its entirety. What does remain is in remarkable shape.

Valentino is very good, and although some of the old silent film acting like the widening of the eyes is disconcerting, it's certainly forgivable. We're fortunate to be able to see him this early in his career. I will reiterate something I said about other films of this era: I don't know how much Lasik surgery one has to have before being able to read all the notes that were received by characters in these silent films. It's obvious that '20s eyes were a lot sharper.