First Theda then Vilma. Now Nita Naldi. I admit it I'm on a vamp streak and I don't know why. Maybe it's because they were just so bad ass. Theda was delicious, Vilma was adorable, and Nita looked like she was always taking the piss out of the situation. She was good friends with both Valentino and Natacha (she appeared in both What Price Beauty and A Sainted Devil)...but later sided with Valentino once the marriage was over. I'd love to do an Introducing... post on her someday, and give her a proper Silent Film Wiki Biography. But I don't have the time. So for now let's see where you can still find Miss Naldi in her vampy goodness!
Surviving Films:
*Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
1921. Alongside John Barrymore. He 'discovered' her and this was one of her first featured films (but not her first as Wikipedia currently claims). Released by Alpha Video on DVD. Click here to purchase!
*The Man From Beyond
1922. Alongside Harry Houdini! How interesting! Survives entirely and was released on DVD by Alpha Video on DVD. Click here to purchase.
*Blood and Sand
1922. First appearance alongside to be good friend Rudolph Valentino. Nita was actually his most featured leading lady, appearing in 4 of his films (A Hooded Falcon is included in that number). Survives and was released by Alpha Video on DVD. Click here to purchase.
*The Ten Commandments
1923. Yes Nita appeared in Cecil B. DeMille's legendary Ten Commandments! And of course it still exists. Paramount released it on the Special '50th' anniversary (of the later version that is) DVD. Click here to purchase.
*The Breaking Point
1924. This film was screened at Cinecon 46 but where the print is located is unknown. It has not been released on DVD.
*Cobra
1925. Her third and final Valentino film (since Hooded Falcon was a bust). Has survived and been released on DVD via Image Entertainment. Click here to purchase.
*Die Pratermizzi (Pratermizzi)/The Golden Mask/La Maschera d'Oro
1926/27/28 (depending who you ask). Possibly her final film, its still unclear. Rediscovered in 2005 apparently most of the film still exists at the Centre national de la cinématographie. Clips of the film were released by the Austrian Archive in 2005 as part of the DVD "Der Wiener Prater im Film". Why in clips I dont know. Click here to purchase (obviously in German and from Austria). La Maschera d'Oro which is often reported as a separate film is actually the Italian title of Die Pratermizzi.
*La Femme Nue (The Model from Montemartre)
1926. Either her second to last or third to last film. Appears to exist in the French archives. Beyond that nothing about its condition is known. However it appears to not be on DVD.
Surviving Fragments:
*Reported Missing
1922. Apparently 7 minutes of this film still exists. Who owns it or if Nita is featured in the footage is unknown.
*Anna Ascends
1922. A 6 minute fragment apparently exists.
*Lawful Larceny
1923. A 6 minute fragment apparently exists
Lost Films
*The Mountain Eagle
1926. Alfred Hitchcock's second film. His first "The Pleasure Garden" survives and Nita is rumored to be in it though it seems to be just that...a rumor. She was actually the star of "The Mountain Eagle" which is now lost. Also released under the title "Fear O' God". The British Film Institute has put out a cash reward for the finding of Hitchcock's lost films.
*You can't fool your wife
1923. Nita starred in the 1923 version, not the 1940 version with Lucille Ball. Nita's version is lost.
*The Hooded Falcon
1925. The infamous Valentino film which was never really made. Its unknown what was filmed but Nita was fitted for the film. Unlikely to turn up that's for sure!
*La Maschera d'Oro
1929. This isn't ''lost'' per se. It is often reported as Nita's last film. Actually it was "Die Pratermizzi" with an Italian title.
Purple means fully exists
Blue means partially exists or a clip exists
Pink means lost
1920:
Life
1921:
Last Door
Experience
Divorce of Convenience
*The Man from Beyond
For your Daughter's sake (reissued as Common Sin/Warren's Daughter)
1923:
You Can't Fool your Wife
*The Ten Commandments
Lawful Larceny
Hollywood (A guest appearance)
1924:
A Sainted Devil
Don't Call it Love
The Breaking Point
1925:
The Mountain Eagle/Fear O' God (alternative title)
Lady Who Lied
*Cobra
Clothes Make the Pirate
1926:
The Unfair Sex
Why the Low Survival Rate?
Nita's is a little odder than the other girls. She worked with Cecil B DeMille, Rudolph Valentino, John Barrymore, and a young Alfred Hitchcock. So she wasn't want for popularity. Likely from the quick research for this article, my guess is she married and decided to give it up. She 'retired' from films in 1929. Her last films were done by 1927, she never made a talkie. However she did record interviews later in life. Click here to hear Nita speak.
However unlike the talkie myths (in Nita's case a 'Brooklyn Accent' and an Olive Thomas potty mouth) Nita must have had a fine enough voice...she went on to a Broadway and stage career which pretty much lasted on and off for the rest of her life.
As for why her films did or didn't survive its a bit of a mystery. Unlike the other girls there are just random spurts of missing films, and no reasons why. Considering she even has a lost Valentino film really sums up how random her lost filmography was. In fact with the rediscovery of 2 of her last 3 films it proves that maybe some of these are out there, just no one has realized it. That might give hope for some other Naldi films, but who knows! At least we have some of her better known stuff on DVD!
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