Sorry for the slow dribble of posts this month. Rudy and Griffith are taking up my time as well as a top secret project. I may be quiet but I sure as hell am working hard! It'll all be postable here within time I promise.Of my treasured vamps Nita Naldi is one of my favorites. Every scene she looks like shes taking the piss out of it while being incredibly hot and amazing. A Follies girl who became Valentino's most frequent costar she is just amazing. But once 1925 hits it seems she disappears...at least that's what most books and the internet would have you believe. Valentino wasn't even dead yet!
Nita was said to go abroad to Europe (true this could have been a publicity ploy) AND she married at some point! 1925's "Clothes Make the Pirate" seems to be her last big budget film. She made a few more American films eventually working on Hitchcocks's "Mountain Eagle" in 1926.
Lord knows why she went abroad. She was said to still be making films in Europe, the first of which was the French film "La Femme Nue" which went under the English title "The Model from Montemartre" (some people think these are separate films). Whether it exists or not no one knows. So far there is no evidence it does exist but someone pointed out it was made by Pathé-Natan and many of their films do still exist...but all information is in French. FRENCHIES I NEED YOU!
This is where Nita's ''last film'' gets sketchy. Its either the German/Polish film "Die Pratermizzi" in 1928 or Italy's 1929 "La Maschera d'Oro" (The Golden Mask (English title)). The Italian one is unconfirmed and if it exists we also do not know. However there has been some new news on Nita: PRATERMIZZI LIVES!
I think I hate nothing more in the world than Wikipedia but they pointed me this way. And indeed the source checks out. A print of Pratermizzi was found and saved by the Centre national de la cinématographie. Search their site and see for yourself! Interestingly enough they list the film was 1926, not 1928. Possibly that was the American release date or just plain wrong as usual. And get this: bits of the film were released on DVD! The site is in German, and why its all clips I have no clue, the indication is the entire film still exists. This German site seems to verify that, but lists the date as 1927. Are you confused yet? Me too.
This is amazing news, especially as it shows there is a ton out there we English speakers are probably missing. If anyone can confirm or find information on La Femme Nue or La Maschera d'Oro you will be handsomely rewarded in Valentino Fest passes and cupcakes.
And if anyone has any further information on Nita and her life, especially the post 1925 part I'd love to hear it. I've been mulling around something for her and even if I never get to ''biographer'' status I'd love to write an article about her life.
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