Hero worship such as film actors enjoy is of itself not a phenomenon peculiar to our times. Gladiators in Rome provoked public ardour quite as intense. But save in the case of a very few film actors, who died at the height of their fame, it seems to endure only as long as success endures.

Valentino had played numerous minor roles, but as Julio, in The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, he overnight attained fame and popularity exceeded by no movie actor since. Perhaps his poise, his graceful gestures were impressive, though it was the convincingly sultry style of his love-making which endeared him to thousands of infatuated women the world over.

In the afterglow of the hysteria he created, the producers of this film have made a diverting, nos­talgic essay on this matinee idol of the twenties. Its collection of old prints, footage of Valentino films, and contemporary newsclips are assembled with a genuine flair for the subject and the period.