Vintage original 8x10 in. U.S. single-weight glossy photograph from the lost silent film melodrama A SAINTED DEVIL, released in 1924 by Paramount Pictures and directed by Joseph Henabery. On the night of the wedding of Don Alonzo Castro (Rudolph Valentino) and Julietta (Helena D'Algy), El Tigre (George Siegemann)--prompted by Alonzo's former sweetheart, Carlotta (Nita Naldi)--robs the Castro estate and kidnaps Julietta. Alonzo goes to her rescue, sees a woman in Julietta's bridal veil yield to El Tigre's advances, and leaves embittered against all women. Hoping to have revenge on El Tigre, Alonzo haunts a cafe frequented by the bandit and finally is rewarded with his presence. They fight and El Tigre gets the upper hand but is killed by Don Luis (Tony D'Algy), his enemy. Carmelita (Louise Lagrange), a dancer, reveals that Alonzo mistook Carlotta for Julietta, who is safe in a convent. 

The image features an exterior medium shot of Don Alonzo Castro (Rudolph Valentino) seen wearing a South American-themed poncho over his shirt and a black felt hat with a chin strap as he looks at something off-camera. Valentino's masculine image was beefed-up for this film in response to the critics' comments about Valentino's prior film appearance as Monsieur Beaucaire. The image quality is very sharp with fine detail and nice contrast and you can clearly see the real-life scar on his right cheek and the Paramount Pictures company logo is features in the lower right corner. It is in very fine- condition with only a 3 in. area of discoloration in the left half of the top border and a 0.25 in. horizontal tear in the top 1/4 of the left border that just barely touches the background area. There are no pinholes, tears, stains or other flaws.

Provenance: The Sydney R. Barker Collection. Mr. Barker was one of the more famous of the early collectors on Rudolph Valentino.

According to the "Guinness Book of Film Facts and Feats," this was the first feature film to be shot with a motorized camera. A Sainted Devil is considered a "lost" silent film, as no prints are known to exist.