Cobra (1925)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Cobra |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1925 |
| length | 70, 85 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Joseph Henabery |
| script |
Anthony Coldeway based on the novel of the same name by Martin Brown |
| production |
Adolph Zukor Jesse L. Lasky |
| camera |
Harry Fischbeck Dev Jennings |
| cut | John H. Bonn |
| occupation | |
| |
Cobra is an American silent film drama filmed in 1924 and starring Rudolph Valentino .
action
Count Rodrigo Torriani is an Italian nobleman from head to toe. As an urbane, charming free spirit, the women he calls "Cobras" are his great weakness. This weakness costs Casanova a lot of money and one day he is almost broke. Fortunately, Rodrigo receives an invitation from his American friend Jack Dorning to come to New York. Jack promises that the count can earn his living there as an expert in antiques. This work gives Rodrigo a lot, but the female world there, which is a constant temptation and challenge to him, keeps him in suspense even more. Jack's secretary Mary Drake and a former friend, the pretty Elise, now Jack's wife, are particularly fond of him. When Jack Dorning is out one day, Elise Rodrigo makes it clear that she is crazy about him and still loves him.
The two then arrange a secret rendezvous in a hotel. At the last moment, the Italian nobleman gets his conscience. He does not want to betray his best friend and briefly calls off the clandestine and conspiratorial love meeting. This decision should save Rodrigo's life, because the next night the hotel burns down to the ground. Elise is killed in the process. In view of his voluntary renunciation of Elise due to moral concerns, the Italian handsome now turns completely to the secretary Mary, whom he is determined to win. But Elise's death in flames has changed something in him. Rodrigo rethinks his life and tries to bring Jack and Mary together. They both eventually get married. Rodrigo remains behind as a "lone wolf" and decides to turn his back on New York. In the final scene you can see Count Torriani on the ship looking into the far distance, at the sea and at the Statue of Liberty, while the ocean liner casts off for Europe.
Production notes
Cobra , one of Rudolph Valentino's best-known films in his most successful creative phase (1921–1926), was made in 1924, before Valentino's penultimate film Der Adler , but was shown a few weeks after this, on November 30, 1925, in the United States. The reason for this was that the production company Paramount Pictures was unhappy with the unsatisfactory film ending after the escalating production costs of Cobra and feared a negative reaction from the press and audience, which would have resulted in a severe slump in revenues. Since Valentino's follow-up film Der Adler was considered to be more successful and more popular with the public, the company waited for its premiere (November 8, 1925) to be followed by Cobra in the wake of the expected box-office success .
There is currently no evidence of whether the film was ever released in cinemas in Germany. In Austria, Cobra was announced as a six-stroke for December 17, 1926. There the strip ran both under the original title and under the second title The Last of His Sex .
Cobra is available on DVD.
Reviews
"The original theme of Martin Brown's" Cobra, "written for a female star, has obviously puzzled the filmmakers in their attempt to remodel it into a male vehicle for Rudolph Valentino. Therefore, this main idea found only a poor response in this film version. The narrative, once unfolded, is only moderately entertaining. (...) Casson Ferguson ... plays the sympathetic role of Dorning in a somewhat stereotypical way. Miss Naldi, whose eyes perfectly match Mr. Valentino's, makes the most of a bad deal. Mr Valentino's acting is acceptable, but he is not indifferent to his often exploited appearance. "
"The star's first independent production found no applause and was called a failure, invented by his wife Natasha Rambova, who appears with him in a dance scene."
Paimann's film lists summed up: "The subject is, apart from a somewhat sudden conclusion, worked very well, while the main attraction of the film is the embodiment of the male lead by the equally beautiful and impersonal Valentino. The presentation is clean, the photography unequal. A more careful one Editing the title would lighten the impression of the film. "
Web links
- Cobra in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- full review of Cobra in The New York Times
Individual evidence
- ↑ Cobra in Paimann's Filmlisten, 1926 ( Memento of the original from March 11, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
