The Isle of Love

Infobox Film
name = The Isle of Love


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director = Edwin Middleton
producer =
writer = Paul M. Bryan (scenario)
narrator =
starring = Julian Eltinge
Rudolph Valentino, Virginia Rappe
music =
cinematography =
editing =
distributor =
released = 1918 (as Over the Rhine), 1920 (as An Adventuress), 1922 (as The Isle of Love)
runtime =
country = USA
language = Silent film
English intertitles
budget =
preceded_by =
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website =
amg_id =
imdb_id = 0163012

"The Isle of Love" is a 1922 recut of a 1918 film starring female impersonator Julian Eltinge. The film also contained two actors unknown during filming: Virginia Rappe and Rudolph Valentino. The film went through various recuts and releases during the 1920s and is generally known for its cast.

Plot

An Island (The Isle of Love) run by a crazed with power Duke is in turmoil. The peasants plan a revolt, with two buddies including Cliff (Julian Eltinge) planning to overthrow the corrupt Duke. Cliff invites his friend Jacques (Rudolph Valentino) to help, though Jacques spends most of his time with his love Vanette (Virginia Rappe). Meanwhile Cliff dresses up as a female as part of the plan and after much chaos all is well and he returns to America safe and sound.

Cast

* Julian Eltinge as Clifford Townsend/Julie
* Virginia Rappe as Vanette
* Rudolph Valentino as Jacques Rudanyi
* Frederick Ko Vert as Lyn Brook
* William Clifford as Dick Sayre
* Leo White as Prince Halbere

Release and Different Versions

The original film was titled "Over the Rhine" and was an anti German propaganda piece starring Julian Eltinge, who was extremely popular at the time. Filmed in 1918 "Over the Rhine" was shelved without release as World War 1 ended before it could be released.

Two years later the film was recut and titled "An Adventuress". How it was recut is unknown, however the film was not well received. In 1922, after Valentino rose to fame with The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, and Virginia Rappe had died in what became a scandal, the film was released once again under the title "The Isle of Love".

"The Isle of Love" featured a poorly spliced together story, which mostly intended to cash in on Valentino's new found fame despite his original role being quite small. This led to shots of him being repeated several times nonsensically; and including his character for no apparent reason. "The Isle of Love" cut is the only version of the film still in existence, and bares little resemblance to the original script. The final cut was a commercial failure much like "An Adventuress".

"The Isle of Love" has yet to be released on DVD or home video, but a complete print of that version survives at the UCLA Film Archive.

References

External links

* [http://forgetthetalkies.blogspot.com/2008/08/epic-saga-isle-of-love-aka-adventuress.html The Isle of Love Saga at Forget the Talkies]
* [http://www.thejulianeltingeproject.com/film.html The Isle of Love at the Julian Eltinge Project]
* [http://silentfilms.wikia.com/wiki/The_Isle_of_Love The Isle of Love at Silent Films Wiki]