Cobra (1925)

Why so much hype?

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

While Valentino is good and the parts where he satirizes his public image as a great lover are priceless, it isn't hard to see why Cobra (1925) flopped at the box office when it was first released. The story is creaky (even by 1925 standards) and the one-dimensional characters are not interesting. As a result, you find yourself uninvolved in all of their troubles and heartache. The production is stage-bound. The direction is unimaginative. Sometimes the film feels like a product of the mid-1910s rather than one made at the height of the Roaring Twenties.Only Valentino or Nita Naldi completion-ists will be interested in this mediocre film.

In the early-mid 1920s, the name Valentino became synonymous with sex appeal and desire. Women adored him and in some of his films (especially "The Sheik") he became the sex symbol of all sex symbols. However, here in "Cobra", he plays a sexy man with a bit more depth...and the result is quite satisfying.The film begins with the young Count (Valentino) creating a bit of a mess of his life due to his playboy ways. Eventually, he's womanized so often that he's ready to leave his native Italy to make a new start. This occurs when he meets an American businessman who wants to hire the Count for his high-class antiques business.Once in America, he tries to mend his ways--but finds himself gravitating back to the old lifestyle. Now he once again swears off women--as he desperately wants more depth to his rather pathetic life. Eventually, through sublimating his sex drive in his job (Tiger...take notice), he's able to gain his and others' respect.Unfortunately, there are complications. First, his best friend and partner's wife begins to make the moves on him! Second, he finds himself falling for his secretary---but he's not sure what to do. She's nice and he doesn't want to mess things up by changing their relationship. How all this works out is NOT predictable and this is why I liked the film. It has a lot more depth than his rather silly Sheik character and shows more depth in his characterization than you might expect--and it's certainly worth seeing for this reason as well as exceptional production values.

It's amazing to me that this compelling Valentino drama didn't do better when it was released! Maybe the audiences of the time wouldn't accept him as anything but the sizzling sheik, but this is an entertaining melodrama. The good news is that since it wasn't shown much, it leaves us with a pristine print. It's a good story with fine acting all around, particularly from Rudolph and Nita Naldi, one of the silent screens most scintillating vamps.Rudy plays Count Rodrigo Torriani, a charming Itallian ladies man who's always in hot water with the ladies. There are some fine comedic moments at the beginning of the movie when the Count is trying to get himself out of one of these unfortunate situations where his Latin gestures say more than words ever could! During the course of this incident, he meets Jack Dorning,an Ameican antiques dealer who persuades him to come to America and work with him. Upon arrival, the Count falls for Dorning's pretty assistant Mary Drake,played by Gertrude Olmstead, who embodies all the feminine virtues that the Count has secretly been looking for.The plot thickens as the Count gets himself into more trouble in America by attracting the attention of spoiled society girl Elise, played with aplomb by Nita Naldi. Although she later marries his boss, Jack Dorning, she continues to pursue him with all the wiles at her disposal. There is a sizzling seduction scene where Miss Naldi is dressed in a sexy gown created especially for the movie. The music during this scene conveys the intensity of the moment, and adds to the imagery of woman as cobra, ready to squeeze the life out of an unsuspecting victim.The movie is slow moving to start, and the ending may seem banal to current audiences, but see this one for an unusual Valentino performance, the lavish production values,and an absolutely beautiful print!

Rudy is very good, especially in the comedic parts. The story isn't much, and it would have helped if either of his leading ladies had been Vilma Banky (the less said about the desiccated-looking Gertrude Olmstead the better). But Nita Naldi's appeal is at least more apparent here than in "Blood and Sand," and her clothes, by Adrian, do a lot for her. What's more, though she's a bad girl, she's a believable one. The film should be seen for Rudy's charm, for William Cameron Menzies' very, very effective production design, and for the fact that the DVD is made from an absolutely gorgeous, velvety, pristine, 35 mm print. It looks better than any other DVD I'm aware of with Valentino. A hotel fire, which we learn about from a newspaper, should have been portrayed. It's really an obligatory scene, and the movie is rather naked without it. It might have put the picture in the hit category, had it been done well.