Behind Natacha Rambova's Shadow

Jul 6, 2019

0h 55m

★ 5.0

Overview

The adventurous life of Natacha Rambova (1897-1966), an American artist, born Winifred Kimball Shaughnessy, who reincarnated herself countless times: false Russian dancer, silent film actress, scenographer and costume designer, writer, spiritist, Egyptologist, indefatigable traveler, mysterious and curious; an amazing 20th century woman who created the myth of Rudolph Valentino.

Genres

Documentary

Production Companies

Produccions de Ferro

La Perifèrica

Behind Natacha Rambova's Shadow Trailers

Cast

Herself - Narrator (voice)

Noemí Garcíes

Herself - Dance Historian

Jane Prichthard

Herself - Writer and Film Historian

Drake Stutesman

Himself - Historian

Pere de Montaner

Himself - Writer

José Carlos Llop

Himself - Historian

Josep Massot i Muntaner

Himself - Researcher

David Jorge

Himself - Egyptologist

John Darnell

Herself - Egyptologist

Colleen Darnell

Herself / Various Roles (archive footage)

Natacha Rambova

Various Roles (archive footage)

Theodore Kosloff

Various Roles (archive footage)

Alla Nazimova

Second attempt to create a feature film out of the 200,000-plus feet of film which Soviet film-maker Sergei Eisenstein shot during 1931-32 in Mexico for American socialist author Upton Sinclair, his wife and a small company of investors. The projected film, to be called "Que Viva Mexico", was never completed due to exhaustion of funds and Stalin's demand that Eisenstein return to the USSR (he had been absent since 1929). The first attempt at editing the footage, in the USA, resulted in "Thunder Over Mexico", released in 1934. In 1940, Marie Seton, from the UK, acquired some of the footage from the Sinclairs in an attempt to make a better cutting according to Eisenstein's skeletal outline for the proposed film. This film has apparently been lost.

4.3

The First Emperor of China

Jan 1, 1989

This historical drama tells the story of Qin Shihuang, who unified China's vast territory and declared himself emperor in 221 B.C. During his reign, he introduced sweeping reforms, built a vast network of roads and connected the Great Wall of China. From the grandiose inner sanctum of Emperor Qin's royal palace, to fierce battles with feudal kings, this film re-creates the glory and the terror of the Qin Dynasty, including footage of Qin's life-sized terra cotta army, constructed 2,200 years ago for his tomb.

6.5

Verbatim: What Is a Photocopier?

Jan 17, 2014

A jaded lawyer wastes an afternoon trying to figure out if a dim-witted government employee has ever used a photocopier. All the dialogue in this short comes from an actual deposition filed with the Supreme Court of Ohio.

6.6

The Venerable W.

Jun 7, 2017

A view of the religious tensions between Muslims and Buddhist through the portrait of the Buddhist monk Ashin Wirathu, leader of anti-Muslim movement in Myanmar.

No Image Available

0.0

Richard Glazier: From Broadway to Hollywood

Jan 1, 2015

Pianist Richard Glazier offers a unique view of Broadway and Hollywood music using fascinating interviews, piano performances and commentary in this broadcast special.

9.0

Steven Spielberg, the “New Hollywood” Prodigy

Feb 4, 2025

A new light on American filmmaker Steven Spielberg, Hollywood’s greatest director, offering a unique perspective on his work and digging into his personal influences.

No Image Available

0.0

Dance for All

Sep 22, 2007

No overview available.

5.7

Barbara Stanwyck: Fire and Desire

Jul 15, 1991

Actress Sally Field looks at the dramatic life and successful career of the superb actress Barbara Stanwyck (1907-90), a Hollywood legend.

7.2

Napoleon: Destiny and Death

Apr 24, 2021

May 5, 1821. Napoleon Bonaparte, deposed emperor exiled on the island of St. Helena, is about to take his last breath. The son of a Corsican family, he has been close to death on many occasions since, as a young captain in the revolutionary army, he seized Toulon from the royalists in 1793.

No Image Available

6.3

Auge in Auge - Eine deutsche Filmgeschichte

Jul 3, 2008

This is not merely another film about cinema history; it is a film about the love of cinema, a journey of discovery through over a century of German film history. Ten people working in film today remember their favourite films of yesteryear.

6.0

Encounter with Fritz Lang

Feb 5, 1964

Interview with Fritz Lang on the roof of Villa Malaparte on Capri during the filming of the fictitious film "Odysseus" and the filming of "Contempt" by Jean-Luc Godard, in which Fritz Lang plays the role of an old film director. During the interview, excerpts from the Lang films "The Nibelungen", "The Tired Death" and "M" are shown.

0.0

Twinkl

Dec 10, 2008

Martinique Island, 1974. Inspired by the writings of the Martiniquais poet and politician Aimé Césaire (1913-2008), the dreamer Robert Saint-Rose, known as Zétwall (Star in Creole), aspires to be the first Frenchman to step on the lunar surface.

7.2

The One, the Only, the Real Tarzan

Aug 22, 2004

The glorious and tragic story of American athlete and actor Johnny Weissmuller (1904-84), Olympic swimmer, water polo player and the only true Tarzan, an archetypal character and myth of cinema, that of the original Hollywood blockbusters (1932-48).

7.2

QT8: The First Eight

Oct 21, 2019

A detailed account of the life and artistic career of legendary filmmaker Quentin Tarantino, from his early days as a video club manager to the scandalous fall in disgrace of producer Harvey Weinstein. A story about how to shoot eight great movies and become an icon of modern pop culture.

6.6

King Cohen: The Wild World of Filmmaker Larry Cohen

Jul 7, 2018

A feature-length documentary focusing on the acclaimed work and eclectic career of maverick filmmaker Larry Cohen, writer-director of "Black Caesar," "It's Alive," "God Told Me To," "Q," "The Stuff," and many more.

8.0

Lenin and the Other Story of the Russian Revolution

Jun 10, 2018

Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, better known as Lenin, is remembered as the instigator of the October Revolution of 1917 and, therefore, as one of the men who changed the shape of the world at that time and forever, but perhaps the actual events happened in a way different from that narrated in the history books…

7.6

Becoming Marilyn

Jul 7, 2022

The story of how Norma Jeane Mortenson became Marilyn Monroe (1926-62), a lucid path of self-discovery, from anonymity to stardom: the painful birth of a myth.

5.0

The Story of 'Frenzy'

Mar 6, 2001

Documentary about the making of Alfred Hitchcock's 'Frenzy'.

8.0

The Phoney War

Aug 27, 2019

September 3rd, 1939. Britain and France declare war on Nazi Germany, only two days after the Wehrmacht invades Poland. This day, the sad date when the fate of the world changed forever, the Phoney War began: eight months of uncertainty, preparations, evacuations and skirmishes.

2.0

Cinema Now

Apr 8, 2022

A fragmented collection of independent closed cinemas, in London during lockdown, captured on Super 8mm film.