An infamous meeting between two famous men, Rudolph Valentino, silent movie idol, and H.L. Mencken, famed journalist. Based on Mencken’s original essay about the 1926 encounter.

Synopsis: In 1926 silent movie idol Rudolph Valentino was in trouble. The press was attacking him mercilessly, calling him a “pink powder puff” and blaming him for the “effeminization of the American Man.” Valentino, his Italian blood boiling, tried to salvage his reputation in the only way he knew how. He challenged these tabloid writers to duels and fistfights to prove his manhood. But the world only laughed. Finally, he calls on famed journalist H.L. Mencken for advice. This is the story of that infamous meeting between two very famous men, using Mencken’s original essay about the encounter as voice-over atop a picture that goes from a 1920’s style silent film to present day “period piece” and back again.

Actor/Director/Writer Edoardo Ballerini has been called “a young actor to watch” (Variety), “a most promising actor” (Los Angeles Times), and “a heartthrob” (Hollywood Reporter).

Film and television credits include “Dinner Rush,” “Romeo Must Die,” “Looking for an Echo,” “The Last Days of Disco,” “24” (recurring), “NYPD Blue,” “Law & Order,” “Threat Matrix” and “Charmed.”

His film directorial debut, "Good Night Valentino," premiered at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival and was later purchased by the Sundance Channel, where it can be seen through 2005. Ballerini also stars in the film as silent movie idol Rudolph Valentino, and is currently working on a feature length screenplay on the Hollywood legend. The film is permanently archived at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Last year, Edoardo Ballerini made his stage directing debut with “The Impossible H.L. Mencken” at Ensemble Studio Theatre in New York.

He can next be seen in “A Year and a Day” with Fairuza Balk and Sean Gullette, currently in post-production and “The F-Word” with Josh Hamilton, currently in production. He is a graduate of Wesleyan University and is a dual citizen (Italy), and fluent in Italian.

Partial Filmography
“A Year and a Day” (2005)
“Charmed” (TV, 2004)
Home, James, and Don’t Spare the Horses (2004)
“Threat Matrix” (TV, 2003)
Good Night Valentino (2003)
“24” (TV, 2002)
Malevolent (2002)
“NYPD Blue” (TV, 2002)
Dinner Rush (2001)
Romeo Must Die (2000)
Looking for an Echo (2000)
“Homicide” (TV, 1998)
The Last Days of Disco (1998)
Sue (1997)
I Shot Andy Warhol (1996)
The Pallbearer (1996)
“Law & Order” (TV, 1995)