Authors: Colin Evans

The Valentino Affair (51 page)

BOOK: The Valentino Affair

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For the millions of adoring women who swooned over Rudolph Valentino, the 1920s brought huge societal changes. The most obvious of these was ratification of the 19th Amendment in 1920, which granted women the right to vote. Elsewhere, the newfound liberties kept on coming. Fashion, sex, partying, gals and guys were now on a much more level playing field, and nowhere was this more noticeable than in the American courtroom. As noted earlier, in the “Golden Age,” from the start of the twentieth century and up to Blanca’s trial, just four women were executed in the United States. In the two decades following female suffrage, that number jumped to fourteen. Equality had come at a price. Gone were the rose-tinted views of womanhood that placed attractive females on pedestals. Almost overnight the American courtroom became a far more pragmatic, hardheaded workplace. The rich of either sex remained unaffected, of course—to this day they receive a discount on justice that lesser mortals can only dream about—but for the female killer, American jurisprudence had undergone a seismic shift. The days of the unwritten law were over.

Arguably the greatest beneficiary of this judicial quirk never did manage to find the happiness she was seeking. When she wearied of the incessant globe-trotting, Blanca de Saulles retreated into semiseclusion in Chile, and, fittingly, it was here where the final act in this tragedy unfolded. In 1940, Viña del Mar was still home to the Errázuriz-Vergara dynasty and Blanca was still the resident princess. And once again “The Flower of the Andes” was alone. Her problems with men had continued. Her second marriage had failed and even Jack Jr.—the son she had killed for—was no longer around. At the first opportunity, several years previously, he had severed all connection with the mother who had killed on his behalf and returned to the United States and welcome obscurity. For Blanca, life was irredeemably miserable, made worse by failing health. On March 21, 1940, careworn and exhausted, the woman who had once been “The Richest and Most Beautiful Girl in All South America,” the woman who had won the heart of the silent screen’s greatest lover, and the woman who some believed got clean away with murder, lay down on her bed, swallowed a handful of barbiturates, and slowly died. She was just forty-five years old.

A
CKNOWLEDGMENTS

I am greatly indebted to several people and several organizations that have assisted in the preparation of this book. These are, in no particular order: Tom Tryniski; the Library of Congress; the British Newspaper Library; the British Library; James Jayo and Lauren Brancato at Lyons Press; Kate Hertzog; Kris Patenaude; David Andersen; Greg Manning; and Roger Williams at New England Publishing Associates. A very special vote of thanks goes to those often unnamed and unheralded reporters who daily produced thousands of words about this extraordinary case. How they did it I will never know. But it’s thanks to them that this story can finally be told. The usual caveat applies, however; any errors or omissions are entirely the responsibility of the author. As always, the final thank-you goes to Norma.

N
OTES

Prologue

1
New York Herald,
November, 23, 1917.

2
Ibid.

One

1
Today the family name is best known for the highly regarded winery founded in 1870 by Maximiano Errázuriz in the Valle de Aconcagua.

2
New York Times,
July 28, 1916.

3
Los Angeles Times,
August 4, 1916.

4
Other alumni include the movie stars Vivien Leigh and Maureen O’Sullivan, as well as numerous daughters of European royal houses.

5
Chicago Daily Tribune,
August 5, 1917.

6
New York Sun,
December 14, 1913.

7
New York Times,
November 24, 1901.

8
Evening World,
November 23, 1917.

9
Much later, in 1920, Heckscher would establish the Heckscher Museum of Art in Huntington, New York, with 185 paintings from his own collection. That same year he also donated four million dollars to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.

10
New York Times,
November 24, 1917.

11
Ibid., January 19, 1907.

12
The incident obviously had no lasting impact on Miss Moore’s social standing. On August 15, 1907, she married into the Italian royal family and became the Duchess of Torlonia. (Among her great-grandchildren is the actress Brooke Shields.)

13
Los Angeles Times,
February 17, 1910.

14
Atlanta Constitution,
August 27, 1916.

15
New York Times,
January 12, 1912.

16
Ibid.

17
Chicago Daily Tribune,
February 4, 1912.

18
Ibid., February, 4, 1912.

19
(Tonawanda, New York)
Evening News,
March 4, 1912.

20
Ibid.

21
Atlanta Constitution,
September 2, 1917.

22
Washington Times,
December 3, 1912.

23
(Tonawanda, New York)
Evening News,
March 4, 1912.

24
New York Sun,
January 9, 1912.

Two

1
This situation in Chile persisted until 1994.

2
New York Times,
November 24, 1917.

3
Roughly equivalent to $2.5 million in 2013.

4
Chicago Daily Tribune,
March 5, 1913.

5
New York Tribune,
August 31, 1912.

6
Pope would go on to design the National Archives building and the Jefferson Memorial, both in Washington, DC.

7
New York Sun,
September 12, 1912.

8
Balmaceda had an unusual end to his political career, choosing, on September 1, 1891, to put a bullet in his brain rather than surrender to the new government.

9
New York Times,
September 29, 1912.

10
Ibid.

11
New York Times,
January 17, 1913.

12
The year 1905 also saw the first running of the Belmont Stakes, the third leg of horse racing’s Triple Crown, at the newly built racetrack. Previously the race, which was named after the Belmont brothers’ father, had been contested at Morris Park.

Three

1
New York Evening Telegram,
November 28, 1917.

2
Washington Times,
November 28, 1917.

3
New York Times,
November 27, 1917.

4
Although the identity of this “well-known actress” was never revealed, subsequent events suggest she might have been stage and screen star Mae Murray, who was known to be very friendly with Jack de Saulles around this time.