This episode deals with the role glamour and sex appeal had in the silents by focusing on two stars at the top of the heap in those departments - Gloria Swanson and Rudolph Valentino. It deals with them separately and does more than just talk about their physical appeal, as it talks about their silent careers in pretty good detail.
First, Gloria Swanson is discussed, and in particular her roles in DeMille's films at Paramount. I have to admit that I never got the appeal of Swanson. To me, even in her youth, she looked like a short squat woman with severe features - almost scary. She had a perfectly good voice and her personality had no trouble coming through in a sound film, but tastes changed, and she just wasn't the star in the sound era that she had been.
Next, Valentino is discussed as an example of an actor who had great sex appeal. Part of his appeal came from a complete myth about who he was. The public thought he was a poor tramp-like character who came to the US from Italy to escape poverty. In fact his family was middle class and had always lived quite comfortably. Valentino was homeless for awhile after he came to the US, largely due to periods of unemployment before he broke into acting.
Valentino's fame was waning at the time of his death, probably because of bad film choices he made due to the sway his second wife had over his career. Because he died suddenly when he was young and still famous, he will forever be remembered as just that - young and famous.
It's funny that "Beyond the Rocks" - a film that starred both Valentino and Swanson -is not mentioned, if only to note how these two very popular larger than life stars had worked together.
This episode was not as compelling as most of the others, but as usual, its subject matter is explored in great detail.