August 2022, exactly fifty-five years have elapsed since the events chronicled at the end of chapter two.
Wow! What is it about being in your seventies that turns a person into a compulsive storyteller?
Thirteen chapters have been written about the life and times of Rudy Vallentine. These have in turn spawned five video versions.
This missive is an attempt at reconciling gaps (some obvious, others not) in the narratives and the corresponding videos.
Bear with me. This promises to be a long rambling piece so here we go.
Chapter one deals with the events leading to the Genesis of the Rudy personality. The chapter was extensively rewritten when my sister after having read the original version, said to me “Dude, it’s nice, but it lacks perspective. Add some personal details”. So I did a major rewrite resulting in the current version of chapter one.
Chapter one contains many references to people I knew before Rudy existed,
Mona: Who the hell was Mona? in 1958 (or 59? ) the family moved from the Bronx NY to a cold flat at 775 Flatbush Ave, two floors above a meat market. This was to be the main stage for the events from chapter one thru chapter nine.
In any case, in the seven years, I resided there Mona lived one floor down in the next building over. I had a mild crush on her but in all that time I don’t believe we ever had a conversation that lasted more than thirty minutes. Most of those conversations were shouted as leaned out of our respective windows. She is referred to only as Mona since I honestly do not know if I ever learned her last name. She is featured in the first video portrayed by Jessica Alba.
The second notable pre-Rudy girlfriend was my cousin Louis’s stepdaughter, Paula. I spent many a weekend in her living room from 1960-1963. She is portrayed in the first video by Roslyn Sánchez (no relation).
(If I had a genie grant me one wish, it would be to have the ability to travel back to these events with a cellphone camera.)
Rounding out the pre-Rudy love interests was Cecelia Engle. Cecelia was in my 9th-grade class at Walt Whitman JHS. I spent 5 days a week in her company for ten months. All I had to show for it was an autograph in my Jhs autograph book and thirty seconds of film footage at our graduation, Both since lost in the mists of time. Cecelia was, as fate would have it, absent when we posed for our class pictures (wouldn’t you know I still have that).
This brings us to the Summer of 1962. In order to escape the inner city summer of Brooklyn New York, I was privileged to spend several weeks at my aunt Sara’s home in Lansing, Michigan. There were three male cousins at the house, Eliezer, the youngest, John, and Hector, the eldest and the prime means of transportation. John, with whom I spent most of my time, had taken on the pseudonym of Johnny Vallentine. During the course of my stay, I wrote a few letters to my love interest, Paula, back in The Bronx NY. (typically she did not write back. Nor, come to think of it, has she ever mentioned receiving them.). During this period, other than Judy’s cousin, there was no one who sparked my interest. Despite numerous trips to the Drive-in theatre.
Finally, I was introduced to Mary Alice Watson, portrayed in the videos by Madeline Zima. We hit it off immediately and a puppy love was sparked. I spent the remainder of my vacation days in her company.
The months following and leading up to my 16th birthday were hard on the two lovers. The cost of long-distance telephone conversations at that time was prohibitive to someone earning only $.25/hour (yeah you read it right, 25cents/hr.) These were the conditions that spawned the personality of Rudy Vallentine. (By the way, rudy was portrayed by me in all of the videos.) I had managed to build a meager savings account, which Rudy purloined to further his plans to purchase a Greyhound bus ticket from New York to Lansing. Part of his scheme involved dying his hair red in order to alter his appearance. This was mentioned in chapters 1 & 2 video, but not really expanded upon or explained. My cousin Yolanda ran a hairdressing salon out of her home and proceeded to set things right. (Yolanda and her brother john are portrayed by themselves in the videos.)
Everything was going along just grand. I was enrolled in junior Year at Eastern High School which I attended by day and spent my evenings and weekends with Mary Alice as much as possible. Drive-In on the weekend when possible, attendance at the local sock hops, and dates at the roller skating rink at the end of the block. (To my knowledge, all of these venues have been demolished.)
But there was to be no happily ever after…
Chapter Two details the deterioration of the relationship between Rudy and Mary Alice.
One bright summer day at the end of June, Johnny and Rudy were strolling along the shore of Lake Lansing Beach, Mary Alice had been unable to attend. Rudy was wearing a straw hat that he was pretty fond of. As described in chapter two, the hat was instrumental in introducing him to Mary Ann Harmon (portrayed by Mahindra Delfino) and Penny Lynn Cornell (Amanda Seyfried). Much has been written about this day and the aftermath, but little about the ensuing love triangle.
Rudy, frankly, was caught unprepared for the events that followed. While still loyal to Mary Alice, he was strongly attracted to both Mary and Penny. He sensed that they were both interested in him, but quickly recognized that Mary Alice was the alpha female of the two. His instincts were correct. Mary and Penny had known each other since grade school. Consequently, they both subscribed to the girl code which stated any boy they expressed an interest in was off limits to the other. Mary and Penny both were interested, however, Mary was the first to declare it, therefore invoking the girl code. Junior Guerrero (Armando Herrera) a member of the Harmon Clique, when asked why Penny had no boyfriend, explained it best when addressing the triangle. “Make no mistake,’ he said, “Penny is extremely fixated on you. Should Mary ever loosen her grip, Penny will pounce and make her move on you at a moment’s notice.
Meanwhile, there was still Mary Alice to deal with. Mary Alice was no fool, she suspected Rudy’s interests were moving elsewhere. then came the fateful night at the drive-in. Rudy was there with Mary Ann when Mary Alice walked in and all hell broke loose. Rudy was called upon to make a choice and he chose Mary Ann! Penny was visibly disturbed by the turn of events and called Mary Ann out on it. Mary could care less, and pretty much told Penny it was no big deal. The video pretty much glosses over the transfer of affections. Mary’s home was 14 miles from the home of Rudy’s aunt, a walk of roughly three hours. Rudy gladly made the walk whenever he was unable to get a ride, Hence the depiction of the Gravel yard in the compilation video as this was roughly two blocks from Mary’s home. And so it went for several weeks until the night at the drive-in when Rudy and Mary had a serious argument. prophetically, the song played on the radio as they went home was The Shirelles’ “Don’t say goodnight and Mean Goodbye”
The next day when Rudy called Mary she uttered the words “Besame el Culo, Rudy’ and hung up the phone. Subsequent calls were greeted by Mary’s family with assurances that Mary was not at home. Rudy was devasted. In desperation, he sought solace at Penny’s home. Penny, having heard about Mary’s treatment of Rudy, declared the girl code null and void and welcomed Rudy with Open arms. When Junior arrived on the scene, he just grinned and said “I told you she would pounce.” Penny was not very happy that Junior did not take his leave, Within a few days, Rudy’s parents came to take him home. Penny was devastated by the news, she had only had a few days to bask in his company without Mary’s influence. Her last words to Rudy were “I Hate you!”.
Chapter Three finds Rudy back in Brooklyn with his old gang The Seven Sinners. Ralph Pina (Ruper Grint) Bobby Pina (Eddie Hodges) Eddie Davis and the Massa Twins, Bobby and Joey, The identity of the seventh sinner is lost in time and thought to have been a police plant.
Rudy had returned to what was to have been his senior year at Erasmus Hall HS only to be told that his Lansing credentials had been rejected and he was expected to repeat his junior year. This did not sit well with Rudy and he had his parents sign him out of school,
To fill his romantic interests, he resumed his visits to Paula. In addition, he made periodic visits to his cousin Sylvia Cabrera’s (Vanessa Ferlito) home in The Bronx. He was extremely interested in two of her friends and neighbors. Corinna Dey (Shiri Appleby) and Phyllis Mahr (Hayden Panettiere). Corinna closely resembled Cecelia Engle whom Leon had been interested in during Junior High school, It turned out that Rudy’s cousins, Danny Santana and Eliezer Beltran were also interested in Phyllis’s affection sparking a friendly rivalry between the three cousins.
Meanwhile, back in Brooklyn, A Friday night tradition had been started at Jahn’s Ice Cream Parlor. The usual participants were Ralph Pina, his girlfriend Eileen Rosenberg (Mila Kunis), Msarrie Berkle (Emilie-de Ravin) who bore a passing resemblance to Mary Harmon, and Christine (Ellie Fanning ) who bore a striking resemblance to Penny Cornell.
Several weeks into this tradition, a new player suddenly appeared. Her name was Dora Ann Weiss (Molly Quinn ) and she appeared to have a connection with Christine. Dora had set her sight on developing a relationship with Rudy and was not at all shy about pursuing it.
Chapter Four details the relationship between Rudy and Dora Weiss. Once again, Rudy succumbed to the machinations of an Alpha female. Marty Pina (Herself), Ralph’s sister had devolved quite a crush on Rudy and warned that his relationship with “that redhead” would bring nothing but sorrow. From the mouths of babes. Dora had a BFF named Caroline Quigley (Shirley Henderson) who basically accompanied her everywhere. Even so, Dora and Rudy were able to find time to be together on their own. On such a date, Dora told Rudy she wanted to take things to the next level and go all the way. Rudy enthusiastically agreed, but the attempt was a complete and total disaster.
Chapter five deals with the consequences of chapter four. Rudy’s parents somehow learned of their son’s sexual adventures and decided to send him off to Puerto Rico in order to remove him from the bad influences around him.
The exile ran from Thanksgiving 1963 until February 1964.
Chapter Six deals with Rudy’s return to Brooklyn and his romance with Gladys “Gypsy” Perez (Selena Gomez) Upon his return to Brooklyn, Rudy resumed his leadership role with the Seven Sinners. It was during this period that he had his final fist fight with his Frenemy Daryll Price (Zachary Quinto) Daryll had not been able to win his last two fights with Rudy due to his inability to target Rudy’s nose thereby causing a nose bleed. What he was never able to realize was that invoking a nose bleed in a fight was a sure way to unleash Rudy’s rage due to Rudy’s long-standing issue with nose bleeds.
Upon Rudy’s return from exile, his girlfriend Dora decided to end their relationship. This caused Rudy to experience mild depression. In an attempt to combat this, Ralph and Eileen suggested Rudy join them at the dances sponsored by their local catholic church. The first outing was less than exhilarating. Rudy decided to give it a second chance which led to his meeting the girl of his dreams. He spotted Gladys across the dance floor at almost the same moment she spotted him. In a scene reminiscent of the dance at the gym from West Side Storey, they moved across the floor into one another’s arms. From that moment on, they were virtually inseparable The fact that they were both second-generation Latin Americans seemed a great boon at first but was to prove a major obstacle. Rudy and Gypsy bonded almost immediately. They never missed an opportunity to dance with each other. At the church or at their various homes. Dancing was always an excuse to bask in each other’s arms. It was during this time that Gladys confided to Rudy that she suffered from Epilepsy. Throughout their relationship, this disability posed no problems.
On Rudy’s seventeenth birthday, the gang celebrated at Rudy’s home at 775 Flatbush. Gladys presented him with a copy of The Crystal’s “He’s a Rebel” album upon which she had inscribed both their names. Rudy in turn asked her to wear his ring to which she enthusiastically agreed.
Chapter Seven details the day in April when the truant officer knocked upon Rudy’s door. As fate would have it, Gypsy had chosen that day to skip school so she could spend it with Rudy. RFudy explained to the truant officer that he was legally signed out of school and went to get him the papers to prove it. Unfortunately, the officer followed Rudy inside and discovered Gladys. The truant officer decided to take Gladys under his wing rather than leave empty-handed. This led to a series of unfortunate events wherein Gladys’s straight-laced parents took her to King’s County Hospital to determine if she had been raped. The stress that this put upon Gladys triggered her Epilepsy and caused a grand mal seizure. The Hospital remanded her to the psychiatric ward for a suicide watch.
Rudy in the meantime was kept in the dark and consumed with guilt since he felt he had failed to protect his love. He heard rumors that she had been committed to the Psych ward of the hospital for an indeterminate period.
His friend Eileen, told him he was better off without her so that he did not have to deal with her Epilepsy. Her comments drove a fatal wedge into their friendship
Consumed by grief, Rudy enlisted in the Army.
Chapter Eight Deals with Rudy’s enlistment in the army where he met George L. Munch (Callum Blue) who was to become a lifelong friend.
Meanwhile, Gladys, upon her release from the hospital became a recluse when she was unable to contact Rudy. In desperation, she reached out to Ralph who told her Rudy was now in the army.
During his first leave after boot camp, Rudy paid a visit to his old friend Ralph at his home. To his pleased surprise, they had arranged a discreet meeting between him and Gladys. Overjoyed, Rudy took Gladys in his arms and kissed her, To his surprise, Gladys eased out of his embrace and told him that her parents had forbidden her to ever have anything to do with Rudy again. Tearfully, she tenderly kissed him goodbye. As she was leaving, she turned and showed him his ring. “Rudy,” she said “I will take this off only when I stop loving you”
Sadly, Rudy, despite numerous attempts, was never to see her again.
Back in the army, Rudy completed advanced training as a wheeled vehicle mechanic and was assigned to training at Fort Knox Kentucky. his friend George had been assigned to the same training schools.
While at Ft Knox, Rudy took a three-day pass and decided to fly out to Lansing Michigan. While there, he convinced his cousin John to take him to visit Mary Ann Harmon though he opined Rudy was crazy.. Mary was all flattery upon seeing him. But true to her nature, she had a dagger up her sleeve. She proceeded to tell him how Penny had gotten herself pregnant. She then proceeded to get Penny on the phone and tell her Rudy was there. She handed Rudy the phone and grinned evilly while Rudy asked Penny if he could pay her a visit. “No,” she replied “I would rather you remember as I was when you last saw me.” Hanging up the phone, Rudy realized that Mary had orchestrated the whole thing knowing how Penny would react and exacting her final revenge on them. To this day, Johnny will always drive Rudy by Mary’s home whenever he visits even knowing she is long gone.
After Fort Knox, Rudy was assigned to Fort Ord in California, During his first Christmas there, he was given a two-week leave which he spent with his family in New York. During the visit, he attended a Christmas party at his cousin Sylvia’s home. While there, he enjoyed time with Corinna and Phyllis. Corinna left early, but Phyllis stayed and took every opportunity to dance with Rudy. During the evening she managed to get Rudy out into the hallway where she kissed him. At the end of the evening, he asked her if she would consent to be his steady girl. She said she would be happy to and would write him often. She went with him to the bus stop where she kissed him goodbye. RFudy realized he had won the competition with his cousins over Phyllis’ attention. It was also to be the last time he ever saw her.
This was alluded to briefly in the video.
Chapter nine: The Main protagonist of chapter nine is Betsy Velazquez (herself). She and Rudy’s alter ego Leon, had a past history. They had been friends since grade school but had never been romantically involved. In the summer of 1965 Rudy received orders for an overseas posting. Prior to leaving for Europe, he was given a thirty-day leave. During his first week at home, his mother and Betsy’s mother decided it would be nice to take a day cruise up the Hudson River to West Point. Never mind Rudy was not thrilled about visiting yet another military post, but he agreed. The group included his three sisters, Betsy and her sister Abby, and her brother Joe. Rudy spent a lot of time with Betsy on the river cruise and began to see her in a different light. The song “No Fair at All” by The Association comes to mind. after a tour of west point and a picnic lunch, Betsy sat under an oak tree, Rudy approached her and impulsively lifted her chin and bent down to kiss her. Their first kiss which she happily returned. On the return trip downriver they were inseparable. Everyone knew something had happened at West Point. Over the next three weeks, their relationship grew until Rudy finally asked her to marry him to which she said yes. Time just flew by until the day came when Rudy boarded a troop ship for Germany. As is often the case with long-distance relationships, there came the day when Rudy received that fateful letter.
Chapter Ten deals with Rudy’s posting in Europe and his flirting with the stage and the Colonel’s daughter. It was a twist of fate that brought Rudy to audition and be accepted into the cast of an amateur production of “Bye Bye Birdie”. Among the cast member were the Lau Twins Nancy and Martha (Renee Zellweger) daughters of Colonel Lau. During rehearsal, Nancy heard Rudy say he had concerns about being able to perform the dance routines required for the play, in particular, a dance routine that was known as “The Crossfire”. Nancy and Martha and a few of the other female cast members made it their business in their spare time to teach him the routines. During the rehearsal stages, Rudy celebrated his 19th Birthday. Nancy presented him with a pillow for his birthday which she had crafted in the shape of the “Bye Bye Birdie” lips signed by most of the cast members. Rudy and Nancy dated after the Show concluded its run and until the Lau family received a posting to return to the states. They remained in contact over the next two years until Nancy married a Lieutenant at White Sands New Mexico.
In May of 1967, Rudy completed his army enlistment and returned home.
The Final video (said tongue in cheek) is a consolidation of the first four videos applying techniques learned while creating them and adding new techniques and images. The video introduces Junior Guerrero into chapter two with virtually no explanation. Hopefully, I have cleared that up.
A brief note on the soundtrack, I particularly like where the changeover from “Somewhere in Time” is replaced by “Pearl Harbor theme” as it clearly separates two sections of the narrative.
Susan Welch(Helena Bonham-Carter) suddenly appears in chapter three with no explanation. She was a minor character in the chapter three narrative. Also, Jonesey (Bobcat Goldwaith) is thrown in without a preamble. Another minor character from chapter three. Jonesy wanted to be a Sinner but had a very bad glue sniffing habit which the other sinners did not approve of. Chapter Five does not make it clear that it was due to the consequences of the end of chapter four.
I swear to you that the dance sequence from West Side Story is closer to true events than anything I could possibly come up with.
The photograph of the Birthday present is an exact copy of the original album precious to me in that it has preserved a sample of Glady’s actual handwriting.
Once again, the transition from “The Pearl Harbor theme” to “The Poltergeist Theme” clearly denotes a break in the narrative.