Ramon Novarro as a rival to Rudolph Valentino, and Ingram suggested he change his name to "Novarro." From 1923, he began to play more prominent roles. His role in "Scaramouche" (1923) brought him his first major success. In 1925, Novarro achieved his greatest success in "Ben-Hur." His revealing costumes caused a sensation. He was elevated into the Hollywood elite. As did many stars, Novarro engaged Sylvia of Hollywood as a therapist (although in her tell-all book, Sylvia erroneously claimed that Novarro slept in a coffin). With Valentino's death in 1926, Novarro became the screen's leading Latin actor, though ranked behind his MGM
Chu-Chin-Chow (1925 film) Chu-Chin-Chow (1925 film) Chu-Chin-Chow is a 1923 British-German silent adventure film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Betty Blythe, Herbert Langley and Randle Ayrton. It is based on the extraordinarily successful stage musical "Chu Chin Chow" by Oscar Asche, with music by Frederic Norton, that ran in London from 1916 to 1921. Wilcox had a box office success with "Flames of Passion" (1922) starring imported Hollywood actor Mae Marsh. This enabled him to raise the ₤20,000 to buy the film rights – a record amount at the time. The cost of making the film was another ₤20,000. To save money,