Blood and Sand

User Reviews

(Average=4.25 out of 5; Total Number=8)

What I Think.... (rating=5)

I think this is the best film Valentino ever did! His acting in the romantic scenes lacks the over the top feel that the loves scenes in "The Sheik" have. He brings a sincere, believeable quality to the character. Also, something that the reviews here seem to miss is the comedic moments in the film. In the scene when the black Moor servant offers to light Valentino's cigarette... the look on his face is priceless! Having the video of this film as well I noticed several scenes on the DVD edition that were missing from the VHS edition.
The DVD edition also includes a wonderfully funny piece of Will Rogers' "Blood And Sand" spoof.

CREEPY VAL BROODS AGAIN (rating=3)

Rudolph Valentino blazed on the silent screen with a weird, smoldering sensuality that seems kind of laughable when seen in stills or clips.

Not so in "BLOOD AND SAND," his most celebrated role. Rarely seen today, this classic silent in a new digital transfer from a 35mm archive negative does justice to the enigmatic Valentino's portrayal of Juan Gallardo, a young Spaniard who achieves his boyhood dream of becoming a famous matador only to fall under the malefic charms of mysterious Dona Sol (Nita Naldi).

The compilation, exotic stereo music score is performed by the acclaimed Mont Alto Motion Picture orchestra. The disc comes with a wealth of supplemental features including a filmed introduction by Orson Welles, a great parody starring Will Rogers, footage from Valentino's funeral and more. Brooding and hypnotic and funky. No one smolders like Valentino. Was he gay or just pleasant?

Bravo, Valentino! (rating=5)

The quality of this film (or at least the version I purchased) did not seem to be to the standards of other Valentino films (picture seemed grainy and the speed seemed much faster), but I still rate it among one of the best. Like one review wrote, it does lack the style of the later Tyrone Power remake; however, Power comes nowhere close to Valentino's brooding, sensual portrayal of Juan Gallardo, and Nita Naldi was much more convincing as the witchy Dona Sol than Rita Hayworth, and plays the range of emotions (from begging Gallardo to love her to coldly reacting to his death)extremely well. This 1922 version captures the spirit of the bullfight remarkably well in spite of the limitations of silent film-making, and seemed incredibly authentic.

Now - about Valentino. I was puzzled at the over-emphasized eyebrows and wish the make-up artists had not found it necessary to use the effect, as Valentino would have projected a Spanish image easily with his natural dramatic looks alone. But, either way, he is intensely sexy, powerful, brooding, smoldering and hypnotic as usual. I enjoyed his portrayal of the youth Juan, especially his tenderness toward his mother. His transition from youth to adult matador was natural and believable. The scene in which Dona Sol begs him to love her and proclaims that she longs for him to "beat" her with his "strong" hands was highly erotic and was packed with a sexual tension that can't be matched by anyone other than Valentino and his leading ladies. I may be biased, because I am crazy about any vehicle which showcases Rudolph Valentino; however, this film carries its own and I thoroughly enjoyed it from beginning to end. Once again, Valentino has captured my heart, and I recommend this film to all lovers of romance.

Summary

Rudolph Valentino's star power burns through this adaptation of Vicente Blasco Ibanez's exotic melodrama of an Andalusian peasant boy who becomes the greatest matador in all of Spain. The swaggering but sincere Valentino marries good Catholic girl Lila Lee, a coy innocent with bow-tie lips, but is seduced by voracious vamp Nita Naldi, a high-society man-eater who decides to add a bullfighter to her list of conquests. Journeyman director Fred Niblo (the 1925 version ofBen-Hur) mounts this grand piece of romantic nonsense with little subtlety but plenty of spectacle, and in the best Hollywood tradition celebrates the macho glamour of the sport while decrying its cruelty. While it lacks the grace or style of Rouben Mamoulian's 1941 color remake, Valentino's charisma and confidence and smoldering eyes give the film a simmering, sultry life that no remake has been able to capture.--Sean Axmaker