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By
NICK ZEGARAC
A remake of Rudolph
Valentino's silent classic, Rouben Mamoulian's
Blood and Sand (1941) is a gripping -- though
slightly absurd -- melodrama about the destructive
forces that jealousy and a woman can have on the
manly Spanish sport of bullfighting. Juan Gallardo
(Rex Downing) is a strapping, though impoverished
boy of the streets who fears nothing -- not even
certain death in the bull ring. Each night, after
his mother and sister have gone off to bed, Juan
sneaks over to the fashionable hacienda of Pedro
Espinosa (Fortunio Bonanova) to stare down a
prized bull and hone his craft. He also fosters an
undying love for Pedro's daughter, Carmen (Ann
Todd).
Eventually, Juan leaves his family behind with the
aid of friends, Nacional (John Carradine) and
Manola de Palma (Anthony Quinn) to become a great
bullfighter. However, Juan (now played by Fox's
heartthrob, Tyrone Power) is scoffed at by critic,
Natalio Curro (Laird Cregar) who equates his
'skill' in the ring to that of an arrogant and
uncouth fool. But Juan is determined.
Season after season he faces down the beasts of
the ring until his dream of becoming a great
matador is realized. Unfortunately, Juan's new
followers -- that include Natalio -- are not men
of faith, friendship or loyalty, but rather bent
on exploiting his new found popularity and
greatness for their own sycophantic ends. Only
Carmen (now played by Linda Darnell) remains
everlasting and real.
But Carmen's dedication does not cure Juan of a
roving eye -- one that eventually comes to rest on
the incurable devil-may-care mantrap, Dona Sol des
Muire (Rita Hayworth). Forsaking his wife for
Dona, Juan is eventually betrayed by his lust. His
career spirals out of control, his fair weather
flock leave him and even his own mother turns her
back in shame. Determined as ever to prove worthy
to those that love him best, Juan plots a comeback
in the ring…but at what price?
Working from Vicente Blasco Ibanez's novel,
adroitly adapted by Jo Swerling, director
Mamoulian delivers a fiery melodrama with visuals
based on the great Spanish painters, El Greco and
Velasquez. Ever the adventurer in real life,
Tyrone Power originally proposed to perform the
bull fighting stunts himself -- a request that
neither production chief Darryl F. Zanuck or the
insurance company backing the film would agree to.
In the end, the bull fights are secondary to the
incendiary lover's triangle between Juan, Carmen
and Dona.
From a purely visual perspective, Fox Home Video's
DVD is stunning. The Technicolor positively glows
off the screen. The benefactor of 200 hours of
restoration, the film's palette of color is rich,
fully saturated and consistently balanced. Flesh
tones are realistically realized. Blacks are
velvety and deep. Whites adopt a slightly pinkish
tone but are otherwise quite nicely realized. Fine
details are evident even during the darkest
scenes.
There is no hint age related or digital anomalies
for an image quality that is virtually smooth and
almost reference quality. Only occasionally and
all too briefly does the image appear slightly
thick or chalky. For the rest, this is a fine a
transfer of any film of this vintage this reviewer
has seen. The audio has been rechanneled to
stereo. The original mono is also included, as is
a thorough and fascinating audio commentary by
Richard Crudo. Recommended! |
