Blood and Sand (1941)

I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

I love this movie so much

Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

I didn't use to like Tyrone Power. I saw him in The Eddy Duchin Story, Untamed, and In Old Chicago, and thought that was all he could do. If I'd seen him in The Black Swan, The Long Gray Line, and Blood and Sand instead, I probably would have thought he was great. He stars as a matador in Blood and Sand, and while he sometimes doesn't make the best choices, he channels a young George Clooney and makes the audiences root for him.The movie starts out when he's a young kid, dreaming of becoming a bullfighter. This part of the story isn't very interesting because he's made out to be a bit of a scoundrel. He sneaks out of the house past curfew, lies to his mother, steals cigars and alcohol, and gives attitude to adults. When he grows up and becomes Tyrone Power, he's more likable. He woos the beautiful and sweet Linda Darnell and pursues his dream of becoming a famous and respectable bullfighter. But with a fickle critic, Laird Cregar, a rival from childhood, Anthony Quinn, and a sleezy seductress, Rita Hayworth, he has a difficult road ahead of him.I'm really not a Rita Hayworth fan, and I always find it incredibly difficult to understand why she was cast in roles where she's supposed to be beautiful and wildly attractive. The good news is Linda Darnell is very easy to root for. She's beautiful and devoted, and she and Tyrone look great together. Speaking of looking good, even though Blood and Sand isn't a classic I'll probably rent again, it was pretty entertaining since the two good-looking leads spent virtually the entire movie prancing around in very tight matador costumes. Ladies, if your sweetie-pie likes bullfighter movies, you might want to suggest this one so you can both have a good time!

20th Century Fox's 1941 production BLOOD & SAND is a remake of the 1922 silent classic that established Rudolph Valentino as the greatest star of early cinema. Beautifully photographed in vivid 3 strip Technicolor by Ernest Palmer and Ray Renahan the elaborate newer version had the obvious heir-apparent to the silent screen star in dashing Tyrone Power. Written for the screen by Jo Swerling from the novel by Vicente Blasco Ibanez it was directed with a certain amount of flair, it has to be said, by Rouben Mamoulian who just the previous year had had his greatest success with Tyrone Power when he directed him in the classic "Mark Of Zorro"BLOOD & SAND recounts the story of a young, ambitious and quite naive bullfighter Juan Gallardo (Power) who falls under the spell of a beauteous and attractive socialite (Rita Hayworth) wrecking his relationship with Carmen (Linda Darnell) the girl who has always loved him since childhood. The picture culminates with Juan discovering too late that he is only a toy for the manipulative socialite. And finally in the end when he is gored by a bull in the ring it is the forgiving Carmen, his only true love, that comes to his side to comfort him as he lays dying.BLOOD & SAND was a very popular picture of the War years and remains a great favourite with Power devotees. However I have to confess to never being very fond of it. There is little doubt Ty Power is good as the aspiring Matador and Hayworth chews up every bit of scenery in sight as the alluring Donna Sol. But with the exception of Anthony Quinn and that memorable dance sequence he does with Hayworth I found the rest of the cast - particularly the young actor Rex Downing who played Juan as a boy - unconvincing and altogether uninspiring. In fact the whole picture for me was curiously uninvolving! Also Juan being gored by the bull towards the end is very badly done! You don't really see what happens to him. Was he gored in the back or the front? It is very difficult to decipher. And he appears very clean and unmarked in his ensuing death scene.Nevertheless the great Alfred Newman saves the day with his terrific score. Besides his music capturing all the heat, dust and passion of the bullring the composer also incorporates into his score the sumptuous traditional Spanish guitar melody "Romance D'Amour". An engaging and totally ravishing piece that was used to greater effect in "Forbidden Games" in 1952 when it was played by guitar genius Narciso Yepes.BLOOD & SAND can at least be enjoyed for its awesome colour Cinematography, Newman's great music, the star power and presence of Tyrone Power and the flowing beauty of Rita Hayworth.

Great technicolor, fine bullfighting scenes, top cast. Llaird Cregar as your slimy critic kinda steals the show, but you do wind up w/ fine turns by Linda Darnell(beautiful) as the jilted wife, Rita Hayworth as the upscale trollope, Anthony Quinn as the old friend turned rival, and John Carradine in a strangely truncated Socialist-leaning part, too.The Catholic imagery and symbolism permeates the workings-Mother Mary talking to a praying Darnell(!), the Priest at the end(Victor Killian!), Carradine's deathbed scene just below the crucifix, yes this was set in Spain alright.Tyrone Power was Errol Flynn w/ better skills and an even shorter lifespan. It's a pity, I hadn't seen all that many of his movies, and am finding out yes I did miss quite a bit here. This movie is well directed, interesting, somewhat slow at times, the music is good and you'll enjoy it just because.*** outta ****

In English speaking countries we barely recall his name, but in his heyday (the 1910 - 1920s) Vicente Blasco Ibanez was one of the most popular novelists in the world. His stories, in particular his tale of bullfighters in Spain (BLOOD AND SAND) and his look at the effect of World War I on Europe and on his native Argentina in THE FOUR HORSEMAN OF THE APOCALYPSE, were avidly read all over the Americas and Europe. Movies were made of his tales, including other lesser stories like THE TORRENT and MARE NOSTROM. But like so many other figures of literary importance in that period, Blasco Ibanez has gradually been eclipsed. Yet, I can vouch that when I was working in my high school library in 1970 - 71 copies of BLOOD AND SAND and THE FOUR HORSEMAN were on the shelves.BLOOD AND SAND is more than just a look at the rise and fall of the career of a great matador (Tyrone Power as Juan Gallado) but a look at the darker side of athletic fame in the world in general. Power follows his father as a bull fighter, despite the latter's death in the ring. He has an entourage including his closest friend, Nacional (John Carridine) and Garabato (J. Carroll Naish) and marries a good woman (Carmen Espinosa - Linda Darnell), but he also has a greedy sister and brother-in-law to conjure with (Lynn Bari and Monty Banks), and he has to deal with the leading bullfighting critic (Curro - Laird Cregar). There is also his other old friend, but growing rival, Manola (Anthony Quinn) and the wealthy groupie who hurts his home life and image (Dona Sol - Rita Hayworth).When the going is good, Power allows his fortune and success go to his head. He does not recall that Garabato happened to be a great matador too, but was reduced to poverty when he ceased pleasing the public (or Curro, for that matter), and was only saved by Power's personal goodness. He does not heed the comments by Nacional about the blood-thirst at the heart of the game of the bullfight. His attractiveness to Dona Sol is dependent on his greatness as a matador. And Manola is slowly catching up.There is a lot of religious symbolism in Blasco Ibanez work. At the end of THE TORRENT, Greta Garbo, in her last delirium, gives a sum of money that might have saved her to a stranger that she thinks is Christ. In THE FOUR HORSEMAN a set of fireplace andirons come to life in the skies of Europe showing the pestilence and evil hitting the center of the world in World War I. And even here, Rouben Mamoulian brings in the symbolism. Nacional sacrifices himself for Juan in the ring, and is fatally gored. As he is dying in a bed, surrounded by Juan and his friends, Nacional is set up with his arms in a "crucifixion" position on the pillows at the head of the bed. He is denouncing the evil of bullfighting as he dies, a Christ unheeded in his world.Also language plays a hidden role. Laird Cregar's self-important and venal critic has the last name "Curro". In Spanish, "Curro" is the rectum of a bull or beast. And at the start of the film Cregar proudly announces his name as a guaranty of authenticity on his views about the matadors.The fact that Juan is a bullfighter should not hide the universality of the story. It could be about the rise and fall of a football, soccer, or baseball player - but the bullfighting background is due to the cultural background of the author, and because of the brittle nature of success as a bullfighter - you see, bullfighting is more than avoiding being gored by a bull. It depends on the style and technique of the matador, and how elegantly he moves in the ring. Age can slow a man down, ruining his reputation (as it did with Garabato). Or personal problems may affect ring performance (as it does with Juan). And once that happens the fans lose interest and even faith in the matador.So Juan has no where to go but down, having reached the top. That is the fate of all matadors. In the end he momentarily redeems himself, but at the cost of his life. At least he will not face growing old in poverty as Garabato nearly did. But it is a downer of an ending - possibly the saddest of any of the Tyrone Power films before 1946's NIGHTMARE ALLEY.