Blood and Sand (1941)

Illiterate peasant Juan Gallardo rises meteorically to fame and fortune in the bullfight arena only to sow the seeds of his own fall.

Director:

Rouben Mamoulian

Writers:

Vicente Blasco Ibáñez (based on the novel by) (as Vicente Blasco Ibanez), Jo Swerling (screenplay)

Stars:

Tyrone Power, Linda Darnell, Rita Hayworth

Won 1 Oscar. Another 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tyrone Power	...	Juan Gallardo
Linda Darnell	...	Carmen Espinosa
Rita Hayworth	...	Doña Sol
Alla Nazimova	...	Señora Augustias (as Nazimova)
Anthony Quinn	...	Manolo de Palma
J. Carrol Naish	...	Garabato
Lynn Bari	...	Encarnacion
John Carradine	...	El Nacional
Laird Cregar	...	Natalio Curro
Monty Banks	...	Antonio Lopez (as William Montague)
Vicente Gómez	...	Guitarist (as Vicente Gomez)
George Reeves	...	Captain Pierre Lauren
Pedro de Cordoba	...	Don Jose Alvarez (as Pedro deCordoba)
Fortunio Bonanova	...	Pedro Espinosa
Victor Kilian	...	Priest

Storyline

Bullfighter Juan Gallardo falls for socialite Dona Sol, turning from the faithful Carmen who nevertheless stands by her man as he continues to face real danger in the bullring.

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Plot Keywords:

male male relationship | bare chested male | homosexual subtext | self destructiveness | bullfighter | 

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Taglines:

Love flamed in the shadow of death!

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Genres:

Drama | Sport

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 May 1941 (USA)

Also Known As:

Sangre y arena

Filming Locations:

Plaza de Toros, Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox

Technical Specs

Runtime:

125 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film was the fourth and last in which Tyrone Power and Linda Darnell worked together, others were; Day-Time Wife (1939), Brigham Young (1940) and The Mark of Zorro (1940).

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Goofs

When John Carradine's character "dies" his carotid pulse is clearly visible.

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Quotes

Juan Gallardo: Carmencita, when I hold you in my arms like this, I'm born again! You give me strength! I can do anything!

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Alternate Versions

It was planned to add more bullfighting scenes for distribution to South American countries, where the sport of bullfighting was much more acceptable. No details are available.

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Connections

Featured in Biography: Linda Darnell: Hollywood's Fallen Angel (1999)

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Soundtracks

Verde luna
(uncredited)
Music and Lyrics by Vicente Gómez
Played on guitar and sung by Rita Hayworth (dubbed by Gracilla Pirraga)

User Reviews

Into Valentino's Shoes

When 20th Century Fox decided to re-make Rudolph Valentino's great silent screen triumph Blood and Sand it probably was Tyrone Power's biggest test as an actor and a box office draw up to that time.

Valentino's performance was still fresh in everyone's mind. Well, Tyrone Power passed the test with flying colors that showed up in Ray Rennahan's fabulous cinematography here.

One of the previous reviewers who was from Brazil expressed a lot of what I would have said. Tyrone Power with three roles, here, in The Mark of Zorro and in Captain From Castile became a Latino cultural hero for those portrayals. Hard to believe since the Power family theatrical tradition goes back a couple of centuries in Ireland. But those portrayals have stood the test of time and to get such an accolade from a Latino viewer is the highest possible praise for his acting.

Tyrone Power as Juan Gallardo whose mission in life is to become an even greater Matador than his father who was killed in the bullring, brings a combination of panache and bumptiousness to the part. He's bold and daring, but not terribly sophisticated and never learned to read and write. And he's got two women all in an uproar over him, Linda Darnell who is his wife and the temptress Dona Sol.

This loan out for Rita Hayworth playing Dona Sol is what really launched her career as sex symbol. Dona Sol was Hayworth's trial run as vamp and temptress, the forerunner of Gilda which was her signature part.

The cast is well populated with some of the best character actors Hollywood had to offer. Anthony Quinn, Nazimova, J. Carrol Naish, Monty Banks, John Carradine, etc., all are perfectly cast.

One I think should be singled out is Laird Cregar. Cregar plays Curro the bullfighter critic and I think Cregar enjoyed playing this part, allowing an actor to exact some revenge on critics as a breed. Bullfighting isn't just some guy going into a ring to kill a bull. It's all in the showmanship and Curro is a critic like a theater critic, not a sportswriter. You really love to hate Curro as the film progresses and I wonder just what made him such an expert? Cregar was fleshing out that old expression about critics being eunuchs, they know how to do it, but can't do it themselves. I think Cregar was paying back every critic whoever gave him a bad review with this one.

Blood and Sand was certainly a jinxed picture. Tyrone Power died so young of that heart attack while shooting Solomon and Sheba in Spain, Linda Darnell died a few years later in a house fire trying to rescue someone she thought trapped in the flames, George "Superman" Reeves who played one of Rita Hayworth's admirers committed suicide, Rita Hayworth had that tragically lingering Alzheimer's Disease and Laird Cregar was the first to go of a heart attack in his twenties. Another great work of art attached to so much tragedy.

As far as I'm concerned Rudolph Valentino starred in the silent version of Tyrone Power's, Blood and Sand.