Blood and Sand **** (1922, Rudolph Valentino, Nita Naldi, Lila Lee, Rosa Rosanova) – Classic Movie Review 2996

Producer-director Fred Niblo’s 1922 silent classic Blood and Sand is a splendid showcase for the alluring Rudolph Valentino in one of his most famous roles and finest movies. It was a major hit and is the first pairing of Valentino with his most frequent co-star, the vamping Nita Naldi.

June Mathis adapts the Vicente Blasco Ibáñez novel about the illiterate peasant Juan Gallardo who rises meteorically to fame and fortune as a toreador in the bullfight arena only to sow the seeds of his own fall by his obsession with a tempting vamp named Doña Sol (Nita Naldi) and a nice, faithful lady called Carmen (Lila Lee).

It is easy get accustomed to the florid style of silent-film acting and enjoy the splendid, lip-smacking histrionics and the stylish scenes, particularly the key bullfighting sequences.

Valentino still cuts it as the quintessential Latin Lover and this is one of his best testaments as a desirable screen icon. It was restored and reissued in cinemas in the Seventies to very considerable, renewed acclaim.

The cinematography is by Alvin Wyckoff; film editing is by Dorothy Arzner, who also contributed to the direction.

It was remade by Rouben Mamoulian in 1941 as Blood and Sand with Tyrone Power, Linda Darnell and Rita Hayworth.

A popular Prohibition-era cocktail was named after the title.

Rodolfo Alfonzo Raffaello Pierre Filibert Guglielmi di Valentina d’Antonguolla, from Castellaneta, Puglia, Italy, died of peritonitis on 23 August 1926, aged only 31. An editorial in the Chicago Tribune accused him of ‘effeminisation of the American male’ while he was touring to promote his last film. But he defended his honour by challenging the writer of the article to a boxing match. The author didn’t turn up but another writer entered the ring on his behalf and Valentino beat him.

Rudolph Valentino recalled: ‘The part I like best is my role in Blood and Sand. When I die, I would like to be remembered as an actor by that role. I think it my greatest.’

© Derek Winnert 2015 Classic Movie Review 2996

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