Blood and Sand
About Blood and Sand
Juan Gallardo, a poor boy in Seville, becomes a matador against his mother's wish and marries his childhood sweetheart Carmen. Fame pulls him to Doña Sol. He tries to leave her. She tells Carmen and his mother. He grows reckless in the ring. An outlaw the village philosopher has set beside him is shot by the police. Juan is gored. He makes peace with Carmen and dies.
Cast & crew
More about Blood and Sand
Fred Niblo directed and produced. June Mathis wrote the script from Vicente Blasco Ibáñez's 1908 novel and Thomas Cushing's play. Alvin Wyckoff photographed. Dorothy Arzner edited. Paramount released it in the United States on August 5, 1922. Rudolph Valentino plays Juan. Lila Lee plays Carmen. Nita Naldi plays Doña Sol. Walter Long is billed with them. The U.S. and Canadian gross on record is $1,250,000.
Themes
Look
Alvin Wyckoff shot the ring and the Seville rooms.
Preservation
Prints survive. The Archive copy is a digest.
Notes
- The intertitles call bullfighting brutal. They do not celebrate the ring.
- The outlaw is shot in the same stretch of time as Juan's goring.
- Arzner cut the film. She did not direct it.
- A short version is on the Internet Archive as blood_and_sand_digest.
Scenes
- Doña Sol tells Carmen and the mother.
- Juan reconciles with Carmen as he dies.
Influenced by
- Vicente Blasco Ibáñez's novel Sangre y arena (1908)
- Thomas Cushing's play Blood and Sand
Also available
- Internet Archive (blood_and_sand_digest)
