Mud and Sand
“If you want to live long — and be happy — cut out the bull!”
About Mud and Sand
Rhubarb Vaseline is sent for flour and comes back dragging the sack. He and Sapo queue for matador jobs. Don Sox and Don Pedro leave on stretchers. Sapo does no better. Rhubarb calls himself Don Vaseline, throws bulls over the gate, and is carried through town a hero. He meets school friend Caramel, gets a rose dipped in black paint, and is invited to Madrid. Two years later the city still cheers him. At the Cafe Espagnol he tangos with Filet de Sole and drops dancer Pavaloosky in a fountain. That night Caramel and his mother walk in on him with Filet de Sole. Before the last fight, against a bull that has killed ten men, rivals soak his cape in ether. The bull sleeps. Filet de Sole, who wants him dead for making her take a bath, throws a brick. Attendants pour sand over him. A title says: if you want to live long and be happy, cut out the bull.
Cast & crew
More about Mud and Sand
Gilbert Pratt directed. Broncho Billy Anderson produced. Irving G. Ries photographed. Metro Pictures distributed. The release date on record is 13 November 1922. A general timing is 26 minutes. A longer cut is listed at 39. Stan Laurel is Rhubarb. Wheeler Dryden is Sapo. Julie Leonard is Caramel. Leona Anderson is Filet de Sole. Mae Laurel is Pavaloosky, also called La Paloma. Sam Kaufman is Humador. May Foster is Rhubarb’s mother. The names spoof Blood and Sand, released the same year: Doña Sol becomes Filet de Sole, Carmen becomes Caramel.
Themes
Making
Pratt copies the Valentino plot and hands every grand gesture to Laurel. The bull that should kill the matador falls asleep. The brick comes from the vamp, not the animal.
Look
Irving G. Ries shot the village ring, the Madrid cafe, and the last arena, including the ether-soaked cape and the sand poured over Laurel.
Music
Silent.
Preservation
Prints survive at about 26 minutes, with a longer cut listed at 39.
Notes
- A poster for Mud and Sand turns up in Buster Keaton’s Sherlock Jr. (1924).
- Rhubarb styles his hair with vaseline. A lightning flash leaves a Z in the parting.
- He falls out a window onto the bull while dressing.
- He serenades Caramel, breaks the trellis, and later breaks the balcony.
- An Internet Archive copy is filed as MudandSand.
Scenes
- Rhubarb announces himself as Don Vaseline after Sapo is carried out.
- A black-painted rose and a goat butt greet the new hero.
- He drops Pavaloosky in the fountain during the tango.
- Caramel walks in on Filet de Sole.
- The ether puts the bull to sleep. Filet de Sole’s brick finishes him. Sand covers the body.
Influenced by
- Blood and Sand (1922)
Also available
- Internet Archive (MudandSand)
- Wikimedia Commons (Mud and Sand-silent 0to508.ogv)
Quotes
If you want to live long — and be happy — cut out the bull!
