moonspinner55 Vicente Blasco Ibanez's novel "Sangre y arena", first filmed as a silent with Rudolph Valentino in 1922, gets the most prestigious treatment 20th Century-Fox could deliver, complete with Spanish music adornments, gorgeous color photography, and some outdoor locations which could certainly pass for Spain. Young boy growing up without a father dreams of becoming a matador, sneaks out at night to practice in a neighboring bullring; there he meets his future wife (the good girl), whom he throws over post-success for a fickle aristocrat (the bad girl). It's all fairly predictable, with a lackluster, by-the-numbers build-up to the inevitable conclusion. In a lazy case like this, certainly the costumes and local color should suffice--but with such an inert storyline, attention is more focused upon the performances given by Tyrone Power, Linda Darnell, and Rita Hayworth, which are uneven at best. Supporting cast (including the interesting Laird Cregar, playing a sort of bullfighter's critic full of hot air and flattery) is overtly-colorful and animated (particularly during the fight sequences), making Power's protagonist seem even more one-dimensional. *1/2 from ****

gazzo-2 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 ****

caa821 Tyrone Power, as handsome as any star in history, with a magnetic screen presence is, however, about as believable in the role of a Spanish bullfighter as Oliver Hardy or Buster Keaton. Rita Hayworth gnaws the scenery like a horde of beavers, but she would be pleasurable to watch just eating a chicken wing. Linda Darnell is so long-suffering she'd depress Norman Bates. Finally Anthony Quinn (and not for the last time in his career), seems to have imbibed a gallon of coffee and taken a handful of downers at the same time, and is undergoing a battle as to which will prevail directing his demeanor.Hayworth and Quinn's paso doble is excellent to watch, yet so "over-the-top" at the same time - but neither of them ever were strangers to "over-the-top." But because, rather in spite of, these aspects, the film is thoroughly enjoyable, and the plot is true to the classic. All of these mannerisms from the cast are outstanding examples of earlier, overdrawn movie drama, from its inception into the 1950's. They provide an added dimension when seeing again films such as this - providing a nostalgic view of this earlier genre, as well as the famous stars of the past.

Deusvolt Even as at a tender age, I found the dialog in this movie pedestrian, mundane and even idiotic. I'll never forget the line Tyrone Power mouthed as the successful toreador who clawed his way to the top: "Now I don't have to ask the price of anything I want to buy" (or something to that effect). Well I have seen millionaires haggle to the last penny and that's how they became millionaires.Sometime towards the end, the makers of the movie inexplicably and without provocation, delivers a punch against Catholicism and feminism. How? By putting lines into the mouth of Tyrone's mother that only befits a bible thumping hack and bigot. Urged by one of the minor characters to pray to the La Virgen de la Macarena for her son's deliverance, the bullfighter's mother said something like: "I don't pray to her anymore. She is but a woman. I now pray to Him!" These lines delivered in an acting style typical of an actress in a zarzuela on a provincial tour.