Blood and Sand

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Blood and Sand
Original Movie Poster
Directed by	Fred Niblo
Produced by	Executive Producer: Jesse L. Lasky Producer: Fred Niblo
Written by	Novel: Vicente Blasco Ibáñez Play: Tom Cushing Scenario: June Mathis
Starring	Rudolph Valentino Lila Lee Nita Naldi Rosa Rosanova Walter Long
Music by	Theatre supplied
Cinematography	Alvin Wyckoff
Editing by	Uncredited: Dorothy Arzner
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date(s)	August 5, 1922
Running time	80 min.
Country	United States
Language	silent film English intertitles
IMDb profile

For the 1941 film, see Blood and Sand (1941 film);for the 1989 film, see Blood and Sand (1989 film)

Blood and Sand (1922) is a silent movie produced by Paramount Pictures, directed by Fred Niblo and starring Rudolph Valentino, Lila Lee, and Nita Naldi. It was based on the Spanish 1909 novel Blood and Sand (Sangre y arena) by Vicente Blasco Ibáñez. There is an earlier version of Blood and Sand (1916), filmed by Blasco Ibáñez himself, with the help of Max André. This earlier version was restored in 1998 by the Filmoteca de la Generalitat Valenciana (Spain).

[edit] Synopsis

Juan Gallardo (Rudolph Valentino), a village boy born into poverty, grows up to become one of the greatest matadors in Spain. He marries a friend from his childhood, the beautiful and virtuous Carmen (Lila Lee), but after he achieves fame and fortune he finds himself drawn to Doña Sol (Nita Naldi), a wealthy, seductive widow. They embark on a torrid affair with rather sadomasochistic overtones, but Juan, feeling guilty over his betrayal of Carmen, tries to free himself of Doña Sol. Furious at being rejected, she exposes their affair to Carmen and Juan's mother, seemingly destroying his marriage. Growing more and more miserable and dissipated, Juan becomes reckless in the arena. He is eventually killed in a bullfight but does manage to reconcile with Carmen moments before he dies.

There is also a subplot involving a local outlaw whose career is paralleled to Juan's throughout the film by the village philosopher: Juan's fatal injury in the bullring comes moments after the outlaw is shot by the police.

Blood and Sand proved very successful at the box office. It was the source of legendary football player Johnny "Blood" McNally's nickname - he started playing professional under an alias to protect his remaining college eligibility. He and a friend passed a theater where Blood and Sand was playing. Suddenly, McNally exclaimed to his friend: "That's it. You be Sand. I'll be Blood", playing his Hall of Fame career under the name "Johnny Blood"[1]

The film was parodied in 1922 by Stan Laurel in Mud and Sand and in 1924 by Will Rogers in the Hal Roach short film Big Moments From Little Pictures.

[edit] Remakes

Blood and Sand has been remade twice:

• The 1941 version was directed by Rouben Mamoulian and starred Tyrone Power, Linda Darnell, and Rita Hayworth.
• The 1989 Spanish remake was directed by Javier Elorrieta and starred Chris Rydell, Sharon Stone, and Ana Torrent.

[edit] External links

• Blood and Sand at the Internet Movie Database

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