It's difficult to evaluate a silent film from the standpoint of present day because you never know what elements besides restoration have been added to enhance the original. In my case, the version of "Blood and Sand" I watched was the 109 minute Kino print with an updated score provided by Rodney Sauer and Susan Hall, and performed by the Mont Alto Picture Orchestra. Most of the picture was in black and white, but when I decided to take specific note, it was the outdoor scenes in B&W while indoor scenes were rendered in a brown sepia tone. There was a segment also done in a more reddish sepia flavor midway through the picture that wasn't repeated.

This was my first look at the famed Valentino. I'd always heard his name mentioned while growing up but never got to see any of his work until today. First impression was that he was the George Clooney of his era, very handsome and a good choice as a matinee idol. His character in the film however came across as cocky, arrogant and brash, and to top it off, he was a womanizer who fell in love with two ladies, his wife Carmen (Lila Lee),and a seductive temptress named Doña Sol (Nita Naldi). The story traces the progress of Juan Gallardo (Valentino) from an apprentice bull fighter of sorts, up to a skilled and eventually famous matador after some two years of triumph in the bull ring. There's a coterie of support personnel around Juan who track his progress along with him, who show a degree of disfavor when he becomes involved with Doña Sol.

One of the things that struck me while watching was the fact that for a film made in 1922, there appeared to be fairly liberal use of even earlier stock footage for such things as crowd scenes and some of the bullfight sequences. Who would have thought? I also wasn't quite prepared for something the present day Me Too Movement would find particularly outrageous. In the latter part of the story, as Doña Sol seduces Juan and the Cleopatra ring changes hands, she passionately intones "Some day you will beat me with those strong hands. I should like to know what it feels like". Yikes, no wonder Juan wound up calling her a 'Serpent From Hell'!

As far as silent films go, I didn't find this one to be particularly exceptional aside from the unusual backdrop of Spanish bullfighting. When I enter this title in a list of silent movies I've seen and rank it in IMDb ranking order, it comes out at #23 out of 32 movies (as I write this). For me, the bonus was seeing Rudolph Valentino for the first time, while the Kino compilation I saw offered a Will Rogers parody of "Blood and Sand" in which Rogers takes on the Valentino role and successfully 'wins' his fight against the bull. As the camera pulls away, a handful of attendants are shown, visibly restraining the bull with a set of ropes. Done as a silent also, Rogers gets to mention via title card that "Yes, these bull fight scenes are always more or less dangerous".

BLOOD AND SAND is one of those rare movies where the remake is actually much better--and this isn't because the remake was a sound movie and this one was silent. The problem is that the original Valentino film was a very traditional morality play that tried to please the more conservative film viewer of the day and ended up being rather heavy-handed and lacked depth. So, despite this being a film by America's most loved male sex symbol of the day, it is very pro-family and discusses the evils of extramarital affairs in a very obvious and superficial manner (the remake is slower paced and less preachy). This is odd, by the way, when you compare this film with two of Valentino's other famous performances. In THE SHIEK, there is a lot of sexual tension and the film is pretty racy for its day, as was THE FOUR HORSEMEN OF THE APOCALYPSE (which even included some nudity). It really is interesting how none of these films represent the average viewer--the movie is either anti-sex (like BLOOD AND SAND) or very pro-sex (like the other two). A truly interesting dichotomy.

Juan is the son of a poor widow in Seville. Against his mother's wishes he pursues a career as toreador. He rapidly gains national prominence, and takes his childhood sweetheart Carmen as his bride. He meets the Marquis' daughter Dona Sol, and finds himself in the awkward position of being in love with two women, which threatens the stability of his family and his position in society.

Dorothy Arzner worked as the film's editor. Arnzer used stock footage of bullfights filmed in Madrid interspersed with close-ups of Valentino. Her work on the film helped to solidify her reputation of being a resourceful editor as her techniques also saved Paramount money. She would later say that working on the film was the "first waymark to my claim to a little recognition as an individual." What strikes me about that is how "stock footage" existed by the early 1920s. How was there already footage of various things without copyright? Or perhaps there was copyright, but a fee to use it was small? This just seems strange, and yet it is apparently true.