edwagreen
Even in the ring of criticism of this 1941 film, what's all the shouting about?This is basically a run-of-the mill story that has been greatly over-rated through the years.In my opinion, the film goes downhill rapidly when Juan, Tyrone Power, meets up with Rita Hayworth, who is nothing more than a seductive temptress here.As a young boy, Juan showed his arrogance, his defiance and feelings of superiority. He goes off to Madrid comes home 10 years later, a success, though illiterate. Marrying his childhood sweetheart, Linda Darnell, and having a good life, he throws it all away when he meets up with the Hayward character, essentially a woman who gets bored easily and casts people aside like an old shoe.
weezeralfalfa
I presume the title comes from the last few frames, which focus on a patch of blood, presumably from the bull that matador Manolo(Tony Quinn) supposedly just dispatched, that stains the sandy floor of the arena.An overlong, rather dreary, tale of a poor boy who achieves his dream of becoming recognized as Spain's most popular matador, then allows his life to be completely undone by a heartless superrich femme fatale(Rita Hayworth). Despite being filmed in Technicolor(still rare at this time), and featuring a number of top lead and supporting actors, it's just not much fun nor terribly interesting. It does presumably provide a reasonably authentic snapshot of the world of Spanish bullfighting, and the accompanying party atmosphere. It would seem to belong to the genre of biblical, medieval, or ancient Rome or Egypt-themed spectacles of the '50s and '60s, often with classic tales of a charismatic male leader undone by a heartless vampish or ambitious woman.Not only is the ending a tragedy, most of the main characters come off as either unattractive personalities, sometimes combined with physical beauty, or are miscast. John Carridine: that mainstay of rural America, seems quite out of place, as the friend of lead Juan(Tyrone Power). His death in the arena is one of several strong hints that Juan's death will soon follow. Juan, although he achieves his goal of becoming Spain's most popular matador, comes across as a braggart, bully, illiterate one dimensional fool, and adulterer. Also, his ambition caused his wife and mother much fear of his early death, as happened with his matador father. For about the first quarter of the film, Juan is played by 22nd-billed Rex Downing, who bears little physical resemblance to Tyrone Power, who plays Juan as a young man. Although Power is often described as uncommonly handsome, he can look quite menacing, as often toward the film end. Rita Hayworth, in her first Technicolor film, is portrayed as a snobbish superwealthy femme fatale(Dona Sol), whose only goal in life seems to be to seduce the most handsome celebrity male of the moment, as her 'boy toy', then discard him after his star is fading, for a new 'victim'. I found her character utterly unappealing, often with an arrogant phony-looking smile. Before she met Juan, her 'boy toy' was played by handsome George Reeves: a failed wanna be Hollywood leading man, who later gained fame as Superman, in the original TV series. Near film's end, her next intended 'victim' was Manolo, the new Matador superstar, and former playmate of Juan, who broke with Juan some time ago, jealous of his greater success. Although she played somewhat similar characters in "You Where Never Lovelier", and "My Gal Sal', released the following year, they were much more enjoyable films. If I were Juan, I would have been more than satisfied with the beautiful loyal Carmen(Linda Darnell), not be tempted by a fickle Dona. They definitely should have cast someone less appealing than Linda as Juan's wife, to provide greater contrast with Dona. Actually, Juan seems as attracted to Dona's wealth and playboy lifestyle and influence on the bullfighting business, as by her beauty. He wanted to join her 'jet set', despite his illiteracy and general unsophistication. This led to his neglecting practicing his bull fighting skills, and ultimate death in the arena. It would have been a nice touch if Dona had also experienced a career-shattering fate, as in the case of her equivalents in "The Egyptian", or "Cleopatra".Rotund Laird Cregar shows up every now and then, as the obnoxious loud-mouthed influential bullfighting critic Natalio, who could make or break the reputation of a matador by his newspaper writings and harangues. Cregar plays it well, but again, we have an utterly unlikeable main character. Cregar was much more fun as Gooseberry, with pal Radisson(Paul Muni), in the Canadian wilderness, in "Hudson Bay", filmed that same year.Periodically, there is a traditional Spanish fiesta or music. However, it's nothing exceptional, if you have seen and heard such before. Also, there was very little real comedy. For me, the most humorous scene was when Juan fell asleep to Dona's guitar playing and singing, during their first intimate date. Dona made sure that didn't happen again! Both Juan's mother and wife often prayed to a statue of Our Lady of Hope(one incarnation of the Virgin Mary) before Juan's or Juan's father's performances. She derives from an apparition in the night sky, seen by a variety of village children, but not adults, during the darkest days, for France, of the Franco-Prussian War.I enjoyed some of the films starring Power in the late '30s. But most of his films thereafter I find boring, including "The Sun Also Rises", which also emphasized bull fighting, and "Yank in the RAF", released the same year as this film. This was young Linda's third film with Power.As another reviewer pointed out, most of the actors playing the main roles died or became largely incapacitated well before their time. This includes Power, Rita, Linda, George Reeves and Cregar. The latter died at 31, of a heart attack, following a crash weight loss program and resulting GI surgery, in an effort to escape his cast typing as a heavy heavy.
JLRMovieReviews
Director Rouben Mamoulian gives this story grade A treatment, giving it pizazz and grace, zest and beauty, with realism and a larger-than-life view of the world of the matadors and bullfighting. Despite the big names in this film, the movie itself takes center stage. It also shows just who the beast in the stadium is, and it's not the bull nor the matador.Tyrone Power, Linda Darnell, Rita Hayworth, Anthony Quinn, J. Carroll Naish, and John Carradine are all good, but Nazimova is truly moving as Ty's mother, and Quinn and Hayworth have a very memorable dance number together. Quinn, in a way, has more presence and chutzpah, than Ty, despite Ty's looks, In fact, Ty's fast living must have been catching up with him, as he looks like he's aging quick here in this film.If you like Spain and the deadly sport of bullfighting, then this should be down your alley, even with some time off for some love and romance.
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.
