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Blood and Sand (1922)
American silent drama.
A toreador’s (Rudolph Valentino) family and social life is threatened when he has an affair.
Blood and Sand, along with The Sheik and Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (both 1921), helped to establish Valentino as a star and was one of the most successful films of his career.
Recently introduced laws protecting the safety of animals meant that it was impossible to shoot footage of a real bullfight. Stock footage is used instead.
The film’s editor was Dorothy Arzner, who would later go on to become Hollywood’s first female director. Arzner impressed the producers by cannily interspersing stock bull-fighting footage with shots of Rudolph Valentino to make it look like the actor was actually in the ring with real bulls. This was quite a progressive technique in its day.
The film gave its name to a popular Prohibition-era cocktail.
| Directed by | Fred Niblo |
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| Screenplay by | June Mathis |
| Based on | The novel Blood and Sand by Vicente Blasco Ibáñez and the play by Thomas Cushing |
| Produced by | Fred Niblo (uncredited) Jesse L. Lasky |
| Starring | Rudolph Valentino Lila Lee Nita Naldi Rosa Rosanova Walter Long |
| Cinematography | Alvin Wyckoff |
| Edited by | Dorothy Arzner (uncredited) |
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Production
company |
Famous Players–Lasky Paramount Pictures
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| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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80 minutes 9 reels (8,110 feet) |
| Country | United States |
| Languages | Silent English intertitles |
| Box office | $1,250,000 (US/Canada) |
