CLICK, June 1941
?Tyrone Power Shatters the
Valentino Myth with Blood and Sand"

Mayhem was committed on a myth last month at the Westwood studios of Twentieth Century-Fox when tall, laconic, cigar-loving Rouben Mamoulian-Hollywood?s only Armenian director-put the finishing touches to his Technicolor production of Blood and Sand. The Blasco Ibanez epic of the bullring was one of the greatest starring vehicles of the immortal Rudolph Valentino, a picture that caused one of the sensational cinematic stirs of the early twenties. Not only did Mamoulian remake Blood and Sand with the most un-Latin Tyrone Power as Juan Gallardo, the toreador-he also guided young Mr. Power through a performance far and above anything the earlier Juan Gallardo ever did on screen.

When the Mamoulian-Power version of Blood and Sand reaches the American audiences, those who still feel that Valentino could never be replaced are in for a rude shock. It would surprise them even more to learn that in August, 1922, not all the reviewers were taken in by Valentino-despite his tremendous pull at the boxoffice. The weekly Variety, then as now Broadway?s Bible, sneered: ?The character called for more delicate treatment than Valentino could give. He was just a bewildered simpleton who made his gaudy clothes ridiculous.? Although it is a much better picture, the new version of Blood and Sand may not be the financial jackpot the earlier one was. It is simply that the times have changed.

The Blasco Ibanez novel, Blood and Sand, was first filmed in a Spanish version by the author in 1919. His own production, like Paramount?s three years later, did not faithfully follow the book. By any standards, Valentino?s performance was a ghastly joke-a fact which was recognized by very few critics in 1922. Despite the few scoffers like Variety?s critic, Blood and Sand was a very successful picture, what with Valentino as the box office attraction, and a supporting cast with stars like Lila Lee and Nita Naldi.

Neither Tyrone Power nor his director, Rouben Mamoulian, tried to emulate Valentino in 20th Century Fox?s Blood and Sand. Instead, in the present picture which is laid in 1931-32 and predicts the Spanish Civil War, they have worked out a modern characterization which gives zest, adventure and sparkle to the new film, and avoids the emotional exaggeration of the old one. The cast includes Linda Darnell, John Carradine, Rita Hayworth and Nazimova. To top it all, Blood and Sand is filmed in Technicolor.