Reviews of silent film releases on home video. Copyright © 1999-2024 by Carl Bennett and the Silent Era Company. All Rights Reserved.

Blood and Sand (1922)

Rudolph Valentino stars in his first blockbuster film since The Sheik (1921). His performance as Juan Gallardo, the hero of Vicente Blasco-Ibáñez’s bullfighting novel, is bright and moving. It is only when he must register emasculation that Valentino resorts to the hackneyed whipped-dog performance of averted eyes and drooped shoulders. A number times in the film the famous Valentino smile is present to sway audiences of adoring and swooning fans, even now as then.

Lovely Nita Naldi is her seductive best as Doña Sol, a dark beauty with her own dazzling smile and mysteriously beautiful eyes. Lila Lee is a pretty, virginal saint in her role as Carmen, Juan’s loving wife. Yeoman actor Leo White (of Charles Chaplin’s 1915 Essanay comedies) plays Juan’s sycophant brother-in-law, Antonio, with exaggerated and self-conscious hamminess.

The only character in the film that should have fallen under the editor’s scissors was the town philosopher, Don Joselito (Charles Belcher), a pompously moralizing twit (whose genesis was probably in the Ibáñez novel) who is the film’s unnecessary choral voice.

There is a moment in the film that is actually quite funny, and that is when Juan cannot figure out what Doña Sol’s servant is all about. Valentino’s reaction takes are to be savored.

The film itself is less a film about bullfighting and more a tragic love triangle story, a story consistent with the expectations of Valentino’s 1922 audience.

— Carl Bennett

This Blu-ray Disc edition has been scanned at 4K high-resolution from an excellent 35mm print from the Paul Killiam collection, with sections of 35mm film elements preserved by the Cinémathèque Française and the EYE Filmmuseum. The film has been color-tinted according to instructions in the 1922 continuity script.

The film is accompanied by an excellent music score compiled and arranged by Rodney Sauer and performed by The Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra.

The edition’s supplemental features includes audio commentary by film historian Anthony Slide; a booklet essay by Donna Hill, author of Rudolph Valentino: The Silent Idol; a filmed introduction by Orson Welles from a 1970s television series; an original theatrical trailer; footage of Valentino’s funeral procession; a parody film starring Will Rogers; and an audio recording of the love theme, “You Gave Me Your Heart” performed by Susan Rogers. Kino Lorber extends their special thanks to the Margaret Herrick Library, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, David Pierce and Ken Winokur.

This Blu-ray Disc is our recommended home video edition of Blood and Sand.

USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Regions ABC Blu-ray Disc edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Regions ABC NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.

The film is accompanied by a music score compiled and arranged by Rodney Sauer, which is performed by The Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra.

The edition’s supplemental features includes audio commentary by film historian Anthony Slide; a booklet essay by Donna Hill, author of Rudolph Valentino: The Silent Idol; a filmed introduction by Orson Welles from a 1970s television series; an original theatrical trailer; footage of Valentino’s funeral procession; a parody film starring Will Rogers; and an audio recording of the love theme, “You Gave Me Your Heart” performed by Susan Rogers. Kino Lorber extends their special thanks to the Margaret Herrick Library, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, David Pierce and Ken Winokur.

This is our recommended DVD home video edition of Blood and Sand.

USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.

Tremendous! That is how we describe this DVD edition of Rudolph Valentino in Blood and Sand (1922) in a word. The combination of an improved video transfer of great source materials, with great music and extras, makes a great home video edition of one of the silent era’s perennially cherished films.

We had intended to compare this new Kino DVD edition to the old Kino laserdisc edition from 1991, but within the first ten minutes of the film there were so many shots and intertitles missing in the laserdisc edition (with one shot completely out of proper order) we threw up our hands in frustration! Instead, we chose to compare the Kino DVD to the fairly complete Paul Killiam print on the Republic Pictures Home Video laserdisc of 1991, with its blurry over-cropped image and muffled piano score performed by William Perry. The laserdisc editions from Kino and Republic were both transferred from what appear to be 16mm reduction prints.

This new video transfer from a 35mm negative has very-good to sometimes excellent image detail and a broad range of greytones, with light to moderate scuffing, speckling and other emulsion damage. At times apparent breaks in the filmstock and splices are visible for an instant. The DVD image is cropped a smidgen tighter than the old Kino laserdisc. The DVD transfer runs a little slower than that of both laserdiscs and is now closer to a natural pace. The negative is worn but the increased image detail over previous editions makes this new transfer quite watchable. Our reevaluation on high-definition equipment, upscaling the standard NTSC signal to full HD, reconfirms our original grading of the disc, with the standard definition video transfer just a little softer than a high-definition transfer (downscaled for DVD release) would have been.

This new Kino edition includes shots that are not in the Killiam/Republic edition. They are: an extended main credits shot complete with the Paramount logo over the bullfighter’s cape; the “We spread our capes for your amusement and most generous alms!” intertitle before the first bullfight; an extended sequence of shots at Carmen’s window when Juan gives her a pendant in the ‘Eating Iron’ scene; and the extended scene with Doña Sol before Juan goes downstairs to talk with Plumitas at Rinconada. The total additional footage may only last less than two minutes, but it is highly desirable to collectors and historians.

An extended sequence in the DVD edition, beginning after the “How fickle the world . . .” intertitle and finishing approximately with a shot of Juan snubbed by Doña Sol and another shot of Carmen praying, was — for some unknown reason — resequenced in the prints utilized for the laserdisc editions. Those shots of Carmen, Antonio and Don Joselito arriving at the arena were edited among later shots of Juan in the arena to intercut the action, creating a concurrent timeline between the actions of Juan and Carmen. This could be the surviving result of some reedited theatrical rerelease print from the 1920s. The shot order in the DVD edition of this sequence makes far more sense and (we think) accurately represents the editorial continuity of the original prints.

This new Kino edition features a fantastic music score compiled and arranged by Rodney Sauer. The contemporary score was performed by The Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra and was well recorded in clear stereo sound in 2001. The score is in turns lively and somber, following the direction of the original 1922 musical cue sheets. Notes by Sauer lists information (title, composer and year of publication) about each composition utilized in the compiled score. Each piece of music selected was published before the film premiered, with the sole exception of an improvised guitar break accompanying Valentino’s flamenco dance. The musical performance is, overall, very pleasing and is another fine example of how silent film accompaniment should be handled on home video.

The disc supplements include an introduction by Orson Welles for Blood and Sand that has been cut together with an introduction from another Valentino film, both transferred from what appear to be 16mm prints and showing exerpts from Eyes of Youth (1919), The Eagle (1925), a Will Rogers parody of The Sheik and more; an original trailer for Blood and Sand; a Blood and Sand parody from Will Rogers’ Big Moments from Little Pictures (1924) from an excellent 35mm print with some quickly-passing decomposition; newsreel footage of Valentino’s funeral; an audio performance of the love theme to Blood and Sand, “You Gave Me Your Heart,” with vocal by Susan Rogers and piano by Rodney Sauer; a 1922 essay on Ibáñez and his novel Sangre y Arena by Isaac Goldberg (which we think is set in a type size that is a little small for televisions); a couple of items from Photoplay magazine of “dubious authenticity” collected under the title “Valentino ‘Speaks’”; and the notes on the compiled music score.

This DVD is such an improvement over previous home video editions of Blood and Sand on all fronts that we highly recommend this new edition to everyone.

USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
This Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition has been discontinued and is . . .

The film is accompanied by a vintage music score composed and performed on piano by William P. Perry.

This Region 0 Blu-ray Disc (BD-R) edition is available directly from . . .

The film is accompanied by a vintage music score composed and performed on piano by William P. Perry.

This Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is available directly from . . .

This DVD edition of Blood and Sand has been transferred full-frame at a natural speed from a 16mm reduction print, that is in turns reasonably clear then highly-speckled, flat then contrasty. Also evident in the soft print is a light amount of frame jitters, dust, scratches and emulsion scuffing. This source print is identical in its reedited continuity to the print utilized for the laserdisc edition from Republic that is noted above. There is evidence that many of the available prints of the film originate from the same surviving nitrate print, and so have many common flaws.

The film is accompanied by a new music score performed on synthesizers by Paul David Bergel. A number of musical transitions follow scene changes and simply fade out, then starting another recording. Some of the music has apparently been composed for this film but the fade-out editing gives the score a generically compiled feeling. We, again, applaud low-budget home video producer Alpha Video for paying for any kind of custom music score to accompany their low-cost editions of silent films, but are disappointed that the results are not more engaging.

We do not recommend this edition since it pales in comparison to the Kino edition reviewed above. However, if you are collecting on a tight budget, this contrasty edition is marginally watchable.

This Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is available directly from . . .

The film is likely accompanied by a soundtrack compiled from preexisting recordings.

USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.

The film is likely accompanied by a soundtrack compiled from preexisting recordings.

USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.

All of the films in the collection have previously appeared on DVD in high-quality editions.

USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
This Region 0 NTSC DVD edition has been discontinued and is . . .

The film is accompanied by a music score (with low-fidelity sound effects that are ridiculous at times) performed on upright piano by an uncredited musician (perhaps Keith Taylor?). Pretty amateurish altogether.

USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
This Region 0 NTSC DVD edition has been discontinued and is . . .

North American collectors will need a region-free PAL DVD player capable of outputting an NTSC-compatible signal to view this edition.

United Kingdom: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 2 PAL DVD edition from Amazon.co.uk. Support Silent Era.

The film is likely accompanied by a soundtrack compiled from preexisting recordings.

USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.