When it comes to Blood and Sand (1922), I like Valentino's sensual, sensitive performance as the ill-fated matador and Nita Naldi is fun, if a little over-the-top, as his evil mistress, but this film is too preachy, undercutting the tragedy of the story. I also feel there's a misogynistic undercurrent, where women are sorted in the ingénue/vamp dichotomy (Nita Naldi is the wicked woman who enjoys sex and lures Valentino away from Lila Lee, his innocent and sexually modest wife) and men are expected to have "a good love and a bad love."
Still, the production values are nice and this is one of Valentino's better performances, a step up from his kitschy Wile E. Coyote histrionics in The Sheik (1921). And yet still, I'd rather watch The Sheik over this, as it's a lot more fun. Blood and Sand is a drag.
Still, the production values are nice and this is one of Valentino's better performances, a step up from his kitschy Wile E. Coyote histrionics in The Sheik (1921). And yet still, I'd rather watch The Sheik over this, as it's a lot more fun. Blood and Sand is a drag.