Review of Blood and Sand

Tyrone Power plays a famous, now-deceased bullfighter's son who also goes on to become a famous bullfighter, along the way mistreating his wife and friends as he becomes arrogant. It's a basic story you've seen in movies such as "Citizen Kane"(1941) and "All the King's Men"(1949), but with its own expected variations. The film has a tendency to drag, and Power's love scenes with Rita Hayworth are so corny. Linda Darnell as Power's wife, John Carradine as Power's bullfighting friend, and Anthony Quinn as a bullfighting friend-turned rival all turn in fine performances. There is, some great music. Aside from these technical issues, the story/script of the film is good, but could have been better. Power's character should have been fleshed out much more, and the bright Academy Award-winning cinematography has a tendency to badly contrast the darker story elements, which themselves should have been focused on much more. What could have a been a great multi-character study and study on how Power's decisions affects others instead is presented as an entertaining, brightly-colored drama/romance--not bad, but not the 4 star film it had the ability to be. I'd still recommend it, though, because it does entertain and manage to show some of the character study-elements, albeit not as much as I wish it had.