King of the toreros

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Movie
German title King of the toreros
Original title Blood and Sand
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1941
length 124 minutes
Rod
Director Rouben Mamoulian
script Jo Swerling
production Darryl F. Zanuck
music Alfred Newman
camera Ernest Palmer ,
Ray Rennahan
cut Robert Bischoff
occupation
synchronization

King of the Toreros (Original Title: Blood and Sand ) is an American drama directed by Rouben Mamoulian from 1941 with Tyrone Power , Linda Darnell and Rita Hayworth in the lead roles. The novel Bloody Arena ( Sangre y arena , 1908) by Vicente Blasco Ibáñez , which has already been filmed several times, served as a literary model .

action

The young Juan Gallardo dreams of becoming a celebrated bullfighter like his late father . He talks about his father with the critic Natalio Curro. This conversation leads him to leave his hometown Seville and travel to Madrid to train as a torero . He promises his childhood friend Carmen Espinosa that he will return as a successful bullfighter and marry her.

After ten years, Juan returns to Seville. With his bonuses as a torero, he now supports his impoverished family. He builds his mother a splendid house, gives his sister Encarnacion and her fiancé Antonio money for the upcoming wedding and hires the beggar Garabato, a former bullfighter, as a servant. Now he can, as promised, marry Carmen.

Over time, Juan became the most respected bullfighter in Spain . Curro, who previously panned him, is also full of praise and even describes himself as the discoverer of Juan. His fame finally made the aristocratic Doña Sol des Muire aware of him. Juan's mother warns her son to be careful not to end up like his father, but Juan continues to believe in his luck. The increasing fame blinds him and he comes increasingly under the influence of the seductive Doña Sol. He soon neglected his family, his wife and his job in order to enjoy the lavish and decadent life to the fullest.

As a result of his antics, his martial arts suffered noticeably and his star began to decline. With his fame fading, his alleged friends are now giving him the cold shoulder. His wife Carmen leaves him when she learns of his affair with Doña Sol, while she now turns to the rising matador Manolo de Palma. When Juan remorsefully asks Carmen for forgiveness, Carmen accepts him again. Determined to change his life, he needs one last bullfight to prove to himself again that he is still the best bullfighter in Spain. But like his father, Juan is impaled by the bull. He dies in Carmen's arms while the crowd celebrates Manolo, the new star of the arena, after his victory over the bull in ecstasy.

background

prehistory

King of the Toreros is an adaptation of the novel Bloody Arena by the Iberian writer Vicente Blasco Ibáñez , which he published in 1908 and filmed himself in Spain in 1917 . A silent film version entitled Blood and Sand gave screen hero Rudolph Valentino one of his greatest roles as the bullfighter Juan Gallardo in 1922 . 1940 was the studio head of 20th Century Fox , Darryl F. Zanuck , the idea to buy the rights to the material and a remake of Blood and Sand to turn after the audience had begun its biggest male star Tyrone Power to compare Valentino . The strict censorship of the Hays Code, however, prevented the production from re-recording some scenes from the older film version, especially those that showed the seductive Doña Sol too freely.

Occupation of the Doña Sol

The role of Doña Sol was much sought-after among Hollywood actresses. The first choice was Hedy Lamarr , but MGM refused to loan her to 20th Century Fox. After that, a number of other beauties were tested, including Gene Tierney , Betty Grable , Jane Russell , Dorothy Lamour and María Montez . Then it was said that Carole Landis should play the vamp. But director Rouben Mamoulian finally decided on the then 22-year-old Rita Hayworth , who had to be loaned for the filming of Columbia Pictures . Mamoulian enthused, “The moment I saw Rita Hayworth running, I knew I had found my Doña Sol. She was a dancer, so of course I expected her to move gracefully, but it was more than that - a feline way of walking that was subtle and implied - just as I had envisioned Doña Sol. I have to admit, she exceeded my expectations and I wasn't in the least surprised when she would later become one of the great screen goddesses. "

King of the Toreros was Hayworth's first color film and catapulted her into the top ranks of Hollywood stars of the 1940s. Gracilla Pirraga synchronized her singing on the guitar for the Spanish song Verde Luna (German: "Green Moon"). However, Hayworth's dancing talent came into play in her Paso Doble with Anthony Quinn , in which she is led by Quinn in a pink dress like the Muleta, the red cloth of a torero. The choreographer and Hayworth longtime friend Hermes Pan said: "At first I thought it was Tyrone Powers and Linda Darnell's movie because he was the star and Linda stood at the Fox under contract, but arrived as Rita, she was like pure dynamite. You can hardly imagine the enthusiasm when we first saw the footage. "

Filming

The outdoor shots, such as B. the bullring was filmed in Mexico City . There Mamoulian hired the later western director Budd Boetticher as technical advisor for Tyrone Power's bullfighting scenes. Boetticher later recalled: “I showed Tyrone Power how to use the red rag, but he never really got close to the bull. He wanted to, but the studio wouldn't let him. They said he was too important a star. ”To ensure that the clothing was also true to the original, tailor Jose Dolores Perez made exact replicas of two matador suits for the celebrated bullfighter Francisco Gómez Delgado for Tyrone Power.

Visual style

Rouben Mamoulian, the director of Vanity Fair (1935), the first full-length film in the revolutionary 3-color Technicolor process, had not made a color film since then. He became all the more ambitious when directing King of the Toreros gave him the opportunity to revolutionize Technicolor film again. To this end, he based the equipment and the general color compositions of the film on the paintings of famous Spanish painters. "Instead of just filming the story, I tried to paint it," he said later. The opening sequences, which tell the story of Juan Gallardo's childhood, correspond to Murillo's dark but warm brown tones . The market scenes are shaped by Joaquín Sorolla's characteristic play of light and shadow. In the bullring, on the other hand, Goya's splendid red and yellow predominate as symbolic references to “blood” and “sand”. For the design of the chapel, Mamoulian El Grecos chose typically dark green and blue tones that herald the death of the hero. The imposing house of the noble Doña Sol is kept in cool black and white à la Velázquez , who also immortalized a femme fatale of his time - the size of a Doña Sol - with his painting The Lady with the Fan .

In the event that Mamoulian did not like the colors of a filming location, several spray cans with different colors were available on the respective sets so that repairs could be made spontaneously. His efforts and close collaboration with cameramen Ernest Palmer and Ray Rennahan would later pay off when the film won the Oscar for Best Camera / Color and another nomination for Best Production Design / Color .

reception

publication

The film, unusually, never had a screening in front of a test audience, as 20th Century Fox boss Darryl F. Zanuck thought it was the greatest movie he had ever seen. His enthusiasm was confirmed when the drama, which premiered in May 1941 at Grauman's Chinese Theater, proved to be one of the studio's biggest box office hits of the year. Nevertheless, director Mamoulian was rather surprised by the success of the film: “I had never been to Spain before and although we also shot scenes in Mexico City, I wasn't sure whether I had actually captured an authentically Spanish flair until I finally got a lot Years later traveled to Spain. I was more than pleased to discover that it looked exactly as the Spanish masters had painted it and that it was exactly as I had imagined. The people in Spain who saw and liked the film couldn't believe that I had never visited this country before it was shot. "

In the year of the premiere, a film parody by the Mexican comedian Cantinflas was released under the title Ni sangre ni arena (English: "Neither blood nor sand"), which also dealt with bullfighting.

Reviews

For the lexicon of international film , the king of the toreros was "[a] n vividly and dramatically portrayed, lavishly decorated, superbly photographed, with a sensitive sense of composition". The Hollywood Reporter attested the film at the time "an atmosphere that will cast a spell on any type of audience". Two contributors would stand out - Rita Hayworth and Rouben Mamoulian. For example, Hayworth, "who has already been enthusiastically celebrated for her beauty", shows her performance "a well-defined artistic achievement that will bring her some top-class acting roles". Mamoulian, on the other hand, rose with the film "into the circle of directors of top entertainment and proves himself in a way that will secure this position for him".

Daily Variety called Mamoulian a "playwright and artist in terms of his sense of color" who "adapted the great Ibáñez story for the broad American audience and implemented every element of entertainment with brilliant direction". Hayworth is making "another step forward to a secure position among the stars with high demand". Variety said that Tyrone Power "offers a convincing portrayal as Ibáñez 'hero", "while Darnell appears beautiful and naive as his young wife". Hayworth is "excellent as a vamp" and gets "most of the attention with Nazimova, who delivers a great performance as Powers mother."

All Movie Guide's Dan Friedman described the film in retrospect as "a very good melodrama against the backdrop of the Spanish bullfight". Linda Darnell plays the role of Carmen "in a very reserved way". However, she was "swept off the screen by Rita Hayworth as Dona Sol, to her misfortune". So Friedman said, “Anyone wondering where the Hayworth myth came from should see this movie. Although her role does not arouse sympathy, one cannot take one's eyes off her. "

Awards

At the Academy Awards in 1942 , the two cameramen Ernest Palmer and Ray Rennahan won the Oscar for best camera in a color film, with which King of the Toreros was able to prevail against Mervyn LeRoy's orphan drama Blossoms in the Dust and against the western The Last Bandit . In the category of best production design / color , in which King of the Toreros was also nominated, the bullfighting drama had to admit blossoms in the dust .

German version

The German dubbed version was created in 1950 by Ultra Film Synchron GmbH in Berlin . Edith Schultze-Westrum took over the dialogue book . Alfred Vohrer was in charge of the dubbing .

role actor Voice actor
Juan Gallardo Tyrone Power Curt Ackermann
Carmen Espinoza Linda Darnell Elfie Beyer
Doña Sol des Muire Rita Hayworth Till Klockow
Garabato J. Carrol Naish Bum Kruger

literature

Further film adaptations of the novel

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Gene Ringgold: The Films of Rita Hayworth . Citadel Press, Secaucus 1974, p. 123.
  2. ↑ “The moment I saw Rita Hayworth walk I knew I had my Doña Sol. She was a dancer, so naturally I expected her to be graceful but she had something more than that - a feline sort of movement that was subtle and insinuating - exactly the kind of animation I imagined Doña Sol would posses. I must say she more than fulfilled my expectations. I was not the least surprised when she later became one of the great screen sirens. " Gene Ringgold: The Films of Rita Hayworth . Citadel Press, Secaucus 1974, p. 124.
  3. ↑ “At the time I thought it would be Tyrone Power and Linda Darnell's movie, 'cause he was the star and Linda was under contract to Fox, but when Rita came on she was just dynamite. You couldn't believe the excitement when we saw the rushes. " John Kobal: Rita Hayworth: The Time, The Place and the Woman . WW Norton, New York 1977, pp. 93-94.
  4. ↑ “I showed Tyrone Power how to do the capework but he never actually got near a bull! He wanted to but the studio wouldn't let him. They said he was too valuable a property. " Gene Ringgold: The Films of Rita Hayworth . Citadel Press, Secaucus 1974, p. 123.
  5. ^ "Instead of just photographing the story, I tried to 'paint' it." Gene Ringgold: The Films of Rita Hayworth . Citadel Press, Secaucus 1974, p. 123.
  6. ↑ John Kobal: Rita Hayworth: The Time, The Place and the Woman . WW Norton, New York 1977, p. 89.
  7. ↑ John Kobal: Rita Hayworth: The Time, The Place and the Woman . WW Norton, New York 1977, p. 94.
  8. ↑ “I had never been to Spain and although we actually did some filming in Mexico City, I was never really sure I had captured a true Spanish authenticity until I actually went to Spain many years later. I was most pleased to discover it looked exactly the way the Spanish masters had painted it and that it was as I had imagined it would be. People in Spain who had seen and loved the film did not believe I had never visited the country before making the film. " Gene Ringgold: The Films of Rita Hayworth . Citadel Press, Secaucus 1974, p. 123.
  9. ↑ Jeffrey M. Pilcher: Catinflas and the chaos of Mexican modernity . Rowman & Littlefield, 2000, pp. 78-79.
  10. ↑ King of the toreros. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed May 25, 2019 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  11. ↑ “There is a mood about this blood and sand that will rock any audience to enthusiastic heights […]. To us there were two standouts - Rita Hayworth and Rouben Mamoulian. In her performance, Miss Hayworth, who has been wildly cheered for her beauty, comes through with a well-defined artistry that must win for her some of the top acting roles. […] In Blood and Sand [Mamoulian] moves up into the circle of top entertainment directors and moves in a manner that asures him of holding that position. " The Hollywood Reporter quoted. after Gene Ringgold: The Films of Rita Hayworth . Citadel Press, Secaucus 1974, p. 124.
  12. ↑ “Mamoulian, dramatist and artist in his sense of color, has translated the great Ibáñez tale to the level of the general American audience for widest appeal and has capped every entertainment element with brilliant direction. [...] Miss Hayworth takes another stride toward her assured position among the stars-in-demand. " Daily Variety cit. after Gene Ringgold: The Films of Rita Hayworth . Citadel Press, Secaucus 1974, p. 124.
  13. ↑ “Power delivers a persuasive performance as Ibáñez's hero while Darnell is pretty and naive as the young wife. Hayworth is excellent as the vamp and catches major attention on a par with Nazimova, who gives a corking performance as Power's mother. ” See Blood and Sand . In: Variety , 1941.
  14. ↑ “ Blood and Sand is a very good melodrama with the romantic backdrop of Spanish bullfighting. […] Linda Darnell plays Carmen in a very low-key manner […]. Unfortunately for her, she's blown off the screen by Rita Hayworth as Dona Sol. Anyone who wonders where the Hayworth legend comes from should see this film. Even though her character is not one to root for, you can't take your eyes off her. " Dan Friedman, cf. omovie.com
  15. ↑ cf. synchrondatenbank.de