Beautiful imagery and a good-looking cast, but a formulaic plot, one-dimensional characters, and a runtime which is about 30 minutes too long. In a nutshell, a matador (Tyrone Power) rises to fame, gets married to his childhood sweetheart (Linda Darnell), but has trouble remaining faithful when he locks eyes with a femme fatale (Rita Hayworth).
I'm a fan of director Rouben Mamoulian, and he really takes advantage of the movie being in color, with many of the scenes having a vibrant, opulent feel to them. I also liked the flamenco music and dancing, even though Hayworth's number was obviously dubbed and didn't seem to suit her. It was great seeing a couple of film greats in supporting roles at the opposite ends of their careers - Alla Nazimova at 62, and Anthony Quinn at 26. I also liked how bullfighting, which is a pretty barbarous sport if you ask me, gets at least at least a little bit of criticism here, though unfortunately not much from the animal's perspective; we see the bloodlust of the fans, how fickle they are, and the ultimate fate of many who dare to fight bulls for a living.
On the downside, while Darnell is easy on the eyes, her 'stand by my man' moments and little spiel at the end were nauseatingly sweet, and they certainly didn't seem honest. The choice Power has between saint and seductress is so tired, and the way this is played out here is poor even by the trope's standard. It's just a shame that some of the energy that went into the sharpness of the visuals wasn't channeled into sharpness in storytelling; among other things, the arc that takes us from headstrong boy to top bullfighter is tedious. Lastly, Mamoulian uses too much foreshadowing in an already simple story, and goes once too often to the well of putting a large crucifix in the background of his shots.
Watch it for those swirling capes, the architecture, the fabrics, the music; watch it for whoever you may be attracted to - the incomparable Rita Hayworth, Power and Quinn in their tight outfits, or Darnell, who was just 17 when the film was released ... and hey, maybe that will be enough for you.
I'm a fan of director Rouben Mamoulian, and he really takes advantage of the movie being in color, with many of the scenes having a vibrant, opulent feel to them. I also liked the flamenco music and dancing, even though Hayworth's number was obviously dubbed and didn't seem to suit her. It was great seeing a couple of film greats in supporting roles at the opposite ends of their careers - Alla Nazimova at 62, and Anthony Quinn at 26. I also liked how bullfighting, which is a pretty barbarous sport if you ask me, gets at least at least a little bit of criticism here, though unfortunately not much from the animal's perspective; we see the bloodlust of the fans, how fickle they are, and the ultimate fate of many who dare to fight bulls for a living.
On the downside, while Darnell is easy on the eyes, her 'stand by my man' moments and little spiel at the end were nauseatingly sweet, and they certainly didn't seem honest. The choice Power has between saint and seductress is so tired, and the way this is played out here is poor even by the trope's standard. It's just a shame that some of the energy that went into the sharpness of the visuals wasn't channeled into sharpness in storytelling; among other things, the arc that takes us from headstrong boy to top bullfighter is tedious. Lastly, Mamoulian uses too much foreshadowing in an already simple story, and goes once too often to the well of putting a large crucifix in the background of his shots.
Watch it for those swirling capes, the architecture, the fabrics, the music; watch it for whoever you may be attracted to - the incomparable Rita Hayworth, Power and Quinn in their tight outfits, or Darnell, who was just 17 when the film was released ... and hey, maybe that will be enough for you.