Mud and Sand

Besides being an entertaining parody of Rudolph Valentino and of his well-known feature "Blood and Sand", this movie also features Stan Laurel in an interesting early role. As a character spoofing Valentino's bullfighter role, Laurel has a lot of material to work with, and although it was not written to accommodate Laurel's particular strengths or style, it is still easy to see his talent coming across.

Most of the characters and story of "Mud and Sand" closely parallel the Valentino classic, often with puns on the character names or exaggerated slapstick that spoofs the action in the original. It was clearly made with the expectation that its viewers would be familiar with Valentino's movie, and a number of times the humor depends on remembering a character or plot development from it.

At the same time, there is also a fair amount of new material that works well on its own. The sequence showing the young bullfighter's first success, and the scene of him dressing for the final fight, both have some good gag ideas and interesting details.

At times, the gag ideas and the main character have noticeable similarities with Charlie Chaplin's style, while at other times the style simply reflects conventions common to the era. The Stan Laurel character that is so familiar from the Laurel & Hardy comedies is only glimpsed at odd moments.

Yet, while it usually takes a bit of an adjustment to watch Laurel in a different kind of role like this, it is also easy to see his range of comic abilities here. This feature is also entertaining in its own right, especially for those who have seen the movie that it parodies.