bkoganbing
Before he took up working with Randolph Scott and making some classic westerns, Budd Boetticher wrote and directed this remarkable film for Republic Pictures about bullfighting. Bullfighter And The Lady is distinguished for its graphic depiction about life in the circled arena, what the bullfighters do to attain greatness in the sport and their adulation in Latin in this case specifically Mexican culture.Robert Stack who in real life was a skeet shooting champion is in Mexico on holiday and meets up with the number one in bullfighting Gilbert Roland who is about to retire at the top. Stack offers to teach Roland shooting and he wants to learn bullfighting at least enough of it to impress senorita Joy Page who he's pursuing.In the end Stack's pursuit of a little conquest leads to tragedy.As Mexico's number one Torrero, Gilbert Roland has some of his finest moments on the big screen. He really dominates this film as the fatalistic bullfighter who knows you can go in just once too often. Katy Jurado gives a dignified and restrained performance of his wife.Although Stack is fine as the Yankee playboy the role would have been perfect for Tyrone Power who had those hero/heel parts down pat over at 20th Century Fox. I can't believe that this was not offered to Power, but perhaps Darryl Zanuck demanded too much for his services.Herbert J. Yates over at Republic was a pinch penny businessman and the version usually seen of Bullfighter And The Lady is at least a half hour shorter than the director's cut I saw. I have to say though the film did run over long for me.Still it's a fine bit of film making with big kudos to Gilbert Roland and Budd Boetticher going out.
Ken West
This is indeed a neglected great movie.As someone whose familiarity with bullfighting consists of some vague Hemmingway, the yearly silly newscasts from Pamplona, and a disgusting half- afternoon in Tijuana, and whose opinion of amusement through the suffering of dumb beasts is decidedly negative, I had to talk myself into watching it. I am very glad I did. It (at least the full 125 minute version) is very compelling. The photography is often mesmerizing, and there are scenes which I know I will remember a long time, such as the when the drunk taunts Estrada to have a go even though his right wrist is useless, following which his wife accosts the drunk with a sword and a speech which, even in Spanish, took my breath away. The many semi-documentary clips are simultaneously fascinating, compelling and repulsive.My main point however, is the magnificent performance of Gilbert Roland as Estrada who has incredible screen presence here, handling the bulls, the drunks, the cocky Yankee, his wife, and his cheroot, often simultaneously, with grace and aplomb -- a truly beautiful character who defines the movie, even after he departs it.Yes, the title is lame and has probably turned off many potential viewers who decided not to bother; but whether or not you are interested in bullfighting, and whether or not you approve of it, do not deny yourself the experience of seeing it.
hcoursen
I was surprised by this one. It is an excellent introduction to La Fiesta Brava, showing, for example, many versions of the Veronica as performed by the best Mexican matadors of the late 40s. Luis Procuna, Alfredo Leal, Silverio Perez and the great Carlos Arruza are absentees. Stack, apparently, mastered enough of the technique to perform ably with a heifer -- and that itself is not easy. The background of the corrida -- particularly the tienta (or testing) -- is well documented and the vast Plaza Mexico appears with dramatic effect -- both filled and totally empty. Some of the b/w sequences in the bullring are breathtaking. The problem with the film is Stack's character, who behaves very badly very consistently and really does not seem to learn from his vivid errors. Furthermore, he makes no effort to master even the rudiments of Spanish. Otherwise, the film is compelling. I also recommend the Azteca film of about the same period, "Torero," a documentary about Luis Procuna, starring Procuna. He does not need a stand-in. As an introduction to bullfighting that does not show much of the picing or the actual kill, I recommend "Bullfighter/Lady."
momslikepork3
I enjoyed this film at a screening in LA a few years ago. I went because I had just been to a number of bullfights after first reading Hemingway's Death In The Afternoon--the ultimate primer on the sport. Stack was great with more subtlety then I expected. The bulls were magnificent, specially picked for their size at a time when the breeders were trying to size them down. It was said the film brought "real" (i.e. large, brave bulls) back to Mexico for a while. They wanted the size because of the wide shots, and those boys were BIG. Stack was a champion skeet shooter too, and in one of the stranger scenes in the film, he is shown in shooting form blowin 'em away. Wierd to work such an obscure sport into the movie.
AD
