MovieChat Forums > Blood and Sand (1941) Discussion > No reason to stray

No reason to stray

posted 15 years ago by mercury4
15 replies | jump to latest

I don't know what was wrong with Gallardo. If I was married to Carmen I would have no reason to stray. I'd take Linda Darnell over Rita Hayworth any day. There's a scene in Blood and Sand when Carmen is telling Dona Sol that it may be her fault for Juan having an affair. Linda Darnell is supposed to be plain in the movie next to Rita Hayworth, but I think this may have been a mistake on the filmmakers' part. Linda Darnell was far from plain. She was beautiful. I can't see a man cheating on her.

[–] iwals 14 years ago

I agree Linda Darnell was far from plain. Hayworth's character was much more worldly, as well as aggressive in a femme fatale way, and I think this is what attracted Gallardo. The world is full of men cheating on beautiful wives with other women.

Nobody gets to be a cowboy forever.

[–] Helpfan65 12 years ago

From what I've read about both Linda Darnell and Rita Hayworth, they both should've been playing each other's roles. Rita was basically a nice Latina who wanted a husband and family and Linda was quite the "bad" girl in real life.

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Get me a bromide - and put some gin in it!

[–] Noirdame79 12 years ago

How was Linda Darnell a "bad girl"? Actually, she and Rita Hayworth had a lot in common. Both were forced to start supporting their families at young ages and denied normal childhoods. They each had a domineering parent and a studio boss who tried to control them both professionally and personally. Their first marriages were both to much older men. Both wanted to have a normal family life but the demands of their careers made it extremely difficult to achieve that. Darnell was unable to have children of her own so she and her first husband adopted a baby girl. Both Linda and Rita suffered from alcoholism, and both were very well-liked by their peers. Yes, Linda had an affair with a married man (Joesph L. Mankiewicz) while her first marriage was on the rocks. If you compare that to the amount of other people who had affairs in Hollywood, it doesn't seem that shocking. Most people characterize Darnell in her early years in Hollywood as being very naive. Darnell's third and last husband was unfaithful to her, she even discovered, after going through rehab for her alcohol addiction, that he had a mistress that was pregnant with his child!

Like Hayworth, she suffered a horrendous death. Darnell, deathly afraid of fire, stayed inside the burning home, mistakenly believing that her friend's teenage daughter was still in the house. The girl had in fact already escaped. Linda died from severe third-degree burns a few days later in hospital, leaving behind her own adolescent (adopted) daughter.

I really don't see how Darnell was such a "bad girl" in real life compared to Hayworth.

[–] Helpfan65 12 years ago

Linda was also Zanuck's mistress.

________________________________________
Get me a bromide - and put some gin in it!

[–] Noirdame79 12 years ago

Are you sure you're not thinking of Bella Darvi? She was Zanuck's mistress in the 50s as well as supposedly involved with his wife. Linda was just 15 when she was put under contract to Fox in 1938.

[–] Helpfan65 12 years ago

No, I read that Linda was his mistress. There was quite an uproar over her being cast as the Virgin Mary in Song of Bernadette due to that fact.

________________________________________
Get me a bromide - and put some gin in it!

[–] Noirdame79 12 years ago

Zanuck was punishing Linda for getting married to her first husband when he put her in that small role in "The Song Of Bernadette". It was his way of keeping her under his thumb. Many studio bosses did that to exert control over their female stars. Nowhere does it state as a fact that Darnell was ever more than a protege and contract player to Zanuck. Not to say it wasn't possible, but there is nothing factual to back that up. Zanuck was angered that Darnell had destroyed the image he had built for by marrying an older man.

[–] Helpfan65 12 years ago

Well I don't want to debate about it because I am a fan believe it or not. I think she was Ty Power's most beautiful leading lady and they have such wonderful chemistry. I personally loved her ingenue roles more than the more worldly gals she later started playing.
________________________________________
Get me a bromide - and put some gin in it!

[–] Noirdame79 12 years ago

I think she was affective no matter what, but I see what you mean about her earlier roles. I love her with Ty Power too. It's too bad that they didn't make more movies together later on. It would have been interesting to see them together in a film when they were older.

[–] Popcorngal (4320) 4 years ago

I was thinking the same thing. If fate had been kinder, I bet their careers, if they chose not to retire, would have lasted up into the 80's

[–] Popcorngal (4320) 4 years ago

I read bios on both Linda and Tyrone, the books were OK. I never knew about the uproar over casting as Mary. Heck, I didn't know that was her. I heard Zanuck destroyed the career of Ty's 1st wife Annabella, when they defied him and married against his will. Zanuck wanted his handsome box office goldmine to stay single.

[–] mattcolins 13 years ago

Someone once told me, " No matter how attractive a woman is, no matter how hot she is, there is someone, somewhere who is tired of her sh&t. (I also heard a worse version, but you get the drift.)

[–] Popcorngal (4320) 4 years ago

I think that applies to both genders, pretty boys can be a migraine as well.

[–] zuzupetal_99 12 years ago

I watched this movie because I like Rita Hayworth, but I thought Darnell was breathtaking! She was beautiful, lovely, and very likeable. Hayworth wasn't as gorgeous as I've seen her in other films, but that could be just because I didn't like her character much here. But I agree, Powers' character was a fool for cheating.

"Are you going to your grave with unlived lives in your veins?" ~ The Good Girl

[–] Popcorngal (4320) 4 years ago

I think the title was Mid-Morning Wife of something along that line, Tyrone's character also fooled around on his wife ,which was also played by Linda. You have to wonder due to his RL philandering, if he had lived, despite failing health and fading looks, he would have cheated on his widow down the road?