This semi-autobiograhical film, part romantic action picture, part documentary-perhaps the most authentic portrayal of bull-fighting to have come out of Hollywood-was the first on which Boetticher put his preferred name 'Budd'. It has a primal quality that looks forward to the Ranown cycle. Bullfighting is more than a sport, it is a ritual. Schrader has noted the continuing tension in Boetticher's films, between 'sport and ritual, individual and icon', a tension that is played out through irony in the westerns but remains intriguingly unresolved in The Bullfighter and the Lady. Regan is mysteriously transformed in the ring from exhibitionist to icon, from an aggressively individualistic American to a matador performing a timeless ritual.
To play on double bills the film was brutally cut by nearly 40 minutes but has been since restored by the UCLA Archive to Boetticher's original edit of 124 minutes. The title is a Hollywood concoction; Boetticher's chosen title for his original story (which was nominated for an Oscar) is 'Torero'. (http://www.sensesofcinema.com/contents/festivals/01/15/biff_boetticher.html)
General Information
Bullfighter and the Lady is a motion picture produced in the year 1951 as a USA production. The Film was directed by Budd Boetticher, with Robert Stack, Joy Ann Page, Gilbert Roland, Virginia Grey, John Hubbard, in the leading parts. We have currently no synopsis of this picture on file; There are no reviews of Bullfighter and the Lady available.References in Databases
KinoTV Database Nr. 23349