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This is one of Stan Laurel's best solo comedy's, before the 1927 teaming with Oliver Hardy. Laurel is a very good actor in the film, and provides good comedy. The best scene in the film is when Stan dances with Mae Laurel (his real-life common law wife), at the Cafe Espanol. Stan does silly dances that are funny, without you hearing the music. I will recommend this to any Stan Laurel fan.

"Blood and Sand" was so popular that comedian Stan Laurel, beginning his series of parodies of well-known movies, starred in "Mud and Sand." Premiering in November 1922, Stan plays the lead while his wife, Mae Laurel, serves as his love interest as the seductive widow. One of the highlights is Laurel's interpretation of the famous dance sequence of Valentino's, a scene in the original movie that made female viewers swoon. The comics's steps are wildly different, but they nonetheless gave the men in the theaters something to laugh about.

During the production a bull is chasing Laurel down a confined street after both exited the bullring. The speedy bull was so fast it caught up to him, nearly trampling the comedian over. The crew collectively decided to play a joke on Laurel, informing him regrettably the cameraman didn't capture his scene properly, even though the cinematographer actually had. They told him he would have to perform the same stunt again. Stan, nearly facing death at the hands of the raging bull minutes before, was not laughing when told he had to repeat the sequence. He turned a pale shade of white before the technicians broke out in hysterical laughter at his reaction.

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.

Mud and Sand is one of Stan Laurel's spoofs of the popular movies at the time, this one being of Rudolph Valentino's Blood and Sand (hence Stan being Rhubarb Vaselino). While partly inconsistent on characterization (how did he defeat those bulls in the beginning is not explained), this was mostly funny from beginning to end with one of the best sequences being a dance he does with his then common-law wife, Mae Laurel. Another funny sequence concerns his reluctance with romancing a femme fatale, Filet de Sole, while his wife, Caramel, is waiting for him that shows some glimpses of his later innocent character with Oliver Hardy. Well worth seeing for anyone interested in seeing Mr. Laurel's early work before his fateful teaming that made him popular around the world.

This Stan Laurel flick was a parody of Rudolph Valentino's Blood and Sand, and so might be funnier if you're familiar with the original film. I've never seen it, so many of the gags here left me cold. A young Stan Laurel tries manfully to make a go of it but doesn't yet possess the necessary star quality to pull this one off and flounders amidst a wealth of unfunny scenes.

He plays a character called Rhubarb Vaseline (think about it…), and we are first introduced to him as he strolls down a lane hand in hand with his bullfighting friend. Hmmm, definitely something effeminate about our Rhubarb – I can't imagine what point the writers were trying to make. There are a few good sight gags – the dance scene is probably the funniest – and an endless play on the word 'bull' before the end credits roll after nearly forty minutes, but overall this one isn't very good.