Ever since Hal Roach had the idea of teaming a skinny guy and a fat guy together for a Mutt and Jeff effect on the silent screen a lot forget that both Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy had some prominent careers as singles on the silent screen, Stan being more well known than Ollie at the time. Mud And Sand gives us a look at a Laurel specialty, spoofing some well known silent cinema classics.I've not seen the Rudolph Valentino version of Blood And Sand, but I have seen the Tyrone Power sound version, in fact it's a favorite of mine among Power's work. And as Power was known to have a sense of humor if he ever saw Mud And Sand I'm sure he would have appreciated it.For a solemn and tragic tale Stan Laurel certainly mined quite a few laughs out of it. There is a marvelous gag with a bull being tossed over the Corrida wall while Stan is auditioning to be a matador. I think it might have inspired the Monty Python troupe in their quest for the Holy Grail.If you're looking for Stanley to be the Laurel we know from the Laurel And Hardy films forget it. That was a character that Stan worked into to complement Ollie's bulk and know it all attitude. Stan works in broad satire in Mud And Sand as he did with a few silent screen classics. And his scenes with the wife and temptress are something else as well. I've got to make it a point to see more of Mr. Laurel and Mr. Hardy's work before they were a team. Hope the rest of you will as well.

This was unlike any silent film I've ever seen - it was absolutely silent! I mean there wasn't even any music for it's entire forty minutes or so. I don't know if that was just a quirk of the print I viewed; it came packaged as part of a two disc Laurel and Hardy Collection from Diamond Entertainment. Not knowing how long I'd be able to take the silent treatment, I just settled in comfortably and it managed to be entertaining enough if you're a Stan Laurel fan. For me, the interest was in seeing how this funny comic got his start in pictures. Apparently I have the forty minute English version of the story as opposed to the shorter American release. Once under way it didn't click with me that this should be a bullfight story until I made the connection with the Valentino film that this one parodies. Although the scene didn't make much sense, the funniest bit had Stan's character Rhubarb Vaselino throwing his first three bull victims right out of the arena! Stan of course is off screen, otherwise the film makers would have had to make this impossible feat somehow look credible. Overall the film offers a few glimpses of Stan's adept timing which would be honed to comic perfection in a few years upon teaming with Oliver Hardy. Not too shabby after knocking around and throwing the bull for a few years.

Stan as a bullfighter, and a good one, is quite a surprise. Usually overshadowed by Oliver Hardy, this silent short allows him to take the lead, and the limelight.One can only draw the conclusion that his character "Rhubarb Vaselino" was a parody of the many Rudolph Valentino movies of this era.Be prepared to laugh yourself silly at some of the dialog, and keep an eye on the special effects.I viewed this on DVD in a Vol.1 & 2 collection.

When I saw this movie for the first time I didn't believe my own eyes. In front of me there was a great -and well done- parody of Valentino... see Stan Laurel bullfight that way is like to see an excellent fencer in action! It's a very good parody, rich of ideas, with a clever and charming Stan... old and good like whiskey. (or the booze-up after that)