AllMovie

The Spanish Manolette is a highly romanticized biopic, based on the life and death of one of the world's greatest matadors. Pedro Ortego stars as Manolette, while the genuine article appears in filmclips culled from newsreel footage. The film's pacing is wildly uneven, often slowing to a halt during the romantic passages. A word of warning to the squeamish: the bullfighting sequences are explicitly brutal, especially the actual shots of Manolette's final, fatal appearance in Mexico. For non-aficionados, Manolette showcases the terpsichorean talents of famed flamenco dancer Jose Greco.