User Reviews

This movie has been obscured by the later, more famous version of Sidney Howard's play, the one starring Charles Laughton and Carole Lombard. One can see why. The pace is much slower, and the emotions are not so volatile. And though it makes a kind of sense to cast Edward G Robinson, who the same year played the title role in Little Caesar, as the Italian winemaker Tony, why use an actor 20 years too young for the part? Robinson is aged with a broad white, skunk-like streak through his dark hair. However, his performance, especially in the dramatic final scene, is quite touching, certainly more so than Laughton's grotesque one.

As the mail-order bride, deceived with a photo of the handsome young foreman, Vilma Banky is even more sympathetic. Her strong native Hungarian accent emphasises that she, like Tony, is an insecure immigrant in this complex and confusing country--Lombard was obviously native American and was also much more capable looking. The later movie also has an overlay of Hollywood gloss, and is less true to life than this one, whose characters are naive and socially awkward. This version also has the benefit of Victor Sjostrom, the great Swedish director who directed Lillian Gish and Garbo. While the movie at times seems slow, even a bit stilted, it has a delicacy and a close appreciation of character and nature that contributes its own emotional pull to this simple, touching story.

Though the movie pre-dated the Production Code, the ending of the play has been changed. The later film also changed the ending, but in a less satisfactory way. While, in this film, one character suddenly takes on a new personality, it otherwise makes more sense than that of the Laughton-Lombard movie. To put the review in a nutshell: I cried at the end of this one, and at the other one I didn't.

For one thing, this film seems to be an anachronism itself. A film about a grape grower in the Napa valley in the middle of Prohibition, and not one mention about Prohibition in the film, with wine bottles flowing left and right. Edward G. Robinson plays Tony, the grape grower in question. He is a middle aged man and has decided to go to San Francisco to find a young wife. The priest tells him nothing good ever came from an older man marrying a younger wife, but Tony forges ahead. He finds Lena (Vilma Banky) working in a San Fran restaurant, and decides she is the one with no more conversation between them than "Here's your check".

Back home, Tony has his field hand, Buck (Robert Ames), help him write a romantic letter proposing, but then Buck says it will never work without a photo. They both go into town and get their pictures taken, but Tony does not like his photo at all. He looks at his photo, he looks at the photo of handsome Buck, and makes the bad decision of mailing Buck's photo to Lena along with his letter. Lena is apparently from Switzerland - she has a picture of a Swiss farm on her night table, and responds in the affirmative.

Buck doesn't know what Tony did with his photo, Lena is for sure in the dark, and Tony is wondering how to break the news when his bride arrives. Complications ensue. Now this entire film is based on the premise that Tony is older, Lena is younger, and so is Buck. But that is not exactly true. Vilma Banky, playing Lena, is actually only four years younger than Edward G. Robinson, who is playing Tony. And Robert Ames, who is playing Buck, is actually five years older than Robinson!

Note that they try to keep Vilma from talking as much as possible, and she is pretty good at pantomiming around the part, although her thick Austrian accent actually works for her here. Also note the habit of Italian Americans at that time of keeping portraits of the heads of both America and the home country proudly displayed. They were very proud of both countries. However, in 1930, it is the unfortunate fact that Herbert Hoover is president of the United States and Benito Mussolini is in charge of Italy. You'll miss their portraits sitting side by side in Tony's living room it if you don't look around on the set!

Recommend as one of the better early talkies with good direction by Victor Sjöström. I believe this was the last film he directed in America, disheartened by the American studio system ever since he had to tack on a feel good ending to 1928's "The Wind".

Starring vilma banky, edward robinson, and robert ames. Early role for robinson, also an early talkie for him. Tony places an ad for a bride, but uses a photo of brother buck instead of himself. When lena and tony meet, she is angry, but agrees to marry anyway. Of course, tony has been injured in a car accident, so it won't be much of a honeymoon celebration. And lena ends up falling for the guy in the photo. Can all this be ironed out? This was made way before the film code was being enforced, so they were able to speak about things pretty openly. It's all okay. The fake accents keep changing. Except for lena's... she was genuinely struggling with the english. Some over-acting, when tony reacts to getting a bath, but robinson was just starting his acting career. A funny moment near the end, when buck says "i don't let no lady give me the gate like you're trying to do, and get away with it, see?" robinson must have picked that up here, since he said "see" so often in his gangster movies over the next fifteen years. Directed by victor sjöström. Based on the play by sidney howard. Ames had married and divorced four times by the time he was forty. Sadly, he died young at 42, just a year after this film was released! Banky was a huge silent film star, and had made two films with valentino. Apparently she didn't speak much english, so she retired soon after the talkies appeared. Anderson lawler and henry armetta both died in their fifties. Sidney howard, the author, died even younger at 48, apparently run over by his own tractor. Howard posthumously won his oscar for the screenplay "gone with the wind".

Vilma Banky was a famous silent film star, brought over from Hungary in the mid-20s by Sam Goldwyn. She was an instant star in films like THE EAGLE with Rudolph Valentino and THE WINNING OF BARBARA WORTH with Ronald Colman. Her talkie debut was in 1929 in THIS IS HEAVEN; it was a notorious flop. A LADY TO LOVE would be Banky's final American film and her second attempt at a talkie. And it's a very good film indeed.

Banky plays a waitress in San Francisco who is spotted by an immigrant grape grower (Edward G. Robinson) who has come to the city to find a wife. He brings the waitress to Napa for an arranged marriage but she is immediately attracted to Robinson's foreman (Robert Ames). Although Robinson has fallen and broken is leg, the wedding takes place (she wants a home and things) but on their wedding night, Banky has a fling with Ames.

Ames then goes away and leaves Banky with Robinson. She nestles into her newfound safe haven and takes care of Robinson. Over a period of a few months she discovers she has fallen in love with the doting Robinson, but then Ames returns and threatens to make trouble.

Robinson (in his third talkie)is, as always, a total pro. And even with an Italian accent and a wild white white, he's a pleasure to watch. Ames is OK in the thankless part of the cad. Supporting players include Henry Armetta and George Davis as foolish workers, Anderson Lawler as the doctor, Lloyd Ingraham as the priest, and Richard Carle as the postman.

But Banky is front and center here as Lena. Much was made of her failure in talkies because of her thick accent. After this film flopped she made a couple films in Europe and retired from the screen. But I was struck throughout this film at what a nice voice she had and how much her accent resembled that of Greta Garbo in ANNA Christie that same year. THIS IS HEAVEN is apparently a lost film so we may never be able to judge Banky's talkie debut. But her second effort is solid.

The best scene in the film is where Banky attempts to give Robinson a bath while he's in bed (with a broken leg). It's a giddy and delightful scene, especially with his aversion to water.

Banky was long married to silent star Rod La Rocque. He continued in talkies as a supporting player through the early 1940s.

Many silent movie stars from overseas who worked in Hollywood saw their marketability go down when talkies came upon the scene. A number of them either knew little English or spoke with heavy accents. In the silent era, with inter titles, they made huge bucks because it didn't matter if they knew the language.

There's a debate whether her Hungarian accent spelled doom for one of film's more popular actresses, or whether she just became uninterested in acting. But Hungarian born and raised Vilma Banky's only surviving talkie and her last Hollywood movie was February 1930's "A Lady To Love." Hand selected by Rudolph Valentino to play opposite in two of his most successful movies, 1925 "The Eagle" and 1926 "The Son of the Sheik," Banky was a highly sought after actress in Hollywood. Billed as "The Hungarian Rhapsody," she was Samuel Goldwyn's biggest star attraction, making more money for him than any of his other actors. In an arranged studio marriage with actor Rod La Rocque in the summer of 1927, Goldwyn paid for one of the most extravagant receptions Hollywood had ever witnessed. The marriage proved to be one of the longest marriages between two screen stars, lasting almost 50 years until La Rocque's death in 1969.

Banky's acting resume was long and deep. But when she arrived in Hollywood in 1925 she knew absolutely not one word of English. Her first talkie, the now lost 1929 'This Is Heaven,' proved to be a nightmare for her. Her next movie, "A Lady To Love," under the direction of Swedish director Victor Sjostrom, Banky had an easier time, but she still spoke with a heavy accent. The actress decided to go to Germany to appear in two additional films, then retired from movies, something she said she was going to do when she married La Rocque.

Director Sjostrom felt the same way as Banky did about talkies. He was one of the highest paid Hollywood directors in the mid-to-late 1920s for MGM. But he felt uncomfortable with the new audio technology and left MGM for Europe after the completion of "A Lady To Love" to direct just four more movies before returning solely to acting.

"A Lady To Love," based on Sidney Howard's 1924 Pulitzer Prize winner "They Knew What They Wanted," stars Edward G. Robinson as Tony, a large estate winery owner in Napa Valley who gets Lena (Banky) to marry him sight unseen by passing a photo of his younger brother Buck (Robert Ames) as himself. Even though she's attracted to Buck, she ends up marrying Tony. Then things get really sticky when Buck returns after a long absence.

Banky and La Rocque, after he retired from movies in the 1940s, made a nice living selling real estate in the area. She lived to be 90, outliving her husband. But her death wasn't reported for over a year. With no children, Banky was upset no one had paid her a visit during her final years. She dictated to her lawyer not to make public her death when it happened. With 24 movies under her belt, only eight exist today. And "A Lady To Love" happens to be one of them.

Swedish filmmaker Victor Sjöström made many outstanding, artful silent films in both his homeland and the United States before the advent of talkies. Given the many differences in production between styles, one can understand why he was perhaps less than enthused about the new trend, and ultimately gave up direction. As if to illustrate the point, as 'A lady to love' progresses it looks and feels very different from any of the man's prior works. By all means, it's fairly solidly made, and an entertaining, relatively lighthearted drama. Whether it's a question of the content, however, and/or being Sjöström's first foray into new techniques, what also comes across is that this seems peculiarly common compared to the likes of 'The wind' or 'The outlaw and his wife,' if not altogether unexceptional - and less than stellar.

Some early sound films haven't fared well with the passage of time and struggle with noticeable deficiencies of audio or image quality. Gratifyingly, this is not one of those. Perhaps with the resources of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer on hand, recording engineers James Brock and Douglas Shearer were able to capture the sounds and dialogue of this 1930 picture with swell clarity. Only in sparing instances of especial cacophony is the audio troubled, and in fairness, this isn't a problem that's exclusive to early sound features. Likewise, taking advantage of the best equipment the studio's money could offer, cinematographer Merritt B. Gerstad demonstrates fine skill with smart, mindful camerawork, and there's no loss of fidelity in what we see. To that point, the carefully crafted sets and costumes are also fantastic, further demonstrative of the hard work of all those behind the scenes.

Things get a little more thorny from there. Edward G. Robinson was a very highly regarded actor active across several decades, and he showed again and again why he was so beloved. Here, his performance comes across as weirdly halfhearted and inauthentic, like something is holding him back such that the contrivance of the acting rises to the surface. Vilma Bánky, similarly, enjoyed great success in silent movies, and though by whatever combination of factors her career didn't extend far into the sound era, I don't doubt she could have made a go of it. In this instance her acting quite seems to split the difference between styles; it's mostly fine but sometimes feels forced, and I wonder after all if she wouldn't have been more comfortable if this weren't still a silent picture. Those in smaller supporting parts are less noteworthy all around, though incidentally, Robert Ames seems to be the one person on hand who by this point already had a firm grasp and sense of ease with weaving speech into his acting - yet even that's not true across the board.

How much of this can be chalked up to the efforts of the cast, however fruitful they are or not? How much of it can be accounted for by Sjöström's own misgivings about the new paradigm? Maybe I'm reading too much into it all, or projecting the trajectory of the filmmaker's career onto this singular title. Be that as it may, I swear I see a distinct stiffness in his direction that's a far cry from the absolute expertise and finesse that he illustrated in 'He who gets slapped,' or 'A man there was.' I discern a measure of discomfort, and unnatural blockiness, in the orchestration of shots and scenes, and in the guidance of those in front of the camera - that is, movement, comportment, and progression that's unnatural compared to real life, and the nuance that viewers are broadly accustomed to in sound cinema, and even somewhat unnatural compared to the fluidity of silent features. Everything about the execution feels strangely off-kilter, as though those involved - primarily either Sjöström and or the cast - couldn't figure out the precise needs of the medium moving forward, and what worked best. And I feel all this is cemented by the fact that Sidney Howard's screenplay, based on his own stage play, seems wholly robust and ripe for cinematic treatment. This presents the early twentieth century version of catfishing, and of two principles learning to love each other nonetheless. It's a terrific story, honestly, with strong scene writing, characters, and dialogue. Somehow, its translation into the audiovisual format in 1930 just rather feels like a series of fits and starts.

This isn't to say that 'A lady to love' is bad. Far from it! This is enjoyable, and more well made than not. Some scenes are done particularly well, and in the last third of the runtime it really seems like Sjöström, Robinson, Bánky, and the rest have at last found their proverbial feet. All the same, it remains true that for most of these ninety minutes, most everyone involved is grappling with the shift to sound, and they've not yet discovered how to navigate that space. With one last damning emphasis of these difficulties, the climax is sadly perhaps least convincing of all as it presents. Robinson seems to be plainly overacting, Bánky is weak, and Sjöström is just scattered. Right when it matters most is when the execution falters the most.

Whether one is a big fan of one participant or another, or just an ardent cinephile generally, this is still worth checking out. It's enjoyable on its own merits, and interesting for a peek at the state of a few chief figures at so significant a point in their careers. It's also well removed from the tremendous heights that all have achieved elsewhere, and in my opinion is an unmistakable exhibition of how the film industry had a hard time making peace with such huge changes. Watch 'A lady to love,' but don't necessarily go out of your way for it, and keep in mind the contemporary circumstances of its production.

Sidney Howard's 1924 play "They Knew What They Wanted" had already been brought to the silver screen in 1928 as the silent "The Secret Hour" (Paramount) which I have not seen and probably never will since I am averse to silent movies. Just two years later, it was given the talkie treatment by MGM as "A Lady to Love", originally entitled "Sunkissed".

As one would expect, everyone is very histrionic, especially Edward G. Robinson, but effectively so when one is accustomed to watching early talkies and knows what to expect. The three stars have good chemistry, no matter if they're all together or just in couples. The prolonged early scene between Vilma Banky and Leon Ames is quite amusing and well paced. Ames seems the most natural, but maybe that's because he's the only one without an accent. The character portrayed by the Austro-Hungarian Banky is Swedish, but was originally American and the writing reveals this with the numerous ain't-s and other colloquialisms which sound natural from Ames' mouth, but very artificial from hers. Just changing the character's nationality to suit the actress without revising her lines seems like a lazy fix and was somewhat irritating to me, but not enough to detract from my overall enjoyment of the film.

What can one say about Robinson as the Italian grapeg rower? This is probably his hammiest film performance, yet he is always watchable and entertaining. Seeing him fall down the stairs in a drunken frenzy or giggle like a squeamish schoolgirl when Banky is rubbing him down are particular highlights. I couldn't help but laugh at the prominently placed portrait of Mussolini on his wall considering that World War II was just nine years away at the time.

Merritt B. Gerstad's cinematography is very fluid (for an early talkie), beautiful and atmospheric, as it usually was in films lensed by him - see the talkie version "Seventh Heaven" from 1937. Apart from the creaky title music, the score is confined to source cues as was customary at the time. Max Steiner would soon set a new trend with his extensive (for its time, of course) score for "Symphony of Six Million" in 1932.

A German language version for foreign distribution was filmed in parallel on the same sets. This was not unusual in the pre-dubbing era of the early 30's - Dracula was filmed in both English and Spanish in 1931. Nevertheless, "Die Sehnsucht jeder Frau" (Every Woman's Passion), as it was retitled in German, was unusual in that it retained the English version's director Victor Seastrom (a Swede) as well as two of its stars - Banky (Austro-Hungarian) and Robinson (Romanian), while the American Ames was replaced by Joseph Schildkraut. I would personally love to see this version out of curiosity - who would have guessed Edward G. knew German? - but it seems to be lost.

The play was eventually filmed in English for the third time in 1940 under its original title, released by RKO and starring Charles Laughton and Carole Lombard. I have yet to see this version since I am also somewhat averse to both stars, but I may give it a chance one day since I moderately enjoyed their previous collaboration - Paramount's "White Woman" from 1933. None of those four film versions of the play has been officially released on DVD, let alone Blu Ray, but I hope this 1930 version gets released by the Warner Archive Collection since I would gladly make it part of my own.

There have been a few adaptations of the play They Knew What They Wanted, and if you're interested in seeing a non-musical, pre-Code version, check out the 1930 talkie starring Edward G. Robinson as the "most happy fella". Aged up as the old Italian winery owner, he's gregarious, loving, and full of energy. He's made up his mind to get married, and when he sees a waitress he thinks is pretty, he writes her a letter offering his hand and home. However, insecure about his age and appearance, he sends her a picture of his young friend instead. When she arrives for the wedding, imagine her confusion and disappointment!

Vilma Banky's performance was actually good, but it detracted from the story for her to have an accent of her own and to be a foreigner. As a pseudo-mail order bride, she's repulsed by her husband-to-be. She's overwhelmed by the foreign culture of his family and friends, and doesn't know if it was worth it to abandon her old life. However, with a thick accent and Swedish background, it made less sense for her to feel all those things.

Eddie G's performance couldn't have been any better. Fluent in Italian in real life, his natural warm screen presence made his nationality completely believable (although his accent did slip one or two times). His gestures and expressions were not only authentically Italian - but old as well! He was a young man in 1930, but no one would know it. When he's injured and whining about getting a sponge bath or taking his medicine, it both breaks your heart and grates on your nerves: exactly his intention. He completely understood the character and, as always, made it easy to root for him.

As we frequently say at the Hot Toasty Rag Awards, "What does it take?" Edward G. Robinson had so many varied talents to give to the screen, and he was never nominated for an Academy Award; yet people like Ernest Borgnine and Gloria Grahame won statuettes. Our mission is to right the wrongs, and it gave us great pleasure to not only award Eddie G. Two newspaper trophies but also bestow our highest honor and welcome him into the Hall of Fame.

I'm sorry, but other than saying farewell to the very wonderful Vilma Banky, this is an awful movie. Edward G. Robinson's attempt at an Italian accent is appalling. Since when have Italians had problems with "V"? But this doesn't stop Edward G. from pronouncing "Valley" as "Walley" Well Wally to this Wally.

Did anyone notice the large photo of Il Duce in the lounge. Benito hated the way Hollywood portrayed Italians and with good reason.

The scene of washing Edward G. with all his pig squeals was nauseating at best.

But full marks to Vilma B, a great lady.

In summary, other than Vilma Banky, this movie was embarrassing to watch.

Stuart

A beautiful story of love, that reminded me of Greta Garbo's "Anna Christie". I loved Vilma Bankee's voice and accent. I felt that the film was charming in it's "innocence" and simplicity, while dealing with a very complex issue. I hope that I may someday see it again.

I knew this story first from the musical version, THE MOST HAPPY FELLER, with its great Frank Loesser score. Later, I saw the straight remake, THEY KNEW WHAT THEY WANTED, with Carole Lombard's best straight dramatic role. This version, directed by Victor Sjostrom, is very primitive. Oh, Vilma Banky, despite the claims that her sound acting was always bad, is quite good, although she's best in the sequences in which she says nothing or spends her time mumbling her lines; Edward G. Robinson's portrayal is so stereotypical that it seems almost comical for most of the movie, until the finale, when he plays it big and is very affecting; still, I thought it would have been better played by Henry Armetta -- until I realized that Armetta was still playing bit roles under a different name at this point.

It's Robert Ames as Buck, the casual trouble-maker in this triangle, who is infuriating in this movie. He doesn't start any of the trouble. He doesn't care. He wanders in and out, and Ames plays him as a completely uninvolved drifter, which is completely appropriate, so why does everyone invest so much in him? Yes, he's good-looking in an unkempt way, but there's nothing noteworthy about him. We're supposed to imagine that Miss Banky has talked herself into marrying the man in the photograph, and he's simply taking advantage of the situation, but he's played as not a heel for sleeping with her, nor a good guy for leaving.

So what are we left with? A bit of a curiosity, with the MGM staff still learning how to handle the sound equipment and a fine final two or three minutes from Robinson. It's not enough to make it a good movie, but since it's Edward G. Robinson, it's worth looking at once.

Edward G. Robinson plays Tony, an Italian-American. And, Buck plays his brother, Buck. So, why does Tony have a super-heavy Italian accent and Buck has none?! I cannot understand this...and audiences, too, must have been baffled by this one! In addition, the leading lady, Vilma Bánky (Lena) puts on a REALLY heavy Italian-ish accent...although she was supposed to have lived in San Francisco for many years. Perhaps it's because this is an early sound picture...but someone should have been paying attention to these details in "A Lady to Love".

Tony wants to get married. After all, he's middle-aged and has a huge vineyard in Napa...but no woman. So, when he sees a nice lady in San Francisco he does what any rational man would do...he doesn't talk to her but instead sends her a letter proposing marriage to her. Because he's not a handsome guy, he includes a photo of his handsomer (at least by comparison) and much younger brother...and she agrees. But she naturally expected Tony to be Buck...and right before the wedding, Tony is horribly injured...his legs are smashed. Yet, inexplicably, she still agrees to marry Tony. Problems develop, naturally, when she finds herself much more attracted to her brother-in-law instead of her new husband.

The film is hindered by Robinson's performance. While I think he was a terrific actor normally, here he plays an Italian with no subtlety...he's loud and makes Chico Marx seem like a thespian by comparison! His performance a decade later as a Scandinavian-American in "Our Vines Have Tender Grapes" was subtle and beautiful...but her in "A Lady to Love" he's everything but subtle or beautiful. In fact, ALL the Italian-Americans (except for Buck) are VERY loud...which might be true of Italian families in general...but here they seem to practically SCREAM!! It's also interesting to see that to demonstrate his connection with America and his homeland, he portraits BOTH of the President AND Mussolini on the wall (you can see it behind Lena during the wedding. This was NOT unusual back in the day, as in the 20s and 30s Mussolini was revered by many Italians both at home and abroad.

I could also detect little in the way of greatness in the direction of this film, it was made by the famous Swede Victor Sjöström---who was famous for his silent films as well as starring in Ingmar Bergman's "Wild Strawberries". I think this might demonstrate that Sjöström was more of a silent film director (after all, he only directed a hand full of talking films and dozens of silents). He just wasn't at his best with talking pictures and perhaps he didn't recognize the accents as being that overdone (after all, Swedish was his first language). There was also a lot of overacting in addition to the ridiculously heavy accents. The film really would have benefited from closed captions because of all this.

As a result of these factors, this film is very dated and is best for Robinson completists like myself who simply want to see all his films...both great and not so great!