FILM FILM - University of Macau Library

120 Transition and Transformation
had been granted “permission” to go to Sweden to possibly shoot a film there.
He never returned to America.
The films tells the story of Tony, an aging Italian grape grower on a ranch in
America, who is in search of a wife. In a restaurant, he spots the beautiful waitress,
Lena, and asks her to marry him in a letter where he encloses a photograph.
However, at the last minute, he fears that she might turn him down
upon seeing his picture, and instead encloses that of his young, handsome
friend and assistant Buck. In waiting for Lena to arrive, Tony is anxious and
gets drunk. He has an accident on his way to the railway station, and Lena is
picked up instead by the mailman. When meeting Buck upon her arrival, Lena
recognizes him from the picture. As they start talking, Buck is still unaware of
Tony’s picture having been replaced. As Tony is later carried home on a stretcher,
Lena is shocked as she learns about his real identity. However, they marry –
but on the wedding night, as her husband has been put to bed, there are hints
that she spends the night with Buck. He, however, leaves the ranch in the morning,
and she is left behind to take care of her crippled husband: she washes him
and tries to help him walk again. However, as time passes, she falls in love with
him. When Buck reappears, he arrives thus rather as an intruder. Lena, being
threatened and feeling guilty, thinks she has to leave with him, but as Tony
awakes to see her fully dressed, on her way to leave, she decides to confess to
him. She is forgiven, and the couple remain united in the end, as Buck leaves.
One Film, Two Versions
The film was made simultaneously in two versions, the original one in English,
A Lady to Love, and one in German, Die Sehnsucht Jeder Frau. This practice,
which started in 1929, had led to competition between studios to establish
themselves in foreign-language production. According to Donald Crafton, Paramount
was the leading company in multiple-language production, followed by
MGM. In 1930, MGM thus shot 45 foreign-language features, to be followed by
33 in the spring of 1931 – after which the practice was abruptly abandoned. 5 The
versions in other languages seem to have been poorly received by European
critics, and as the development of noiseless recording facilitated dubbing, this
less expensive practice took over.
Both the English and the German version of A Lady to Love starred Broadway
actor Edward G. Robinson as Tony – he was born in Romania and spoke
German – and as Lena in both versions, Hungarian-born Vilma Banky, who had
come to Hollywood during the 1920s, and spoke with a heavy accent, but also
spoke German. This tactic of hiring stars and directors who could speak several