IMDb plot summary: Middle-aged Napa Valley grape-grower Tony posts a marriage proposal to San Francisco waitress Lena, enclosing a photo of his handsome younger brother Buck. When she gets there, she overlooks his duplicity and marries him. Then she falls in love with Buck.
Directed by Victor Sjöström. Starring Vilma Bánky, Edward G. Robinson, and Robert Ames.
A Lady to Love stars Edward G. Robinson as an Italian immigrant who wants to find himself a wife, so he sends a proposal letter to a waitress he's taken a liking to. However, embarrassed by his own appearance, he sends her a photo of his young attractive employee instead of himself. When the woman agrees to marry him and shows up thinking the employee is her intended husband, things get messy. This is the kind of role I haven't seen Robinson in much -- I don't even know if he played these roles much. But in what could have been a very fluffy caricature role, he brings some serious pathos that makes me root for his character from moment one. Hungarian actress Vilma Banky plays his new bride, and while her performance isn't as impressive, she holds her own pretty well, especially in comparison to the actor making up the third in this love triangle, who is incredibly flat. The story can't quite decide whether it wants to be sweet or tragic and keeps wavering between the two, although it does ultimately decide where to land. It's not amazing but Robinson's performance elevates it for me.
How it entered my Flickchart:
A Lady to Love < Spellbound (1945)
A Lady to Love > Fifth of July
A Lady to Love > Revolutionary Road
A Lady to Love > Heartbeat
A Lady to Love > Molly's Game
A Lady to Love < Christine
A Lady to Love > The Prince and the Pauper (2000)
A Lady to Love > The Wailing
A Lady to Love < Strawberry and Chocolate
A Lady to Love > Rogue One
A Lady to Love > The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp
A Lady to Love > Flora & Ulysses
Final spot: #1881 out of 3633, or 48%.
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