Vilma Banky Movies
During her heyday, Hollywood leading actress Vilma Banky was billed as "The Hungarian Rhapsody." She was born Vilma Lonchit, near Budapest at the turn-of-the-century. She was discovered by Sam Goldwyn who was taken by her exquisite beauty and brought her to Hollywood in 1925 to star opposite Rudolph Valentino in The Eagle, and subsequently, The Son of the Sheik (1926). Banky is best known for the work she did opposite handsome leading man Ronald Colman. They appeared in five films together and their chemistry was magical. Unfortunately, Banky's career died with the advent of sound because audiences found it difficult to understand her heavily accented English. She retired from films in the late 1920s after marrying movie star Rod La Rocque; they stayed together until he died in 1969. In 1932 she made one last film, Der Rebell/The Rebel. Banky died in 1991, but news of her passing was not announced until 1992 for it was the embittered Banky's dying request that her death not be formally announced. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide- 1933
In this costume drama, a courageous Tyrolean fights to keep Napoleon from conquering his German homeland. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1930
The odd combination of Vilma Banky and Broadway import Edward G. Robinson starred in this early sound version of Sidney Howard's 1925 play They Knew What They Wanted. California grape grower Tony (Robinson) advertises for a young wife but passes off a photograph of his handsome foreman Buck (Robert Ames) as himself. San Francisco waitress Lena (Banky) answers the add, and although disillusioned when she learns the truth, accepts Tony's proposal of marriage because of a desire to settle down. When Buck attempts to take her away, Lena realizes that she has fallen in love with her unattractive but kind husband. Howard's play was filmed again in 1940 under its original title and starred Charles Laughton as Tony and Carole Lombard as Lena. A Lady to Love proved to be Hungarian silent star Banky's final American film. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vilma Banky, Edward G. Robinson, (more)
- 1929
This is the first sound film of Vilma "the Hungarian Rhapsody" Banky, a popular romantic star from the silent era. She plays a young Hungarian woman who has just arrived in the US. She is sheltered by her uncle. Soon she becomes a waitress. While at work, she falls in love with a handsome millionaire whom she mistakes for a chauffeur. Soon the two are married. Still not knowing his true financial worth, she attempts to make him buy a taxi and start his own business. He takes the cab money and squanders it on gambling. His good wife then must borrow money from the wealthy lover of his cousin. In the end, the new husband finally tells her the truth and happiness ensues. Though dialog is featured, much of the film is silent. Banky, whose thick Hungarian accent was difficult to understand, retired soon after making this film. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vilma Banky, James Hall, (more)
- 1928
Another of Goldwyn's successful pairings of Ronald Colman and Vilma Banky, Two Lovers was the last of their co-starring assignments. Set during the 16th-century Spanish occupation of Flanders, the story concentrates on the fiercely patriotic Mark Van Ryke (Colman). Donning the guise of "Leatherface," a swashbuckling masked avenger, Van Ryke performs his derring-do on behalf of the Prince of Orange (Nigel de Brulier). Naturally, Van Ruke considers beautiful Spanish aristocrat Donna Leonora de Vargas (Vilma Banky) to be a bitter enemy, and the feeling is mutual. To no one's surprise, however, Van Ryke and Donna Leonara eventually fall in love (hence the title). The pulse-pounding climax finds Van Ryke riding hell-for-leather through a rainstorm to warn the Flemish troops about the Spaniards' plans to burn the city of Ghent to the ground. Two Lovers was based on Madame Orczy's novel Leatherface, and adapted for the screen by Alice Duer Miller. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ronald Colman, Vilma Banky, (more)
- 1928
Producer Sam Goldwyn gave his usual deluxe treatment to the 1928 Vilma Banky vehicle The Awakening. Her Hungarian accent unheard, Banky plays French country lass Marie Ducrot, whose name is "mud" after she is compromised by a German soldier (Walter Byron). Turning to religion, Banky becomes one of the "sisters in white" in the field hospitals of World War 1. Meanwhile, the soldier, having been told that Banky is dead, finds out that the report was premature and greatly exaggerated. The script, by Carey Wilson and Frances Marion, is pretty soggy stuff, but "man's man" director Victor Fleming does wonders with the material. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vilma Banky, Walter Byron, (more)
- 1927
Hoping to capitalize on the Hollywood success of Hungarian actress Vilma Banky, a fly-by-night distributor purchased the American rights for Banky's 1924 German vehicle Das Schone Abenteur, which was rechristened The Lady From Paris. The star is cast as Yvonne Barron, a woman of mystery who is somehow linked up with master thief Valescu (Ernest Reicher). Falling in love with Valescu's latest pigeon, a handsome young European prince (Gibson Thane), Yvonne decides to turn the tables on her partner in crime. Fans of Vilma Banky were stunned to see their favorite over-acting to the rafters, and with a ton of unflattering facial makeup to boot. Perhaps mercifully, The Lady From Paris died a quiet death during its brief American run, not affecting the actress' popularity in the least. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vilma Banky
- 1927
The Magic Flame is little more than a showcase for Samuel Goldwyn's "hottest" screen team, Ronald Colman and Vilma Banky. Based on King Harlequin, a novel and play by Rudolph Lothar, the film casts Colman as a travelling circus clown who happens to bear a startling resemblance to the no-good King of a mythical European principality. The King (also played by Colman, of course), develops a yen for the Clown's sweetheart, trapeze artist Vilma Banky. While trying to rescue the girl from the royal castle, the Clown is forced to kill the King. As inevitably as night follows day, the Clown is then obliged to take the King's place on the throne. As gentle and generous as his "predecessor" was cruel and corrupt, the Clown becomes immensely popular with his subjects, who are more willing to allow him to marry a "commoner" like Banky. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ronald Colman, Vilma Banky, (more)
- 1927
Based on a story by 17th-century Spanish playwright Calderon de la Barca, A Night of Love is based on the ancient (and historically suspect) tradition of droit du seigneur. Ronald Colman stars as gypsy prince Montero, whose wedding night is rudely interrupted by the despotic Duke de la Garda (Montague Love). Exercising his prerogative as a titled landowner, the Duke abducts Montero's young bride and "has his way" with her. The poor girl dies from the disgrace, whereupon the hot-blooded Montero swears revenge. So it is that during the Duke's subsequent wedding party, in rides Montero to kidnap the new duchess, Princess Maria (Vilma Banky). Though fully intending to rape Maria in the same manner that his bride was violated, Montero is too honorable to take advantage of his lovely captive. Accordingly, Maria slowly falls in love with her handsome abductor, leading to a magnificently melodramatic climax as the heroine pleads for the hero's life when the Duke sentences Montero to burn at the stake. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ronald Colman, Vilma Banky, (more)
- 1926
A very popular silent western, this film features two engineers vying for the affections of the adoptive daughter of a landowner. Barbara Worth (Vilma Banky) wants to help her father, Jefferson Worth (Charles Lane), build a dam on the Colorado River to help irrigate the desert land he owns. The elder Worth gets a loan from a New York banker, who brings with him his stepson, Willard Holmes (Ronald Colman), an engineer. Local engineer Abe Lee (Gary Cooper, in one of his first big roles) and Holmes both fall in love with Barbara. The banker cheats on materials for the dam as part of a shady deal. Jefferson Worth discovers the ruse and tries to finish the project himself, but he runs short of money to pay his hired hands. With the dam in jeopardy, the two rival engineers bury their differences and ride off on horses to get money to salvage the dam and save Worth, who is at the mercy of a lynch mob. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ronald Colman, Vilma Banky, (more)
The Son of the Sheik, Rudolph Valentino's last film, may well be his best. A sequel to (and vast improvement upon) Valentino's 1922 blockbuster The Sheik, the 1926 film casts the legendary Latin Lover in the dual role of the now-older Sheik and his son Ahmed. The latter falls in love with bejeweled dancing girl Yasmin (Vilma Banky), the daughter of a scurrilous thief, who in turn is in cahoots with Ghabah (Montagu Love), "whose crimes outnumber the desert sands." Captured, held for ransom and tortured by Ghabah, Ahmed escapes, seething with revenge. Believing that Yasmin has betrayed him, he kidnaps the girl, spirits her away to his desert tent, and rapes her (not shown, of course, but brilliantly suggested by a series of wide-eyed, soft-focus close ups). Bitterly chastised by his father, Ahmed begins feeling pangs of remorse for his treatment of Yasmin, even more so when he learns that she is innocent of all wrongdoing. He follows Yasmin to her father's den of thieves, where he vanquishes all the bad guys, saving the unspeakable Ghabah for last. Son of the Sheik was partially filmed on location in the deserts of Yuma, Arizona, under intolerable conditions that caused virtually the entire cast and crew to fall seriously ill. The finished film manages to convey a tongue-in-cheek, larger-than-life approach to its melodramatic material without ever actually making fun of that material or condescending to Valentino's legions of fans. Rudolph Valentino had made Son of the Sheik in hopes of boosting his slightly flagging career; while it succeeded beyond anyone's wildest dreams, Valentino, alas, had died just before the film was released. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rudolph Valentino, Vilma Banky, (more)
Based on a Pushkin novel, The Eagle stars Rudolph Valentino as a Russian cossack who is the special favorite of the formidable Catherine the Great (Louise Dresser). He spurns her attentions, preferring not to be a kept consort. When his lands are stolen from him, Valentino transforms into a Robin-Hood-like masked avenger. Vilma Banky plays the daughter of the man who killed Valentino's own father. Despite his thirst for revenge, our hero falls in love with Vilma, who goes the "Lois Lane" route of adoring the masked-avenger Valentino but disdaining the unmasked Rudy, little guessing that the two are one in the same. Watch quickly for Gary Cooper as one of Valentino's masked minions. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rudolph Valentino, Vilma Banky, (more)
- 1925
This sentimental drama, based on the stage play by H.B. Trevelyan (actually a pseudonym for Guy Bolton), was the American film debut of Vilma Banky, and it made her a star overnight. The setting is World War I, and Captain Alan Trent (Ronald Coleman) and Kitty Vane (Banky) are making their wedding plans. But Trent is suddenly called back to the front, and the ceremony is put on hold. During a battle, Trent is blinded, and instead of burdening Kitty with his disability, he allows her to believe he has been killed. Kitty eventually agrees to marry Trent's best friend, Gerald Shannon (Wyndham Standing). Shannon, however, discovers that Trent is still alive and writing for a living. Being an honorable man, he tells Kitty the truth and she goes to Trent. Trent is determined to send Kitty away, so he memorizes the location of everything in his home and pretends to reject her. Kitty is fooled until the end, when she holds out her hand and he doesn't see it. Finally the truth comes out and she rushes into his arms. Producer Sam Goldwyn -- who had discovered Banky during a trip to Europe -- remade the film as a talkie in 1935, with Merle Oberon as Kitty and Frederic March and Herbert Marshall as Trent and Shannon, respectively. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ronald Colman, Vilma Banky, (more)
