Verbena Tragica

For more information and to download this film, please visit www.loc.gov/it...
In the early years of sound motion pictures, studios often filmed foreign language versions of American productions. Some utilized subtitles, others were dubbed. In some cases, American stars spoke foreign dialog from a script written phonetically on a blackboard just off camera. More commonly, however, the films featured an entirely different cast. Spanish-language productions were the most common of these alternate versions, thanks to sizeable Latino audiences in Los Angeles and other metropolitan markets, as well as those in Latin American countries. Directed by Charles Lamont and starring Spanish-born actress Luana Alcañiz and Mexican star Fernando Soler, this melodrama surrounds a boxer, released after eight months in jail, who comes home to a recently pregnant wife. Produced at low-budget Columbia studio, “Verbena Tragica” was unusual for the multi-version formula in that an English-language version was never made, most likely due to the film’s themes of adultery and revenge. Named to the National Film Registry in 1996.