Italian postcard by Ed. Ballerini & Fratini, Firenze, no. 757. Photo: S.A.I. Films Paramount, Roma. Ricardo Cortez in Argentine Love (Allan Dwan, 1924). Italian release title: Amore Argentino.
Italian postcard by Ed. Ballerini & Fratini, Firenze, no. 756. Photo: S.A.I. Films Paramount, Roma. Bebe Daniels, James Rennie and Ricardo Cortez in Argentine Love (Allan Dwan, 1924). Italian release title: Amore Argentino.
Italian postcard by Ed. Ballerini & Fratini, Firenze, no. 758. Photo: S.A.I. Films Paramount, Roma. Bebe Daniels and Ricardo Cortez in Argentine Love (Allan Dwan, 1924).
A fiery but jealous Latin lover
Argentine Love (Allan Dwan, 1924) was based on a short story by Spanish author and politician Vicente Blasco Ibáñez, adapted by Gerald C. Duffy and John Russell. The film was directed and produced by Allan Dwan for the Famous Players-Lasky Corporation and distributed by Paramount. The film premiered in New York on 22 December 1924, before being released in cinemas on 29 December.
Bebe Daniels plays Consuelo Garcia, the daughter of the mayor of the Argentine town of Alcorta, who returns to Argentina after a two-year stay in the United States. During her absence, her father has arranged a marriage for her to Juan Martin (Ricardo Cortez), in return for Martin's financial assistance. However, Consuela has fallen in love with the American engineer Philip Sears (James Rennie), who is coming to her country to build a bridge.
Consuelo refuses Juan but gives no reason. Juan feels insulted, partly because she gives him no explanation. The jealous man furiously vows to kill anyone who comes between them. After he sees Rafael (Mark Gonzales), the son of Senator Cornejo (Mario Majeroni), flirting with Consuelo, he kills him. The people of Alcorta hold Consuela's apparently willful refusal of Juan responsible for Rafael’s death. She sends a warning to Philip, who comes immediately. In the meantime, the populace vents its spite on Consuelo, beating her while she is tied to the end of a cart. Philip rescues her.
Consuelo, fearing that her fiery Latin lover might kill Philip too, pretends to love the man her father wants. She even asks Philip to help them elope. Philip puts on Juan's cloak and hat and gallantly assists them to the border and then returns to Alcorta. Consuelo then confesses the truth to Juan and, though she does not love him, promises to honour the agreement to marry him. Juan, struck by the engineer’s chivalrous behaviour, gallantly steps aside, setting Consuelo free. Philip and Consuelo can find their path to happiness. Juan sets off on his journey back to Alcorta, where he intends to turn himself in. But he will never make it there, as he is killed by Senator Cornejo, Rafael’s father.
'Latin Lover' Ricardo Cortez was, in fact, born as Jacob Krantz, the son of emigrated Austrian-Jewish parents. Krantz started in Hollywood when Rudolph Valentino was at the peak of his popularity. Paramount transformed him into the Spanish Ricardo Cortez to replace Valentino, whom the studio found too 'difficult and demanding'. The studio gave Cortez a growing number of Latin Lover parts, as in Argentine Love (Allan Dwan, 1924), and The Spaniard (Raoul Walsh, 1925) with Jetta Goudal. Cortez did not want to be restricted to that type. Yet, he still often had to play many romantic partners of the leading female stars of the day, including Greta Garbo in her first Hollywood film, Torrent (Monta Bell, 1926). In the following decade, Ricardo Cortez had a very active career, acting in between 5 and 8 films per year.
Italian postcard by Ed. Ballerini & Fratini, Firenze, no. 759 Photo: S.A.I. Films Paramount, Roma. Bebe Daniels and James Rennie in Argentine Love (Allan Dwan, 1924).
Italian postcard by Ed. Ballerini & Fratini, Firenze, no. 761. Photo: S.A.I. Films Paramount, Roma. Bebe Daniels and Ricardo Cortez in Argentine Love (Allan Dwan, 1924).
Italian postcard by Ebany, no. 18.
Sources: Wikipedia (Dutch and English) and IMDb.
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