Das Land ohne Frauen (1929)

A land without women: that is Australia in the 19th century. The vast, largely unsettled and undeveloped country, being built up by its British colonial rulers, is suffering from an acute shortage of women willing to marry. For this reason, the British government in far-off London issues a call for adventurous girls and young women to volunteer. A total of 413 women come forward, and they are immediately sent by ship to the fifth continent. The women are already eagerly awaited at the Coolgardie gold-mining camp, too, where numerous prospectors are literally working themselves to death in search of the find of a lifetime. To prevent a huge brawl among the men over the “best” women, each man had previously been assigned a girl by lot. But one of the girls dies during the Hastings’ several-week voyage from England to Australia. One of the rough-and-ready gold miners who had been eagerly awaiting the women will now inevitably have to remain alone, so the ship’s officers decide to give fate a little help. Out of boredom and high spirits, the gentlemen aboard therefore hold another lottery. As a result, the newly arrived Australian who had been assigned the deceased woman now gets a new girl, namely Bride No. 68. But this means that the man originally assigned Bride No. 68 will remain without a wife, and great trouble is brewing. The man who has been cheated out of his woman is Dick Ashton, a telegraph operator serving in Perth, Western Australia. He is by no means willing simply to give up his future bride. While “his” girl, Evelyne Narnheim, marries the gold miner Steve Parker, Dick’s anger and jealousy boil over after he learns about the new lottery aboard ship. In a dirty trick akin to failing to render assistance, Dick tries to get rid of Steve in a seemingly clever way. Ashton simply fails to pass on a telegraphic distress call from Steve, who has been caught in a sandstorm, hoping that Mother Nature will do his dirty work for Dick’s benefit. Soon, however, Dick Ashton is so burdened by his own deed—which cost an innocent man his life—that he no longer wants to live. He throws himself in front of an oncoming train.