Broken Blossoms
1919 · Movie · NR · 89 min · ★ 6.9 · 90% critics
In harsh, foggy London, a battered young girl finds brief safety and kindness with a gentle immigrant who preaches peace. Their fragile bond offers a glimpse of hope, but prejudice and a violent home life threaten to pull them back into the city’s brutality.
Also known as Scarlet Blossoms · The Yellow Man and the Girl
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Details
- Original title
- Broken Blossoms or The Yellow Man and the Girl
- Years
- 1919
- Release date
- 1919-05-13
- Language
- English
- Rated
- NR
- Runtime
- 89 min
- Max quality
- SD
- Critic score
- 90/100
- TMDB rating
- 6.9/10 (243 votes)
About
You may like this if you want a quiet, emotionally intense silent drama about tenderness amid cruelty and intolerance, similar in spirit to Way Down East or Intolerance; Not for you if you avoid disturbing abuse or heavily dated portrayals.
Pros: moving, intimate melodrama; strong lead performance; vivid London atmosphere | Cons: dated racial stereotypes; some overacting; slow, heavy tone
Themes
- suicide
- london, england
- china
- boxer
- buddhist
- murder
- racism
- black and white
- alcoholic
- silent film
- based on short story
Cast & crew
Lillian Gish
as Lucy Burrows
Richard Barthelmess
as Cheng Huan
Donald Crisp
as Battling Burrows
- AH
Arthur Howard
as Burrows' Manager
Edward Peil Sr.
as Evil Eye
George Beranger
as The Spying One
Norman Selby
as A Prizefighter
- EB
Ernest Butterworth
as Secondary Role (uncredited)
- FH
Frederic Hamen
as Secondary Role (uncredited)
Wilbur Higby
as London Policeman (uncredited)
Directed by D.W. Griffith