Monday 7 May 2012

Broken Blossoms 1919



Broken Blossoms or The Yellow Man and the Girl is a 1919 silent film directed by D.W. Griffith. It was distributed by United Artists and premiered on May 13, 1919. It stars Lillian Gish, Richard Barthelmess and Donald Crisp, and tells the story of young girl, Lucy Burrows, who is abused by her alcoholic prizefighting father, Battling Burrows, and meets Cheng Huan, a kind-hearted Chinese man who falls in love with her. It is based on Thomas Burke's short story 'The Chink and the Child' from the 1916 collection Limehouse Nights.

Read more on Wikipedia


Lowry held this film in high esteem; "I see it as one of the greatest and most moving films of all time, one that is also a return to a great tradition of the movies, something that should combine the emotional impact of Griffith's Broken Blossoms and Isn't Life Wonderful." Collected Letters Vol 2 Pg. 171 ; "Signs along the street mocked at him: Business as usual during alterations: Broken Blossoms: Dead End: No cover at any time. World's loveliest girls. Larger, more modern. He waved them aside" Lunar Caustic. 


You can watch the whole film here:


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