''The Willow Tree'' is a surviving 1920 American silent film directed by Henry Otto and distributed by

Metro Pictures Metro Pictures Corporation was a Film, motion picture production company founded in early 1915 in Jacksonville, Florida. It was a forerunner of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The company produced its films in New York, Los Angeles, and sometimes at leas ...

. The film is based on a Broadway play, ''The Willow Tree'', by J. H. Benrimo and Harrison Rhodes.

Fay Bainter Fay Okell Bainter (December 7, 1893 – April 16, 1968) was an American film and stage actress. She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for ''Jezebel'' (1938) and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Early life Bainter wa ...

starred in the Broadway play in 1917. The film stars

Viola Dana Viola Dana (born Virginia Flugrath; June 26, 1897 – July 3, 1987) was an American film actress who was successful during the era of silent films. She appeared in over 100 films, but was unable to make the transition to sound films. Early lif ...

and is preserved in the

George Eastman House Motion Picture Collection The George Eastman Museum Motion Picture Collection in Rochester, New York comprises about 28,000 titles, including features, shorts, documentaries, newsreels, and experimental moving images. The collection is renowned for its holdings of silent f ...

Plot

As described in a

film magazine Film periodicals combine discussion of individual films, genres and directors with in-depth considerations of the medium and the conditions of its production and reception. Their articles contrast with film reviewing in newspapers and magazines whi ...

, O-Riu (Dana), daughter of a Japanese image-maker, rebels at his command that she marry a wealthy merchant in order to provide funds for her brother to attend an American college. Due to a coincidence, her flight is misinterpreted as a suicide, and her father sells to an Englishman living in the neighborhood his most prized image. Seeking refuge, O-Riu poses as the image and then "comes to life" apparently by magic. The Englishman falls in love with her and will not answer his country's call to arms until she has apparently disappeared. While he is away for four years, she lives at his home. When he returns after the war, they find happiness. The film has a parallel story concerning Japanese legends.

Cast

as O-Riu *

Edward Connelly Edward Connelly (December 30, 1859 – November 21, 1928) was an American stage and film actor of the silent era. Biography Connelly had a Broadway theater career going back to the Victorian era. His Broadway credits include ''The Wild Du ...

as Tomotada *

Pell Trenton Pell Trenton (born William T. Baker; August 29, 1883 – March 3, 1924) was an actor in theater and Hollywood films during the silent film era. He was popular and had leading roles. Background Pell Trenton was born August 29, 1883, in New Y ...

as Ned Hamilton *

Harry Dunkinson Harry Dunkinson (December 16, 1876 – March 14, 1936) was an American film and stage actor. He appeared in more than 140 films between 1912 and 1935. He was born in New York City and died in California. Dunkinson began acting on stage when ...

as Jeoffrey Fuller *

Alice Wilson Alice Evelyn Wilson, MBE, FRSC, FRCGS (August 26, 1881 – April 15, 1964) was Canada's first female geologist. Her scientific studies of rocks and fossils in the Ottawa region between 1913 and 1963 remain a respected source of knowledge. Earl ...

as Mary Fuller *

Frank Tokunaga Frank B. Tokunaga was a Japanese actor, director, and screenwriter who worked in Japan and Hollywood. Biography Career Frank began his career in show business in 1912 while managing a troupe of Japanese acrobats for Barnum & Bailey, and later wor ...

as John Charles Goto *

Togo Yamamoto was a pioneering actor who appeared on stage and film in the United States and Japan. Biography Born in Yokohama, Japan, on 4 November 1886, Togo emigrated to the United States and began an acting career in the early years of the 20th century. ...

as Itomudo *

George Kuwa George Kuwa (born Keichii Kuwahara) was a Japanese and American Issei (Japanese immigrant) film actor of the silent era. He appeared in more than 50 films between 1916 and 1931. He was the first actor to portray Charlie Chan on-screen in the 19 ...

as Kimura *

Tom Ricketts Thomas B. Ricketts (15 January 1853 – 19 January 1939) was an English-born American stage and film actor and director who was a pioneer in the film industry. He portrayed Ebenezer Scrooge in the first American film adaptation of ''A Christm ...

as Priest

References

External links

* 1920 films Films directed by Henry Otto American films based on plays American silent feature films 1920 drama films Silent American drama films American black-and-white films Metro Pictures films Surviving American silent films 1920s American films {{1920s-silent-drama-film-stub