''Broken Blossoms or The Yellow Man and the Girl'', often referred to simply as ''Broken Blossoms'', is a 1919 American silent melodrama 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 Donald William Crisp (27 July 188225 May 1974) was an English people, English film actor as well as an early producer, director and screenwriter. His career lasted from the early silent film era into the 1960s. He won an Academy Award for Best S ...

, 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 was the first film distributed by United Artists. It is based on Thomas Burke's short story "The Chink and the Child" from the 1916 collection '' Limehouse Nights''. In 1996, ''Broken Blossoms'' was included in the annual selection of 25 motion pictures to be added to the

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of the

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Plot

Cheng Huan leaves his native

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

because he "dreams to spread the gentle message of

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha (),* * * was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist legends, he was ...

to the Anglo-Saxon lands." His idealism fades as he is faced with the brutal reality of

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's gritty inner-city. However, his mission is finally realized in his devotion to the "broken blossom" Lucy Burrows, the beautiful but unwanted and abused daughter of boxer Battling Burrows. After being beaten and discarded one evening by her raging father, Lucy finds sanctuary in Cheng's home, the beautiful and exotic room above his shop. As Cheng nurses Lucy back to health, the two form a bond as two unwanted outcasts of society. All goes astray for them when Lucy's father gets wind of his daughter's whereabouts and in a drunken rage drags her back to their home to punish her. Fearing for her life, Lucy locks herself inside a closet to escape her contemptuous father. By the time Cheng arrives to rescue Lucy, whom he so innocently adores, it is too late. Lucy's lifeless body lies on her modest bed as Battling has a drink in the other room. As Cheng gazes at Lucy's youthful face which, in spite of the circumstances, beams with innocence and even the slightest hint of a smile, Battling enters the room to make his escape. The two stand for a long while, exchanging spiteful glances, until Battling lunges for Cheng with a hatchet, and Cheng retaliates by shooting Burrows repeatedly with his handgun. After returning to his home with Lucy's body, Cheng builds a shrine to the Buddha and takes his own life with a knife to the chest.

Cast

* Lillian Gish as Lucy Burrows * Richard Barthelmess as Cheng Huan *

as "Battling" Burrows * Arthur Howard as Burrows' Manager * Edward Peil Sr. as "Evil Eye" * George Beranger as The Spying One * Norman Selby (aka Kid McCoy) as A Prizefighter * Steve Murphy as Fight Spectator

Production and style

Unlike Griffith's more extravagant earlier works like ''

The Birth of a Nation ''The Birth of a Nation'' is a 1915 American Silent film, silent Epic film, epic Drama (film and television), drama film directed by D. W. Griffith and starring Lillian Gish. The screenplay is adapted from Thomas Dixon Jr.'s 1905 novel and ...

'' or ''

Intolerance Intolerance may refer to: * Hypersensitivity or intolerance, undesirable reactions produced by the immune system * ''Intolerance'' (film), a 1916 film by D. W. Griffith * ''Intolerance'' (album), the first solo album from Grant Hart, formerly ...

'', ''Broken Blossoms'' is a small-scale film that uses controlled studio environments, to create a more intimate "impressionistic" effect, reminiscent of the " impressionist school of painting". Shot entirely in the studio, ''Broken Blossoms'' is notable in that most of Hollywood productions at the time "relied heavily on location work to provide any kind of effective atmosphere". The visual style of ''Broken Blossoms'' emphasizes the seedy

Limehouse Limehouse is a district in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in East London. It is east of Charing Cross, on the northern bank of the River Thames. Its proximity to the river has given it a strong maritime character, which it retains throu ...

streets with their dark shadows, drug addicts, and drunkards, contrasting them with the beauty of Cheng and Lucy's innocent attachment as expressed by Cheng's decorative apartment. Conversely, the Burrows' bare cell reeks of oppression and hostility. Film critic and historian Richard Schickel goes so far as to credit this gritty realism with inspiring "the likes of Pabst, Stiller, von Sternberg, and others, nd thenre-emerging in the United States in the sound era, in the genre identified as

Film Noir Film noir (; ) is a style of Cinema of the United States, Hollywood Crime film, crime dramas that emphasizes cynicism (contemporary), cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of Ameri ...

". Griffith was known for his willingness to collaborate with his actors and on many occasions join them in research outings.Schickel, Richard. ''D.W. Griffith: an American Film Life.'' New York: Proscenium Publishers Inc, 1984. , p. 391. As such, ''Broken Blossoms'' is “the fusion of directorial and acting style.” Griffith was unsure of his final product and took several months to complete the editing, saying: "I can't look at the damn thing; it depresses me so."

Box office

The film was originally made for Famous Players–Lasky. The company sold it to the newly founded United Artists for $250,000. The film turned out to be a hit at the box office and earned a profit of $700,000. It was the first film ever distributed by United Artists.Schickel, Richard. ''D.W. Griffith: an American Film Life.'' New York: Proscenium Publishers Inc, 1984. , p. 406.

Reception

''Broken Blossoms'' premiered in May 1919, at George M. Cohan's Theatre in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

as part of the D. W. Griffith Repertory Season. According to Lillian Gish's autobiography, theaters were decorated with flowers, moon lanterns and beautiful Chinese brocaded draperies for the premiere. Critics and audiences were pleased with Griffith's follow-up film to his 1916 epic ''

''. Contrasting with ''Intolerances grand story, set and length, Griffith charmed audiences by the delicacy with which ''Broken Blossoms'' handled such a complex subject. The scenes of

child abuse Child abuse (also called child endangerment or child maltreatment) is physical abuse, physical, child sexual abuse, sexual, emotional and/or psychological abuse, psychological maltreatment or Child neglect, neglect of a child, especially by a p ...

nauseated backers when Griffith gave them a preview of the film; according to Lillian Gish in interviews, a ''Variety'' reporter invited to sit in on a second take left the room to vomit. Today, ''Broken Blossoms'' is widely regarded as one of Griffith's finest works. In 2012, the film received five critics' votes and one director's vote in the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

's decennial '' Sight & Sound'' poll.

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was a longtime champion of the film, having added it to his "Great Movies" series; and in 1996, it was selected for preservation in the United States

by the

as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". Review aggregation site ''They Shoot Pictures, Don't They'' has since found ''Broken Blossoms'' to be the 261st most acclaimed film in history.

Akira Kurosawa was a Japanese filmmaker who List of works by Akira Kurosawa, directed 30 feature films in a career spanning six decades. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers in the History of film, history of cinema ...

, the legendary Japanese director, named this movie as one of his 100 favorite films. ''Unbroken Blossoms'', a play about the making of the film told from the perspective of the two Chinese American consultants hired to work on the project, premiered at East West Players in Summer 2024.

Themes

Cruelty and injustice against the innocent are a recurring theme in Griffith's films and are graphically portrayed here. The introductory card says, "We may believe there are no Battling Burrows, striking the helpless with brutal whip — but do we not ourselves use the whip of unkind words and deeds? So, perhaps, Battling may even carry a message of warning." ''Broken Blossoms'' was released during a period of strong anti-Chinese feeling in the U.S., a fear known as the Yellow Peril. The phrase "Yellow Peril" was common in the U.S.

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...

s owned by

William Randolph Hearst William Randolph Hearst (; April 29, 1863 – August 14, 1951) was an American newspaper publisher and politician who developed the nation's largest newspaper chain and media company, Hearst Communications. His extravagant methods of yellow jou ...

. It was also the title of a popular book by an influential U.S. religious figure, G. G. Rupert, who published ''The Yellow Peril; or, Orient vs. Occident'' in 1911. Griffith changed Burke's original story to promote a message of tolerance. In Burke's story, the Chinese protagonist is a sordid young Shanghai drifter pressed into naval service, who frequents opium dens and

brothel A brothel, strumpet house, bordello, bawdy house, ranch, house of ill repute, house of ill fame, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in Human sexual activity, sexual activity with prostitutes. For legal or cultural reasons, establis ...

s; in the film, he becomes a

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...

whose initial goal is to spread the word of Buddha and peace (although he is also shown frequenting opium dens when he is depressed). Even at his lowest point, he still prevents his

gambling Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of Value (economics), value ("the stakes") on a Event (probability theory), random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy (ga ...

companions from fighting. Literary critic Edward Wagenknecht places ''Broken Blossoms'' thematically among the works of Shakespeare and the ancient Greek dramatists, “who wrought their material out of sordid material.”

The "closet scene"

The most-discussed scene in ''Broken Blossoms'' is Lillian Gish's "closet" scene. Here Gish performs Lucy's horror by writhing in the claustrophobic space like a tortured animal who knows there is no escape.Schickel, ''D.W. Griffith: an American Film Life'', 1984, p. 392. There is more than one anecdote about the filming of the "closet" scene, Richard Schickel writes: The scene is also used to demonstrate Griffith's uncanny ability to create an aural effect with only an image. Gish's screams apparently attracted such a crowd outside the studio that people needed to be held back.

Remakes

A UK remake, also titled '' Broken Blossoms'', followed in 1936. It was remade in Japan twice, both set in

Yokohama is the List of cities in Japan, second-largest city in Japan by population as well as by area, and the country's most populous Municipalities of Japan, municipality. It is the capital and most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a popu ...

's Chinatown.Joseph L. Anderson and Donald Richie. ''The Japanese Film: Art and Industry''. New York: Grove Press, 1960, 330. A 1959 version was known as 戦場のなでしこ (Senjō no Nadeshiko, Nadeshiko on the Battlefield), directed by Teruo Ishii for

Shintoho was a Japanese movie studio. It was one of the big six film studios (which also included Daiei, Nikkatsu, Shochiku, Toei Company, and Toho) during the Golden Age of Japanese cinema. It was founded by defectors from the original Toho company ...

References

Sources

* * Wagenknecht, Edward. 1962. ''The Movies in the Age of Innocence.''

University of Oklahoma Press The University of Oklahoma Press (OU Press) is the publishing arm of the University of Oklahoma. Founded in 1929 by the fifth president of the University of Oklahoma, William Bennett Bizzell, it was the first university press to be established ...

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. OCLC: 305160

External links

* *''Broken Blossoms'' essay by Ed Gonzalez at National Film Registry

*''Broken Blossoms'' essay by Daniel Eagan in America's Film Legacy: The Authoritative Guide to the Landmark Movies in the National Film Registry, A&C Black, 2010 , pp. 63–6

* * *
In-depth analysis of Broken Blossoms at filmsite.orgFilm Review - Broken Blossoms
''Toronto World'', November 7, 1919, p. 10.
The review of ''Broken Blossoms''
from ''Current Opinion Magazine'' (1919) {{Authority control 1919 films 1919 romantic drama films 1910s American films 1910s English-language films American black-and-white films American romantic drama films American silent feature films Articles containing video clips English-language romantic drama films Films about Buddhism Films about domestic violence Films about interracial romance Films about race and ethnicity Films based on short fiction Films based on works by Thomas Burke Films directed by D. W. Griffith Films set in London Films set in slums Silent American romantic drama films Surviving American silent films United Artists films United States National Film Registry films