Broken Blossoms (1919)
Broken Blossoms (1919)
(D. W. Griffith, US 1919, 94 min., 16mm)
United Artists Centennial | Silent Film. Silent-film star Lillian Gish plays Lucy, an ingénue who is brutalized by her alcoholic father, a London prizefighter named Battling Burrows (Donald Crisp). Meanwhile, Cheng Huan (Richard Barthelmess) is a storekeeper who emigrated from China to bring “the gentle message of Buddha to the Anglo-Saxon lands.” However, he quickly becomes disillusioned with life in London—until he meets Lucy, with whom he falls in love at first sight. They bond as two undesired outcasts, yet their romance remains innocent as Cheng tries to rescue Lucy from her father and tends to her wounds. This heartbreaking melodrama continued Gish’s working relationship with director D. W. Griffith, as he attempted to portray racial tolerance in a xenophobic era. Live piano by Philip C. Carli.