DramaRomance

Broken Blossoms

A Chinese missionary comes to England. He helps a young girl ill-treated by her father. A remake of D. W. Griffith's Masterpiece.

Release Date : 1936-05-20

Language :English

Adult : false

Status : Released

Production Company : Twickenham Film StudiosJulius Hagen Productions

Production Country : United Kingdom

Alternative Titles :

Cast

Character Name : Chen Huan

Original Name : Emlyn Williams

Gender : Male

Character Name : Lucy Burrows

Original Name : Dolly Haas

Gender : Female

Character Name : Battling Burrows

Original Name : Arthur Margetson

Gender : Male

Character Name : Evil Eye

Original Name : Gibb McLaughlin

Gender : Male

Character Name : High Priest

Original Name : C. V. France

Gender : Male

Character Name : Mr. Reed

Original Name : Basil Radford

Gender : Male

Character Name : Mrs. Reed

Original Name : Edith Sharpe

Gender : Female

Character Name : Alf

Original Name : Ernest Jay

Gender : Male

Character Name : Daisy

Original Name : Bertha Belmore

Gender : Female

Character Name : Manager

Original Name : Ernest Sefton

Gender : Male

Character Name : Old Chinaman

Original Name : Donald Calthrop

Gender : Male

Character Name : Mrs. Lossy

Original Name : Kathleen Harrison

Gender : Female

Character Name : Missionary

Original Name : Kenneth Villiers

Gender : Male

Character Name : Woman

Original Name : Dorothy Minto

Gender : Female

Character Name : Guide

Original Name : Sam Wilkinson

Gender : Male

Character Name : Bert

Original Name : Jerry Verno

Gender : Male

Character Name : Minor role

Original Name : Pamela Bevan

Gender : Male

Character Name : Minor role

Original Name : Patricia Hayes

Gender : Female

Character Name : Minor role

Original Name : Aubrey Mallalieu

Gender : Male

Character Name : Woman in West End Party Visit

Original Name : Edie Martin

Gender : Female

Character Name : Boxing Referee

Original Name : Billy Wells

Gender : Male

Reviews

CinemaSerf

@Geronimo1967

2022-06-19

I have only recently seen the original silent version of this film from 1919, and although this certainly lacks the intensity of that Lillian Gish/Richard Barthelmess adaptation, it is still an engaging film to watch with a really effective last fifteen minutes. The story of "Chen" (Emlyn Williams), a peace loving Buddhist who comes from China to London bearing his gifts of spirituality and kindness. Needless to say, he is met with cynicism amongst the bigoted and hard-nosed East Londoners and has his work cut out. "Lucy" (Dolly Haas) lives with her brute of a father "Burrows" (Arthur Margetson) - a boxer who drinks and then takes his frustrations out on his child. After one such beating, "Chen" takes her in and restores her to health before her father, and a band of misfits intervene - with tragic consequences all round. It's a simple story of intolerance and prejudice, of sympathy and violence and is presented to us as a well executed piece of poignant cinema. It looks like there wasn't much of a budget, but that doesn't' really matter - it helps the earthy, seediness of their environs as do the performances from the ensemble, especially Gibb McLaughlin ("Evil Eye") as well as the aways reliable Kathleen Harrison. If you haven't seen the original, then I hope that this persuades you to. If you have, then I wouldn't judge this too harshly. Some films just worked better without dialogue, and though that is pretty sparse here - this may just be one