Broken Blossoms (1919) on Netflix
Cheng Huan leaves China for London to spread Buddha's teachings, but intolerance and apathy disillusion him. He keeps a shop and watches Lucy Burrows, beaten by her prizefighter father.
- Netflix3.3/5
- IMDb7.2/1011,868 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes95%
Trailer
Plot summary
Cheng Huan is a missionary whose goal is to bring the teachings of peace by Buddha to the civilized Anglo-Saxons. Upon landing in England, he is quickly disillusioned by the intolerance and apathy of the country. He becomes a storekeeper of a small shop. Out his window, he sees the young Lucy Burrows. She is regularly beaten by her prizefighter father, underfed and wears ragged clothes. Even in this deplorable condition, Cheng can see that she is a priceless beauty and he falls in love with her from afar. On the day that she passes out in front of his store, he takes her in and cares for her. With nothing but love in his heart, he dresses her in silks and provides food for her. Still weak, she stays in his shop that night and all that Cheng does is watch over her. The peace and happiness that he sees last only until Battling Burrows finds out that his daughter is with a foreigner.
Cast
- Ernest Butterworthas Secondary Role (uncredited)
- Frederic Hamenas Secondary Role (uncredited)
- Man-Ching Kwanas Buddhist Monk (uncredited)
- Bobbie Mackas Ringside Employee (uncredited)
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Broken Blossoms (1919)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- In the "closet" scene, Richard Barthelmess reported that Lillian Gish's hysteria was induced by D. W. Griffith taunting her, while Gish said she improvised Lucy's tortured movements on the spot.
- When Griffith previewed Broken Blossoms for his backers, the child abuse scenes made them sick; Lillian Gish said a Variety reporter invited to watch a second take left the room to vomit.
- Broken Blossoms was the first film ever distributed by United Artists, which bought it from Famous Players-Lasky for $250,000.
- D. W. Griffith rewrote Thomas Burke's story to push a message of tolerance: Burke's Chinese protagonist, a sordid young Shanghai drifter pressed into naval service, became a Buddhist missionary in the film.
