Directed by:
D.W. GriffithCinematography:
G.W. BitzerCast:
Lillian Gish, Richard Barthelmess, Donald Crisp, Edward Peil Sr., George Beranger, George Nichols, Wilbur HigbyPlots(1)
Based on "The Chink and the Child", a story by Thomas Burke, Broken Blossoms is one of D.W. Griffith's most poetic films. Richard Barthelmess plays a young Chinese aristocrat who hopes to spread the gospel of his Eastern religion to the grimy corners of London's Limehouse district. Rapidly disillusioned, Barthelmess opens a curio shop and takes to smoking opium. One evening, Lillian Gish, the waif-like daughter of drunken prizefighter Donald Crisp, collapses on Barthelmess' doorstep after enduring one more of her father's brutal beatings. Barthelmess shelters the girl, providing her with the love and kindness that she has never known. Crisp, offended that his daughter is living with a "heathen," forces the girl to return home with him. In a terrible drunken rage, Crisp beats Lillian to death. Barthelmess arrives on the scene, kills Crisp, then kneels beside Lillian's body and takes his own life. (official distributor synopsis)
(more)Cast
Lillian Gish
USA
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Richard Barthelmess
USA
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Donald Crisp
UK
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Edward Peil Sr.
USA
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George Beranger
Australia
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George Nichols
USA
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Wilbur Higby
USA
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Broken Blossoms (1919)