Broken Blossoms or The Yellow Man and the Girl
A tale of forbidden love.
Country
Production
Budget
$88 000
Revenue
$2 400 000
Director
Actors
Lillian Gish, Richard Barthelmess, Donald Crisp, Arthur Howard, Edward Peil Sr., George Beranger, Norman Selby, Ernest Butterworth, Frederic Hamen, Wilbur Higby
All actors and roles (10)
All actors and roles (10)
Scenario
Producer
Operator
Composer
Artist
Audition
Editing
James Smith
All team (4)
All team (4)
Short description
A frail waif, abused by her brutal boxer father in London's seedy Limehouse District, is befriended by a sensitive Chinese immigrant with tragic consequences.
What's left behind the scenes
- The premiere screening was preceded by a dance performance by actress Carol Dempster (1901-1991), during which the stage was illuminated with blue and gold spotlights. Later, key moments of the plot were colored in the same shades on all copies of the film.
- To appear as Asian, Richard Barthelmess (1895-1963) would wear a very thin rubber band across his forehead, which slightly lifted his facial features upwards.
- During the filming of the scene with the wardrobe, Lillian Gish played fear so convincingly that D.W. Griffith shouted at her to keep going. A passerby heard his shouts, thought something terrible was happening, and was about to rush onto the set, but was dissuaded at the last moment.
- Filming took 18 days and nights. Scenes with Donald Crisp (1882-1963) were shot at night because he was filming another movie during the day.
- According to Lillian Gish, the lead actress, the entire film was well thought out before filming began and rehearsed, so the editing after the shooting period came down to director and screenwriter D.W. Griffith simply trimming the beginning and end of each scene.
- The initial copyright holder did not bother to renew the term of protection, and the film entered the public domain. After that, anyone could make copies on videotape or DVD and sell them. As a result, several versions of the film appeared on the market, heavily cut and of terrible quality, copied for the second or third time.
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7.3/10
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