Broken Blossoms

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Broken Blossoms

D. W. Griffith reached a pinnacle of expressiveness in this tender yet tragic tale of love and suffering in the seedy Limehouse district of London. Richard Barthelmess gives a sensitive portrayal of a Chinese man who travels to England to spread the pacifist teachings of the Orient, but it is Lillian Gish who illuminates the screen. In this, the most heart-rending performance of her career, she plays a fifteen-year-old street urchin who longs to escape her miserable existence. Emotionally scarred by the torment and neglect of her abusive father (Donald Crisp), she collapses in the shop of the lonely and disillusioned man. As he tenderly nurses her back to health, an unspoken romance flowers between them, awakening in each of them feelings of love they thought themselves forever denied. Featuring Lillian Gish, Richard Barthelmess, Donald Crisp
Music composed and performed by Joseph Turrin.

Selected for the Library of Congress' National Film Registry of American Film.

DVD - Kino International

Filmed introduction by Lillian Gish, including excerpts from Gish's film "Romola" (1925, MGM)
The complete text of Thomas Burke's original story
A recording of the 1919 song "Broken Blossoms"
D. W. Griffith on Leading Ladies

Curator's Comments:
Roger Ebert's essay on this DVD Classic.

Director: D.W.Griffith
Black & White, Color tinted
90 minutes
Released: 1919
Rating: NR

Country: U.S.A.
Language: silent with English intertitles
Genre:

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