This is enjoyable hokum, that could well have inspired John Carpenter's "Big Trouble In Little China". Leatrice Joy lets all emotional stops out as the white girl raised by Chinese, who doesn't know she's white. And it's not surprising as she is made up to look Chinese. But true to racist beliefs of 1921 she falls in love with one of her own - a rich white boy played sweetly by J. Frank Glendon. But Leatrice is pledged to the evil Wallace Beery, in Chinese make-up. So it all turns into a race for the altar involving a torture room where the walls and roof close in on you. Great fun, if you excuse the racism, and with a fabulous design by Cedric Gibbons - Joy's costumes are exquisite. Set in the Chinatown of a city in the American west, guess which?
3 Reviews
Frank Lloyd to the rescue!
JohnHowardReid1 January 2018
Warning: Spoilers
Director: FRANK LLOYD. Story: Gouverneur Morris. Screen-play: J.E. Nash, Charles Kenyon. Cameraman: Norbert Brodin. Art director: Cedric Gibbons. Assistant director: Harry Weil.
Copyright 17 March 1921 by Goldwyn Pictures. 5,649 feet. 6 reels.
SYNOPSIS: Young collector (J. Frank Glendon) falls in love with a "Chinese" girl (Leatrice Joy)..
COMMENT: Another watchable 6/10, 5-reel Kodascope dupe from Grapevine, this one moves fast. I suspect that all of Wallace Beery's footage has been retained, but cuts have certainly been made to Glendon's role. He was originally billed as the star!
Leatrice Joy handles her difficult assignment convincingly, while Beery of course is in his element as the super-treacherous Ling Jo.
Lloyd's direction is as assured and confident in its action scenes as it is with the now-brief romantic episodes.
As with The Penalty, Morris' story is set in San Francisco. In this film, scenes are staged in Chinatown!
Copyright 17 March 1921 by Goldwyn Pictures. 5,649 feet. 6 reels.
SYNOPSIS: Young collector (J. Frank Glendon) falls in love with a "Chinese" girl (Leatrice Joy)..
COMMENT: Another watchable 6/10, 5-reel Kodascope dupe from Grapevine, this one moves fast. I suspect that all of Wallace Beery's footage has been retained, but cuts have certainly been made to Glendon's role. He was originally billed as the star!
Leatrice Joy handles her difficult assignment convincingly, while Beery of course is in his element as the super-treacherous Ling Jo.
Lloyd's direction is as assured and confident in its action scenes as it is with the now-brief romantic episodes.
As with The Penalty, Morris' story is set in San Francisco. In this film, scenes are staged in Chinatown!
All aboard for Chinatown!
JohnHowardReid1 January 2018
Warning: Spoilers
Director: FRANK LLOYD. Story: Gouverneur Morris. Screen-play: J.E. Nash, Charles Kenyon. Cameraman: Norbert Brodin. Art director: Cedric Gibbons. Assistant director: Harry Weil.
Copyright 17 March 1921 by Goldwyn Pictures. 5,649 feet. 6 reels.
SYNOPSIS: Young collector (J. Frank Glendon) falls in love with a "Chinese" girl (Leatrice Joy)..
COMMENT: Another watchable 6/10, 5-reel Kodascope dupe from Grapevine, this one moves fast. I suspect that all of Wallace Beery's footage has been retained, but cuts have certainly been made to Glendon's role. He was originally billed as the star!
Leatrice Joy handles her difficult assignment convincingly, while Beery of course is in his element as the super-treacherous Ling Jo.
Lloyd's direction is as assured and confident in its action scenes as it is with the now-brief romantic episodes. As with The Penalty, Morris' story is set in San Francisco. In this film, scenes are staged in Chinatown!
Copyright 17 March 1921 by Goldwyn Pictures. 5,649 feet. 6 reels.
SYNOPSIS: Young collector (J. Frank Glendon) falls in love with a "Chinese" girl (Leatrice Joy)..
COMMENT: Another watchable 6/10, 5-reel Kodascope dupe from Grapevine, this one moves fast. I suspect that all of Wallace Beery's footage has been retained, but cuts have certainly been made to Glendon's role. He was originally billed as the star!
Leatrice Joy handles her difficult assignment convincingly, while Beery of course is in his element as the super-treacherous Ling Jo.
Lloyd's direction is as assured and confident in its action scenes as it is with the now-brief romantic episodes. As with The Penalty, Morris' story is set in San Francisco. In this film, scenes are staged in Chinatown!
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