The Toll of the Sea

1922

China, Chinese, Interracial, Stereotype, Two Strip Technicolor, Madame Butterfly, suicide, bigamy, films, Silent, technicolor, first, color, film

From the Wikipedia entry for "The Toll of the Sea": "The Toll of the Sea is a 1922 American motion picture, directed by Chester M. Franklin, produced by the Technicolor Motion Picture Corporation, and released by Metro Pictures in 1922, featuring Anna May Wong in her first leading role. It was the eighth color feature film, the second Technicolor feature, the first color feature made in Hollywood, and the first color feature anywhere that did not require a special projector to be shown. The original camera negative survives except for the final 2 reels. In 1985 the UCLA Film and Television Archive preserved the film from the original 35 mm nitrate negative. Because modern film technology was used to create a color print instead of the original Technicolor Process 2, which involved cementing together two film strips base to base, the resulting image quality is likely better than the original prints appeared." Original text can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Toll_of_the_Sea License terms for re-use of this text can be found at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

File:The Toll of the Sea (1922).webm
The Toll of the Sea (1922) is an American drama film, directed by Chester Franklin, produced by the Technicolor, released by Metro Pictures Corporation, and featuring Anna May Wong in her first leading role.
The film was written by Frances Marion and directed by Chester M. Franklin (brother of director Sidney Franklin (director)), with the lead roles played by Anna May Wong and Kenneth Harlan. The plot was a variation of the Madama Butterfly story, set in China instead of Japan.

Plot

When young Lotus Flower sees an unconscious man floating in the water near the seashore, she quickly gets help for him. The man is Allen Carver, an American visiting China. Soon the two have fallen in love, and Carver promises to take her with him when he returns home. But Carver's friends discourage him from doing this, and he returns to the USA alone.
By the time the two of them meet again a few years later, much has changed: Lotus Flower has a young son by Carver, but he has returned to China with a wife. Lotus Flower is reluctantly persuaded that her son would be better raised with his father in America. After they leave with the boy, Lotus Flower wades into the sea and drowns. The film ends with a title stating FINIS.

Cast

Anna May Wong as Lotus Flower
Kenneth Harlan as Allen Carver
Beatrice Bentley as Barbara 'Elsie' Carver
Priscilla Moran as Little Allen (as Baby Moran)
Etta Lee as Second Gossip
Ming Young as First Gossip

Production

The film was the second Technicolor feature, the first color feature made in Hollywood, and the first color feature anywhere that did not require a special projector to be shown. The original camera negative survives except for the final two reels. The film premiered on 26 November 1922 at the Rialto Theatre in New York City, and went into general release on 22 January 1923.

Category:1922 films
Category:1920s drama films
Category:American films
Category:English-language films
Category:American silent feature films
Category:Silent films in color
Category:Metro Pictures films
Category:Interracial romance films

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