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The daughter of a Chinese mandarin is sentenced to death for her secret marriage to an American. Their child, raised in the mandarin's palace, grows up and escapes to seek her father, now a high-ranking official in the Philippines.
CinemaSerf
Jun 6, 2022 · via TMDB
The characterisations here are a bit of a stretch, to be honest. Norma Talmadge is "San San" who is to be a concubine of the Emperor (of China) but who becomes embroiled, and falls in love, with the American Ambassador to the court - "Worden" (Thomas Meighan) with whom she has a child. Needless to say, the Emperor is not best pleased and "San San" is dealt with and the baby "Toy" put out for adoption by a family who disdainfully refer to her as the "American". Talmadge plays both roles, the former a little more plausibly than the latter as the daughter seeks out her father, now a high ranking official in the American-governed Philippines. The story is simple, and probably quite typical of the times when any form of inter-racial relationship was somewhat hypocritically frowned upon. Meighan plays well, he ages well, and his character is decent but the rest of this is heavily staged, badly lit and is a meanderingly paced effort that could have launched the career of ten Max Factor's. The sumptuous court settings of dynastic China have to be presumed as the settings and costumes suggest a very basic budget - even for 1918. It isn't terrible, indeed it is quite ambitious, but for me it felt flat and rather sterile.
User reviews courtesy of TMDB.
Norma Talmadge
San San / Toy
Thomas Meighan
John Worden
E. Alyn Warren
Wong Li
L. Rogers Lytton
Chinese Emperor
Charles Fang
Yuan-Loo
Sidney Franklin
Director
Chastity
A Sinless Sinner
The Dangerous Age
Vaihdokas
Lost and Won
The Sea Hawk
The King of Kings
Bluebeard
A Corner in Wheat
Sniffer
Castles for Two
The Eclipse: Courtship of the Sun and Moon
The Smiling Madame Beudet
Nuori luotsi
The Lash
Oliver Twist
Diplomacy
Heart's Desire
Zombies und Dromomanen - Die blinden Vögel unterwegs
Keechaka Vadham
Gabriel's Inferno
Gabriel's Inferno: Part III
Love Everlasting
The Fugitive Kind
Endless Love
Brand Upon the Brain!
The Sleeping Dictionary
Time Is Up
Ali and Nino
Moonlight Mile
Not Easily Broken
Fire with Fire
Sylvie's Love
Blind
Newness
Hello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between
Maria's Lovers
Wander Darkly
The Golden Bowl
See You Soon
Oct 6, 1918
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Hila
Reversal
2001
Sign in to vote
Battle your watched movies head-to-head
Community Top Movies
Evil Dead II
1987 · 14 wins
The Dark Knight
2008 · 14 wins
Halloween
1978 · 13 wins
Final Destination
2000 · 12 wins
Halloween II
1981 · 11 wins
Trivia
Leaderboard →Playing as a guest — sign in to save your score and rank on the leaderboard.
Movie Trivia
Guess the movie from a clue — tagline, plot, cast and more. Pick from four posters.
What movie experience do you prefer?
What is your favorite movie genre?
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