Norma Talmadge deserved credit just for attempting her difficult part in this film, "The Forbidden City". In it, she plays dual roles: a Chinese woman San San and, then, her own biracial daughter, Toy. Near the end, she even plays the daughter dressing and pretending to be her mother! The earlier part as San San is certainly the more challenging, as Talmadge is required to attempt to look Chinese; for the half-Chinese half-American daughter, they forgo trying to disguise any of her Caucasian appearance. Acting a character of another race is always problematic and potentially offensive (and Talmdage wasn't the only one to do so in this film), but, perhaps, has been appealing to actors for the challenge. Unfortunately, I think Talmadge as San San doesn't fare well in comparison to better similar trials, such as Richard Barthelmess's sensitive Chinese man in "Broken Blossoms" (1919). Moreover, much of the film is offensive yellow peril tripe.
In "The Forbidden City", China is an exotic land full of pleasure gardens and evil men, with the exception of the one who rescues the daughter, I guess. As with so many other similar movies, miscegenation is treated as a curiosity. There are goofy intertitles such as "Oh, Buddha, please send love-man here to give me million sweet kisses." Why the writers imitate Chinese people speaking broken English while in their native country is beyond me. Additionally, this picture is otherwise a rather unappealingly sensational melodrama with a dragging pace despite lasting little more than an hour. The baby daughter almost appears out of nowhere, as a surprise, since sex and pregnancy are until that scene not fully acknowledged. From there, the picture contains a few more such sensational shocks.
On the other hand, "The Forbidden City" displays good production values, with opulent set designs and, even, titling that's more artsy than usual for before the 1920s. Talmadge may not be as well known today as other silent film stars, but she was a major star during the silent era, as this expensive production indicates. Hopefully, with the upcoming Kino release, that situation will change. For me, having now seen five of Talmadge's early features, I have an appetite for more of her work, despite this part having been too much of a stretch and the film, overall, unsatisfactory. To view Talmadge, as of now, I recommend the more comedic "The Social Secretary" (1916) or, for melodrama, "The Safety Curtain" (1918).
In "The Forbidden City", China is an exotic land full of pleasure gardens and evil men, with the exception of the one who rescues the daughter, I guess. As with so many other similar movies, miscegenation is treated as a curiosity. There are goofy intertitles such as "Oh, Buddha, please send love-man here to give me million sweet kisses." Why the writers imitate Chinese people speaking broken English while in their native country is beyond me. Additionally, this picture is otherwise a rather unappealingly sensational melodrama with a dragging pace despite lasting little more than an hour. The baby daughter almost appears out of nowhere, as a surprise, since sex and pregnancy are until that scene not fully acknowledged. From there, the picture contains a few more such sensational shocks.
On the other hand, "The Forbidden City" displays good production values, with opulent set designs and, even, titling that's more artsy than usual for before the 1920s. Talmadge may not be as well known today as other silent film stars, but she was a major star during the silent era, as this expensive production indicates. Hopefully, with the upcoming Kino release, that situation will change. For me, having now seen five of Talmadge's early features, I have an appetite for more of her work, despite this part having been too much of a stretch and the film, overall, unsatisfactory. To view Talmadge, as of now, I recommend the more comedic "The Social Secretary" (1916) or, for melodrama, "The Safety Curtain" (1918).
