The Toll of the Sea (1922)

While visiting China, an American man falls in love with a young Chinese woman, but he then has second thoughts about the relationship.

Director:

Chester M. Franklin

Writer:

Frances Marion (story)

Stars:

Anna May Wong, Kenneth Harlan, Beatrice Bentley

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Anna May Wong	...	Lotus Flower
Kenneth Harlan	...	Allen Carver
Beatrice Bentley	...	Barbara Carver
Priscilla Moran	...	Little Allen (as Baby Moran)
Etta Lee	...	Gossip
Ming Young	...	Gossip

Storyline

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, much has changed, and their reunion proves very trying for them both.

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Plot Keywords:

china | chinese | asian | bigamy | rescue | 

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Genres:

Drama | Family | Fantasy | Mystery | Romance

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

USA

Release Date:

22 January 1923 (USA)

Also Known As:

A tenger vámja

Company Credits

Production Co:

Technicolor

Technical Specs

Runtime:

54 min 53 min (1985 alternate)

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Color (2-strip Technicolor) (Process Number Two)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Believed to have been lost in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's Vault fire in 1967.

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Quotes

Title Card: Perhaps it was the Springtime - but the girl seemed very beautiful in the boy's eyes - and so he had lingered on.

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Alternate Versions

In 1985, this film was restored using original negative materials, by Richard Dayton and Pete Comandini of the YCM Laboratories, and Robert Gitt of the UCLA Film and Television Archives, using funds from the AFI/NEA Film Preservation Program. Because the last 3-minute sequence of the Pacific Ocean was missing, it was re-shot using Frances Marion's titles from her scenario and an authentic 2-strip Technicolor camera. The film ran 53 minutes plus about one minute of explanatory information and restoration credits.

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Connections

Featured in Anna May Wong, Frosted Yellow Willows: Her Life, Times and Legend (2007)

User Reviews

lovely little film

This silent pic has a young American washed ashore in Asia and rescued by beautiful local Anna May Wong. One thing leads to another, but eventually he goes home to the USA, leaving his Chinese wife behind with a baby on the way. Obviously inspired by Mme Butterfly but set in China, rather than Japan, it has no singing but that's OK.

Victoria saw this 10 yrs ago at MOMA, with no music. In 12/01 it has played Turner Classic Movies as part of the "Treasures from American Film Archives" package, from a nicely-restored Tech print and with a musical score added. (I hope she didn't miss it!) The very end of the pic is lost, but there is a resourceful solution which actually works effectively. Little-known picture is definitely worth your time, and not just for the novelty of seeing a silent in 2-strip Technicolor.

Wong is terrific in the lead and the film is very well made by director Franklin -- not exactly a household name at my household, but a competent helmer with a nicely understated touch. The pictures aren't quite Maurice Tourneur but the performances could be. Cast is small, with just 3 principals plus a child and a couple of character women, and all do fine work here. TOLL is also newly available in a DVD set paralleling the "Treasures" special feature on TCM, and there are many other gems, large and small, in the package, but this particular picture really is a treat.