Release CalendarTop 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV NewsIndia TV Spotlight
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsBest Picture WinnersBest Picture WinnersEmmysHispanic & Latino VoicesSTARmeter AwardsSan Diego Comic-ConNew York Comic-ConSundance Film FestivalToronto Int'l Film FestivalAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • All
  • Titles
  • TV Episodes
  • Celebs
  • Companies
  • Keywords
  • Advanced Search
Watchlist
Sign In
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
IMDbPro

Drifting

  • 19231923
  • 1h 10m
IMDb RATING
6.7/10
62
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
122,835
72,258
Priscilla Dean in Drifting (1923)
Drama
In Shanghai, an American girl smuggling opium is put under surveillance by an American agent disguised as a mining engineer. The two fall in love, and she determines to get out of the drug b... Read allIn Shanghai, an American girl smuggling opium is put under surveillance by an American agent disguised as a mining engineer. The two fall in love, and she determines to get out of the drug business, but she is afraid of the man who is the head of the drug ring for which she worke... Read allIn Shanghai, an American girl smuggling opium is put under surveillance by an American agent disguised as a mining engineer. The two fall in love, and she determines to get out of the drug business, but she is afraid of the man who is the head of the drug ring for which she worked.
IMDb RATING
6.7/10
62
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
122,835
72,258
  • Director
    • Tod Browning
  • Writers
    • Daisy H. Andrews(play)
    • Gardner Bradford(titles)
    • Tod Browning
  • Stars
    • Priscilla Dean
    • Matt Moore
    • Wallace Beery
Top credits
  • Director
    • Tod Browning
  • Writers
    • Daisy H. Andrews(play)
    • Gardner Bradford(titles)
    • Tod Browning
  • Stars
    • Priscilla Dean
    • Matt Moore
    • Wallace Beery
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 3User reviews
    • 8Critic reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Photos

    Wallace Beery, William V. Mong, and Anna May Wong in Drifting (1923)
    Drifting (1923)
    Add photo

    Top cast

    Edit
    Priscilla Dean
    Priscilla Dean
    • Cassie Cook…
    Matt Moore
    Matt Moore
    • Capt. Arthur Jarvis
    Wallace Beery
    Wallace Beery
    • Jules Repin
    J. Farrell MacDonald
    J. Farrell MacDonald
    • Murphy
    Rose Dione
    Rose Dione
    • Madame Polly Voo
    Edna Tichenor
    Edna Tichenor
    • Molly Norton
    William V. Mong
    William V. Mong
    • Dr. Li
    Anna May Wong
    Anna May Wong
    • Rose Li
    Bruce Guerin
    • Billy Hepburn
    Marie De Albert
    • Mrs. Hepburn
    William F. Moran
    • Mr. Hepburn
    Frank Lanning
    Frank Lanning
    • Chang Wang
    Willie Fung
    Willie Fung
    • Chinese Policeman
    • (uncredited)
    Bynunsky Hyman
    • Chinese Police Officer
    • (uncredited)
    Bessie Wong
    • Chinese Girl
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Tod Browning
    • Writers
      • Daisy H. Andrews(play)
      • Gardner Bradford(titles)
      • Tod Browning
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      A Jewel Production. Universal, not owning a theater chain, devised a 3-tiered brand system that helped it market its feature product to independent theater owners: Red Feather (low-budget), Bluebird (mainstream releases) and Jewel (prestige productions). Jewels would often receive special promotion and be marketed with an eye for higher roadshow ticket prices. The studio would cease this brand-driven marketing system in late 1929.
    • Connections
      Referenced in Anna May Wong, Frosted Yellow Willows: Her Life, Times and Legend (2007)

    User reviews3

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    6/10
    And The Title?
    Priscilla Dean wants to get out of China, so she agrees to go to a small village with Wallace Beery and smuggle out some opium. Matt Moore is present, supposedly to reopen the local mine, but really to crack down singlehandedly on the opium trade. And everyone knows it.

    There are several things about the movie I don't care for, among them the sense-free title, and Bruce Guerin as the little kid who rushes in during the final battle, seemingly expressly to stop Miss Dean from destroying the opium and to strangle her while she is trying to shoot murderous opium dealers who are trying to burn the building she has taken refuge in, and to shoot her. In fact, the movie looks to have been chopped down somewhere along the way; while the opening sequence in Shanghai is well paced, the village sequence seems to lose most of its cohesion.

    Still, there are pleasures in this example of Tod Browning directing Miss Dean as a shady lady. There's Wallace Beery in his villainous phase; there's J. Farrell McDonald as a drunken Irishman, making fun of the toupee he wears; and 18-year-old Anna May Wong gives a performance that seems sedate most of the time, but reveals passion.

    The excellence of the print made it clear why they used to tint and tone so much in the silent era: it makes the scenes pop out, like the red in the battle-and-fire scenes, and the green in the night scenes; apparently there were other choices than blue to show the world was dark.

    For a major production, this one has not aged particularly well, with its yellowface performers, and characters, like Master Guerin's parents, who simply disappear from the film. Still, it has its pleasures.
    helpful•2
    0
    • boblipton
    • Aug 7, 2022

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • August 26, 1923 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Languages
      • None
      • English
    • Also known as
      • No Turbilhão
    • Filming locations
      • Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA
    • Production company
      • Universal Pictures
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 10 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Sound mix
      • Silent
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.33 : 1

    Related news

    Contribute to this page

    Suggest an edit or add missing content
    Priscilla Dean in Drifting (1923)
    Top Gap
    What is the English language plot outline for Drifting (1923)?
    Answer
    • See more gaps
    • Learn more about contributing
    Edit page

    More to explore

    View image
    Photos
    Trending: Stars to Watch
    See the gallery
    View list
    List
    IMDb's Top 50 TV Dramas
    See the full list
    View image
    Photos
    We Love These Hollywood Power Couples
    See the gallery

    Recently viewed

    Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
    Get the IMDb App
    Sign in for more access
    Sign in for more access
    • Get the IMDb App
    • Help
    • Site Index
    • IMDbPro
    • Box Office Mojo
    • IMDb Developer
    • Press Room
    • Advertising
    • Jobs
    • Conditions of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Interest-Based Ads
    IMDb, an Amazon company

    © 1990-2022 by IMDb.com, Inc.