Broke in China

19271927
Not RatedNot Rated
20m

IMDb RATING

5.6/10

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

1,009,423

454,764

William McCall, Dave Morris, and Ben Turpin in Broke in China (1927)

Comedy Short

Donald Drake, a deep sea gondolier ex soda jerk, arrives at the All Nation Cafe in Shanghai. The proprietor believes he's a penniless ne'er-do-well - which he is - but he unexpectedly comes ... Read allDonald Drake, a deep sea gondolier ex soda jerk, arrives at the All Nation Cafe in Shanghai. The proprietor believes he's a penniless ne'er-do-well - which he is - but he unexpectedly comes into a small windfall. So the proprietor orders slightly rough around the edges Maud and M... Read allDonald Drake, a deep sea gondolier ex soda jerk, arrives at the All Nation Cafe in Shanghai. The proprietor believes he's a penniless ne'er-do-well - which he is - but he unexpectedly comes into a small windfall. So the proprietor orders slightly rough around the edges Maud and Mollie, two of his American good time girls working their way around the world, to get him ... Read all

IMDb RATING

5.6/10

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

1,009,423

454,764

Director
- Edward F. Cline
Writers
- Al Giebler(titles)
- George Jeske
- Harry McCoy
Stars

Top credits

See production, box office & company info

3User reviews

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Quotes
Proprietor of All Nations Cafe: If those Gentlemen have no money - throw the bums out!

User reviews3

Review

Featured review

4/10

Where are the laughs?!

This is a short from Mack Sennett that stars Ben Turpin. Apart from his crossed eyes, I really can't see what Turpin had to offer from this one. It is set, supposedly, in China. You do start with a nice shot of a Chinese street but the rest is shot on some sound stage and all the 'Chinese' are white folks who don't look the least bit Chinese. There isn't a ton of plot in this one. Ben doesn't realize he's gambling and while he has lots of unfunny flashback scenes, he continues to win more and more money. And, at the end, he learns something odd about the B-girls that are trying to separate him and his friend from their money. All in all, the film is without laughs and is very talky--something pretty odd for a silent comedy. You can do better than this one.

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