Free Screening of Broken Blossoms (1919) at Regent Street Cinema – 3/3/17

As part of the University of Westminster’s current Difference Festival the Regent Street Cinema is screening the 1919 film Broken Blossoms this Friday (3/3/17) at 5.30pm – admission is free and you get an introduction by Dr Anne Witchard (Thomas Burke’s Dark Chinoiserie and Lao She in London) and organ accompaniment by Donald Mackenzie. If you haven’t seen the film (directed by DW Griffith and starring Lillian Gish and Richard Bathelmess) you should – if for nothing else than it is an adaptation of one of Thomas Burke’s Limehouse Nights stories. Also, if you have visited the marvelously restored Regent Street Cinema this is a golden opportunity…booking (though it’s free) is here…

Cheng Huan is a missionary whose goal is to bring the teachings of peace by Buddha to the civilized Anglo-Saxons. Upon landing in England, he is quickly disillusioned by the intolerance and apathy of the country. He becomes a storekeeper of a small shop. Out his window, he sees the young Lucy Burrows. She is regularly beaten by her prizefighter father, underfed and wears ragged clothes. Even in this deplorable condition, Cheng can see that she is a priceless beauty and he falls in love with her from afar. On the day that she passes out in front of his store, he takes her in and cares for her. With nothing but love in his heart, he dresses her in silks and provides food for her. Still weak, she stays in his shop that night and all that Cheng does is watch over her. The peace and happiness that he sees last only until Battling Burrows finds out that his daughter is with a foreigner.