Broken Blossoms (1919)

Saturday March 22nd, 2025 – 2:00 pm
The Hollywood Theatre
4122 North East Sandy
Portland, OR 97212

Hollywood organist Dean Lemire will be performing his original score on the Mighty Wurlitzer pipe organ.

Starring legendary actress Lillian Gish, who lights up the screen in one of her most famous and critically acclaimed roles.

Directed by D.W. Griffith, BROKEN BLOSSOMS is considered his most tragic, serious, poetic, intricate and melodramatic film…yet with a soft-focus, and unique ethereal quality. Controversial and groundbreaking, as one of the first films to feature an interracial love affair.

The film tells the story of a mystical, fragile romance in London’s foggy slums between a young, gentle, opium-addicted Chinese man (Richard Barthelmess as Cheng Huan) and an illegitimate Cockney waif (Lillian Gish as Lucy Burrows), who is abused by her brutish, bigoted prize-fighting father. The purest dreams of the couple, both ‘broken blossoms’, are destroyed by the sordid reality of racism.

“Griffith in 1919 was the unchallenged king of serious American movies (only C.B. DeMille rivaled him in fame), and BROKEN BLOSSOMS was seen as brave and controversial. What remains today is the artistry of the production, the ethereal quality of Lillian Gish, the broad appeal of the melodrama, and its social impact. Films like this…helped nudge a xenophobic nation toward racial tolerance.” – Roger Ebert


“Pure Griffith poetry, marvelous use of light and shadow in cameraman Billy Bitzer’s evocation of foggy Limehouse, and a truly unforgettable performance from Gish” – Tom Mile, Time Out

Rotton Tomatoes: 
95% Tomatometer          
71% Popcorn Meter

Purchase Tickets at https://hollywoodtheatre.org/show/broken-blossoms/

Run time: 107 mins
Format: Digital