The Film Daily (1918)

Thursday, July 11, 1918 DAILY Japanese Star in Artistic Production of Rather Grim Tragedy Sessue Hayakawa in "THE CITY OF DIM FACES" Paramount DIRECTOR George H. Melford AUTHOR Frances Marion SCENARIO BY Frances Marion CAMERAMAN Paul P. Perry ART DIRECTOR Wilfred Buckland AS A WHOLE Artistically produced meller laid in Frisco's Chinatown; contains no comedy relief. STORY Son of American=Chinese marriage, falls in love with white girl but kills self rather than accept her offer of marriage. DIRECTION Gave excellent atmosphere and made this hold all the way. PHOTOGRAPHY Exceedingly fine LIGHTINGS Superb CAMERA WORK Intelligent throughout STAR Won both hatred and sympathy as Chinese=American. SUPPORT Very fine. Some excellent Chinese characters. EXTERIORS Authentic and well photographed INTERIORS Lavish and true to atmosphere DETAIL Very good CHARACTER OF STORY. .Handled American girl with Chinese lover proposition in a way that kept it from becoming offensive or stirring up race hatred. LENGTH OF PRODUCTION 4,219 feet THIS is another instance where we get a wonderfully artistic and intelligently handled production of a tli erne that is rather questionable as entertainment at this time. Certainly your patrons will have no fault to find with this picture from a production standpoint and the Chinese-American situation has been handled in a manner that will keep it from creating race hatred, but to my mind, the story is too heavy to be accepted by present-day audiences as entertainment. "The Cheat", in which this talented star began to acquire an individual following, proved an unustial boxoffice attraction at that time and I think that this offering compares very favorably with that production. Times and conditions have changed, however, and the way this will be received depends entirely upon whether your audiences will accept a heavy story with no comedy relief and feel that they have been entertained. Frankly, this is a tragedy— it cannot be called anything else. The story concerns a Chinese silk merchant in Frisco who weds a white woman in his employ, that he may have a son to carry on his business in later years, who. being born of a white mother, would "combine the physical charms of the white man with the intellect and cunning of the Oriental." When the son is born, the father orders the mother thrown in a dungeon under his shop, determining that the son shall never know that he is of white blood. The horrors of the dungeon drive the mother insane and she continually nurses a doll in the belief that it is her son. The grown son, played by Hayakawa. is sent East to college, where he falls in love with a white girl, Doris Pawn, whose father is a silk importer. Business with the Orientals brings the father and daughter to Frisco, where Hayakawa's intimacy with Doris is renewed. The father, knowing that this will assist him in his business, raises no objections to Hayakawa's attentions to his daughter. Larry Steers, a Westerner who is interested in Doris, is horrified at her intimacy with a Chinese, and to separate the pair, takes her on frequent trips to Frisco's Chinatown, where he points out the filthiness of the race. Doris sees her mistake and tells Hayakawa that she will see him no more. Doris' father g'oes to New York, leaving his daughter in Frisco, and Hayakawa. for revenge, lures her to a secret chamber and after drugging her. makes her a prisoner and finally sells her to the keeper of the marriage market. Later, he learns that his mother is a white woman and rescues Doris, who forgives him and offers to marry him. He sees his mother, now an insane hag, for the first time, and realizing that his marriage would only be a repetition of what has gone before, kills himself rather than face her again. James Cruze, as Hayakawa's father, was exceptionally convincing as a Chinese willun, while Marin Sais was very good as his pitiful white wife. Others who appeared were Winter Hall, Togo Yama. James Wang and George King. Play Up Name of Star and Support and Soft Pedal the Sordid Theme The Box Office Analysis for the Exhibitor This talented Japanese actor has a remarkable following in many communities, usually appearing in heavy roles such as we have in this and were it not for the fact that present conditions should receive consideration in presenting this class of entertainment, I think most audiences would admire him in this. Although the ending is logical, it is certainly sad and although American audiences would rather see him die than become the husband of a white girl at the finish, the last scene, showing the star dead at the feet of his insane white mother will certainly put your gang in a gloomy state of mind after witnessing this. If you play the production, I would advise booking a good comedy in conjunction with it to lighten up the program. If your audiences appreciate artistic photography and superb settings, you can certainly go the limit on this angle in your advertising because this has been unusually well produced. I wouldn't dwell on the story in my advertising because I am sure that folks are not out looking for heavy entertainment these days. I would play up the name of the star, mentioning some of his recent successes, and would also give considerable prominence to Doris Pawn, who appears to very good advantage in this production. The title certainly does not create the impression that this is light entertainment, so you will have no alibis to offer if you go after your advertising on this basis.