The Toll of the Sea

The Toll Of The Sea is a silent film directed by Chester M. Franklin in 1922. It was produced by the Technicolor Motion Picture Corporation and features Anna May Wong in her first leading role as Lotus Flower. The story sounds like a familiar one. It's about a Chinese woman who meets a seaman, Allen Carver and they fall in love. They end up getting married but then he receives a notice that he has to return back to America immediately. Lotus Flower is devastated and insists that he come back for her; she wont forget him and she will be waiting. Days turn into months, months turn into years, and Allen has not returned. Lotus Flower has a son that he doesn't even know is his. As if it can't get any worse, Allen has married someone else, an American woman. She insists that Allen and her return back to China to tell Lotus Flower what has happened and that he is no longer with her. When Lotus Flower finds  out about her “husband” arriving, she is ecstatic. She doesn’t know that he is married to someone else. She makes sure her and her son are well pampered and dressed nice for his arrival. Once she meets Allen again, she hugs him and tells him that she missed him so much and her heart is bursting with tears of happiness. He begins to tell her that he is not her honorable husband and that he returned with his wife. Lotus flower is very upset, but she is kind and invites Allen and his wife to tea. At that time she presents her son but doesn’t say at the moment that it is Allen’s. Elsie, Allen’s wife, and Lotus Flower sit down together and she tells the whole story. Lotus Flower tells her to take her son so that he could have a good life in America with his father. The film was very easy to understand even though it was silent. The story was realistic as well. I am not fond of silent films that much but this one I really liked. I was captivated by the romance story, but felt really bad for Lotus Flower in the end. I do wish Allen ended up with her.