Date and Time
- Saturday, Nov 14, 2026 1:15pm
Details
4K Restoration | Intro by film historian David Stenn | Live musical accompaniment by Makia Matsumura
Dorothy Mackaill achieved stardom with her exceptional performance in this torrid melodrama. When the wastrel son (George O’Brien) of a rich businessman is cast loose to make his own way, he plunges into drink, violence and dissipation. When he meets a cabaret dancer (Mackaill), a fellow lost soul, she attempts to save him but is dragged down herself until they both hit rock bottom and reunite at a Shanghai opium den. The power of their shared love leads to a fragile chance at renewal, but she has to face the cold scrutiny of his respectable family. Alternately tough and deeply tender, the film presents the brutality of the human condition with an unusual emotional ferocity. Mackaill’s performance of a woman battered by degradation, yet slowly restored through love, is tremendously moving.
