The Toll of the Sea

USA, 1922. Director Chester M. Franklin. 54min.

An adaptation of the Madame Butterfly story, The Toll of the Sea presents a tale of cross-racial love and loss set amidst the opulent gardens of an exoticised China. The film follows Lotus Flower (played by Anna May Wong in her first leading role), a young Chinese woman who falls in love with an American traveler. Costume and colour are used to highlight a view of East as a land of pleasure and sensuality. Lotus Flower’s vibrant silk dresses in red and green, enhanced by the ‘natural’ process of two-colour Technicolor, connect her Chinese identity and feminine beauty to the natural surroundings. In a failed attempt to assimilate, Lotus Flower shifts to muted Western fashion. Ultimately, though, clothing is unable to change who she is, and she resigns herself to her tragic fate in an exuberantly embroidered silk robe. 

With Anna May Wong and Kenneth Harlan.

Past screenings

Grounded: Fashion’s Entanglements with Nature – London
Friday 23 May 2025, 18:30 | Garden Cinema, Screen 1
With live music by silent film accompanist Stephen Horne, and an introduction by fashion curator Isabella Coraça.

Grounded: Fashion’s Entanglements with Nature – UK Tour
Sunday 21 September 2025, 14:30 | Dundee Contemporary Arts Centre
With live music by silent film accompanist Stephen Horne.