The Toll of the Sea
Encyclopedia
The Toll of the Sea is an American drama film
, directed by Chester M. Franklin, produced by the Technicolor Motion Picture Corporation
, released by Metro Pictures, and featuring Anna May Wong
in her first leading role.
The Toll of the Sea was the eighth color feature film
, after With Our King and Queen Through India
(1912), The World, the Flesh and the Devil
(1914), and Little Lord Fauntleroy (1914), all in Kinemacolor
; The Gulf Between
(1917), in Technicolor; Cupid Angling
(1918), in Douglass Natural Color
; and Our Navy (1917) and The Glorious Adventure
(1922), in Prizmacolor
.
The film was the second Technicolor
feature, the first color feature made in Hollywood, and the first color feature anywhere that did not require a special projector to be shown. The original camera negative
survives except for the final two reels. The film premiered on 26 November 1922 at the Rialto Theatre in New York City
, and went into general release on 22 January 1923.
In 1985, the UCLA Film and Television Archive
preserved the film from the original 35mm nitrate film negative. Because modern film technology was used to create a color print instead of the original Technicolor Process 2, which involved cementing together two film strips base to base, the resulting image quality is better than the original prints appeared.
The Toll of the Sea was written by Frances Marion
and directed by Chester M. Franklin(brother of director Sidney Franklin
), with the lead roles played by Anna May Wong
and Kenneth Harlan. The plot was a variation of the Madame Butterfly
story, set in China instead of Japan.
Because the Technicolor camera divided the lens image into two beams to expose two film frames simultaneously through color filters, and at twice the normal frames per second, much higher lighting levels were needed. All of The Toll of the Sea was shot outdoors, with the one "interior" scene shot in sunlight under a muslin
sheet.
By the time the two of them meet again a few years later, much has changed: Lotus Flower has a young son by Carver, but he has returned to China with a wife. Lotus Flower is reluctantly persuaded that her son would be better raised with his father in America. After they leave with the boy, Lotus Flower wades into the sea and drowns. The film ends with a title stating FINIS.
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
, directed by Chester M. Franklin, produced by the Technicolor Motion Picture Corporation
Technicolor
Technicolor is a color motion picture process invented in 1916 and improved over several decades.It was the second major process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color process in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952...
, released by Metro Pictures, and featuring Anna May Wong
Anna May Wong
Anna May Wong was an American actress, the first Chinese American movie star, and the first Asian American to become an international star...
in her first leading role.
The Toll of the Sea was the eighth color feature film
Feature film
In the film industry, a feature film is a film production made for initial distribution in theaters and being the main attraction of the screening, rather than a short film screened before it; a full length movie...
, after With Our King and Queen Through India
With Our King and Queen Through India
With Our King and Queen Through India is a British documentary. The film is silent and made in the Kinemacolor additive color process....
(1912), The World, the Flesh and the Devil
The World, the Flesh and the Devil (1914 film)
The World, the Flesh and the Devil was a British silent drama film, and was the world's first dramatic feature film to be photographed in color...
(1914), and Little Lord Fauntleroy (1914), all in Kinemacolor
Kinemacolor
Kinemacolor was the first successful color motion picture process, used commercially from 1908 to 1914. It was invented by George Albert Smith of Brighton, England in 1906. He was influenced by the work of William Norman Lascelles Davidson. It was launched by Charles Urban's Urban Trading Co. of...
; The Gulf Between
The Gulf Between (1917 film)
The Gulf Between was the first motion picture made in Technicolor, the fourth feature-length color movie, and the first feature-length color movie produced in the United States. Today, the film is considered a lost film, with only a few frames of film extant. The Gulf Between was directed by Wray...
(1917), in Technicolor; Cupid Angling
Cupid Angling
Cupid Angling is a silent film, the fifth feature film photographed in color.The film was produced by Leon F. Douglass's National Color Film Company in the Lake Lagunitas area of Marin County, California, and was made in the Douglass Natural Color process, the only feature film made in this process...
(1918), in Douglass Natural Color
Leon Douglass
Leon Forrest Douglass was an American inventor and co-founder of the Victor Talking Machine Company who registered approximately fifty patents, mostly for film and sound recording techniques.-Life and professional career:...
; and Our Navy (1917) and The Glorious Adventure
The Glorious Adventure (1922 film)
The Glorious Adventure is a US/UK feature film directed by J. Stuart Blackton, written by Felix Orman.-Production background:The film was made entirely in Prizmacolor, and starred Lady Diana Manners, Gerald Lawrence, Cecil Humphreys, and Victor McLaglen, and was released by United Artists.Neither...
(1922), in Prizmacolor
Prizma
The Prizma Color system was a technique of color motion picture photography, invented in 1913 by William Van Doren Kelley and Charles Raleigh. Initially, it was a two-color additive color system, similar to its predecessor, Kinemacolor...
.
The film was the second Technicolor
Technicolor
Technicolor is a color motion picture process invented in 1916 and improved over several decades.It was the second major process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color process in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952...
feature, the first color feature made in Hollywood, and the first color feature anywhere that did not require a special projector to be shown. The original camera negative
Original camera negative
The original camera negative is the film in a motion picture camera which captures the original image. This is the film from which all other copies will be made. It is known as raw stock prior to exposure....
survives except for the final two reels. The film premiered on 26 November 1922 at the Rialto Theatre in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, and went into general release on 22 January 1923.
In 1985, the UCLA Film and Television Archive
UCLA Film and Television Archive
The UCLA Film and Television Archive is an internationally renowned visual arts organization focused on the preservation, study, and appreciation of film and television, based at the University of California, Los Angeles. It holds more than 220,000 film and television titles and 27 million feet of...
preserved the film from the original 35mm nitrate film negative. Because modern film technology was used to create a color print instead of the original Technicolor Process 2, which involved cementing together two film strips base to base, the resulting image quality is better than the original prints appeared.
The Toll of the Sea was written by Frances Marion
Frances Marion
Frances Marion was an American journalist, author, and screenwriter often cited as the most renowned female screenwriter of the twentieth century alongside June Mathis and Anita Loos.-Career:...
and directed by Chester M. Franklin(brother of director Sidney Franklin
Sidney Franklin (director)
Sidney Franklin was an American film director and producer. His brother Chester Franklin also became a director during the silent film era best known for helming the early Technicolor film Toll of the Sea....
), with the lead roles played by Anna May Wong
Anna May Wong
Anna May Wong was an American actress, the first Chinese American movie star, and the first Asian American to become an international star...
and Kenneth Harlan. The plot was a variation of the Madame Butterfly
Madama Butterfly
Madama Butterfly is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, with an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. Puccini based his opera in part on the short story "Madame Butterfly" by John Luther Long, which was dramatized by David Belasco...
story, set in China instead of Japan.
Because the Technicolor camera divided the lens image into two beams to expose two film frames simultaneously through color filters, and at twice the normal frames per second, much higher lighting levels were needed. All of The Toll of the Sea was shot outdoors, with the one "interior" scene shot in sunlight under a muslin
Muslin
Muslin |sewing patterns]], such as for clothing, curtains, or upholstery. Because air moves easily through muslin, muslin clothing is suitable for hot, dry climates.- Etymology and history :...
sheet.
Plot
When young Lotus Flower sees an unconscious man floating in the water near the seashore, she quickly gets help for him. The man is Allen Carver, an American visiting China. Soon the two have fallen in love, and Carver promises to take her with him when he returns home. But Carver's friends discourage him from doing this, and he returns to the USA alone.By the time the two of them meet again a few years later, much has changed: Lotus Flower has a young son by Carver, but he has returned to China with a wife. Lotus Flower is reluctantly persuaded that her son would be better raised with his father in America. After they leave with the boy, Lotus Flower wades into the sea and drowns. The film ends with a title stating FINIS.
Cast
- Anna May WongAnna May WongAnna May Wong was an American actress, the first Chinese American movie star, and the first Asian American to become an international star...
as Lotus Flower - Kenneth HarlanKenneth HarlanKenneth Harlan was an American leading man of the silent film era, playing mostly romantic leads or adventurer types.-Career:...
as Allen Carver - Beatrice Bentley as Barbara 'Elsie' Carver
- Priscilla Moran as Little Allen (as Baby Moran)
- Etta Lee as Second Gossip
- Ming Young as First Gossip