''Drifting'' is a 1923 American silent

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

based on the Broadway play ''Drifting'', by John Colton and Daisy H. Andrews. The play had starred

Robert Warwick Robert Warwick (born Robert Taylor Bien; October 9, 1878 – June 6, 1964) was an American stage, film and television actor with over 200 film appearances. A matinee idol during the silent film era, he also prospered after the introduction ...

and

Alice Brady Alice Brady (born Mary Rose Brady; November 2, 1892 – October 28, 1939) was an American actress of stage and film. She began her career in the theatre in 1911, and her first important success came on Broadway in 1912 when she created the rol ...

. The film was directed by

Tod Browning Tod Browning (born Charles Albert Browning Jr.; July 12, 1880 – October 6, 1962) was an American film director, film actor, screenwriter, vaudeville performer, and carnival sideshow and circus entertainer. He directed a number of films of var ...

and features

Priscilla Dean Priscilla Dean (November 25, 1896 – December 27, 1987) was an American actress popular in silent film as well as in theatre, with a career spanning two decades. Career Dean made her film debut at the age of fourteen in one-reelers for Biograph ...

Wallace Beery Wallace Fitzgerald Beery (April 1, 1885 – April 15, 1949) was an American film and stage actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Bill in '' Min and Bill'' (1930) opposite Marie Dressler, as General Director Preysing in '' Grand Hotel'' (1 ...

, and

Anna May Wong Wong Liu Tsong (January 3, 1905 – February 3, 1961), known professionally as Anna May Wong, was an American actress, considered the first Chinese American film star in Hollywood, as well as the first Chinese American actress to gain internat ...

. It was produced and distributed by

Universal Pictures Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American filmmaking, film production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered at the 10 Universal Ci ...

Plot

Cassie Cook has been selling opium in Shanghai but bad luck has compelled her to team up with her biggest rival, Jules Repin. The horror of the opium trade weighs on her and she determines to quit the trade and leave China before it is too late. Believing in Repin's promise that he has a big shipment of opium coming in, she has bought a lot of new gowns on credit and is unable to pay for them. She also needs money to pay for passage home for a friend, Molly Morton, whose growing opium habit has left her an invalid. After betting on a "sure thing" in the races and losing, Cassie determines to make her way to Hang Chow, a trouble-infested village near the poppy fields, to try to trace the opium shipment Repin expected. There she finds Captain Arthur Jarvis, who is supposed to be opening an abandoned mine but is in fact a government inspector seeking the den of the dope dealers. Cassie poses as a novelist, and Jarvis, who is attracted to her, reveals his true mission. Cassie, who has fallen in love with Jarvis, is on the verge of telling him all when Repin and his Chinese confederates arrive and stir up local rebels against Jarvis. The rebels attack and set fire to the settlement. Repin, on the verge of killing Jarvis, is shot by Rose Li, the daughter of one of Repin's associates, who is also in love with Jarvis. Jarvis and Cassie escape, taking with them the young son of a missionary.

Cast

Production

Copies of ''Drifting'' are located in the

Gosfilmofond Gosfilmofond is a state film archive in Russia. It is the main film archive of the Russian Federation and a member of the International Federation of Film Archives (FIAF). It is a state cultural institution — curator of films collection and ot ...

of Moscow and in the

George Eastman House Motion Picture Collection The George Eastman Museum Motion Picture Collection in Rochester, New York comprises about 28,000 titles, including features, shorts, documentaries, newsreels, and experimental moving images. The collection is renowned for its holdings of silent f ...

. In 2012 the

National Film Preservation Foundation The National Film Preservation Foundation (NFPF) is an independent, nonprofit organization created by the U.S. Congress to help save America's film heritage. Growing from a national planning effort led by the Library of Congress, the NFPF began o ...

awarded a grant to preserve a print that has Czech language

intertitles In films and videos, an intertitle, also known as a title card, is a piece of filmed, printed text edited into the midst of (hence, ''inter-'') the photographed action at various points. Intertitles used to convey character dialogue are referred ...

which were translated back into English.

References

External links

* {{Tod Browning 1923 films 1923 drama films American silent feature films American black-and-white films Silent American drama films American films based on plays Films directed by Tod Browning Films set in China Universal Pictures films 1920s American films

Plot

Cast

Production

See also

References

External links