JinRoz For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

Spoonatects Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

Ezmae Chang This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Staci Frederick Blistering performances.

kidboots When talkies came along Richard Barthelmess, who had been a top star from the early 1920s, proved to be one of the very few silent stars whose career, at least initially, went from strength to strength. Not only was he placed 6th in a box office popularity poll in 1931, his salary (in 1933) was one of the highest, being around $8,500 a week, which made it quite easy for Warners to drop him when his contract came up for renewal and his star began to fall. But before then he showed a lot of versatility by tackling roles such as a crusading news reporter ("The Finger Points"), an ex-flyer ("The Last Flight"), a disillusioned war veteran ("Heroes For Sale") and even a share cropper ("The Cabin in the Cotton").Unfortunately it would take all his skill and the allure of his leading lady to get people into the cinema for "Son of the Gods" - a drama about the romance between a sophisticated girl and a wealthy college boy who neglects to tell her of his Oriental parentage. Constance Bennett kept gossip magazines working overtime as she spouted her opinions about marriage, wealth and life in general, so people hurried to the cinema to see the outspoken actress they thought they knew.When Sam Lee (Barthelmess), a wealthy but shy college student invites his "friends" out to an exclusive night club, "The Bird Cage", the evening turns sour when one of the girls finds out that he is - shock!! horror!! - Chinese!! This is the last straw for Sam who realises the only friends he has are those that envy him his wealth. He feels he lacks the humility his father expects of him and decides to sail to Europe, working his way as he goes. He finds employment with Mr. Bathurst, a British writer who uses Sam as a researcher for the Chinese section of the play he is writing. Bathurst knows Sam's history and, unlike the Americans, respects his honor and integrity.Sam meets beautiful Allana Waggner (Bennett) who gives him to understand that if a man has her love it doesn't matter who or what his parentage, she will give her all. Which makes the story very cringe worthy in that when she finds out he is nothing more than a "common Chinaman" she goes off her rocker and attacks him in the cafe with a riding crop!!! This movie doesn't have anything in common with "Broken Blossoms", except to point out that little had changed in the meantime and that in 1930 being Chinese carried the same stigma as being a leper, in white man's eyes. I have seen Constance Bennett in a few films and I was surprised by her amateurish acting at the start - she did improve as the film progressed and was quite good in the scenes where she had to suffer. Apparently "The New York Times" was unimpressed with her histrionics and deliberately referred to her as Constance Talmadge throughout the review.Of course the one person who does treat him as an equal is Eileen (Mildred Van Dorn) a sweet Irish girl who would make him a perfect wife and whose uncle holds the key to Sam's mysterious past but love is blind and Allana's treatment brings him back to America a changed man. He finds his father dead and, fed up with the contempt and treachery of the white race, decides to live as a Chinese man - which includes frequenting Oriental dives!!! He takes over his father's business and his tough and ruthless methods tear down all the good will his father had built up. I suppose to appease the public, the twist at the end, that he was not Chinese but really a foundling (played by the always cute Dickie Moore) taken in by the Lees, didn't mean much as Allana didn't want to know anything about his past but wanted to love him unconditionally.re the Technicolor sequence. I think it was the scene which took place in the back of the car Sam was driving. Suddenly his friends launch into a song "Pretty Little You" (which I can remember from "Sally"), their lips turn dark and their cheeks become "rosy" - all signs that color was used.

wes-connors Wealthy Caucasian-looking Chinese student Richard Barthelmess (as Sam Lee) is accepted by some of his school chums, but many girls shun him when they find out he's really a "Chinaman". Not knowing where he fits in, Mr. Barthelmess drops out of college and sails for Europe. Barthelmess settles in the south of France, assisting English author Claude King (as Mr. Bathurst) with a play he is writing about Chinese culture. Barthelmess is "popular with the ladies," and catches the eye of beautiful blonde Constance Bennett (as Allana Wagner). Perhaps recalling his earlier rejections, Barthelmess does not reveal his Chinese ancestry to Ms. Bennett...Her father Anders Randolf (as Mr. Wagner) wonders about Barthelmess' background but Bennett doesn't care, or does she...Bennett's reaction to the news should not to be missed. You should note that the very next scene begins her turnaround, and that she has transferred feelings to her victim. This trading off of prejudice is artful and interesting; and, for the time, this film takes a positive stand regarding miscegenation. That doesn't make it convincing, however. Barthelmess was a top actor, and placed #8 in "Quigley Publications" 1930 annual money-makers list. He has some good scenes, and the production values are high, but his characterization is askew. Barthelmess was getting too old for the college boy roles. And Bennett is saddled with a difficult to redeem scene.***** Son of the Gods (3/9/30) Frank Lloyd ~ Richard Barthelmess, Constance Bennett, Anders Randolf, E. Alyn Warren

zardoz-13 This early Warner Brothers talkie "Son of the Gods" (1930) deals with the racial intolerance that Anglo-Saxon Americans show towards the Chinese. Chinese-Americans are treated like second-class citizens, and whites hold them in nothing but contempt.Prolific scenarist Bradley King based her screenplay on Rex Beach's novel about a young, impressionable Chinaman, Sam Lee (Richard Barthelmess of "Only Angels Have Wings"), who experiences racial prejudice first-hand when the girls that his college chums bring along for a party reveal their racist sentiments about Sam once they learn about his heritage. Sam goes to his father, Lee Ying (E. Alyn Warren of "Gone With The Wind"), who is a wealthy Chinaman with offices not only in New York City but also in San Francisco. Sam feels deeply wounded by the racial slurs and he wants to leave New York and go where he cannot be hurt by Americans. His patient father warns him that racism is a fact of everyday life and the only solution to racism is tolerance. Sam has yet to learn this lesson. He refuses to take any more money from his father and catches a ship to London, England, peeling potatoes while he is on board.During the trip, he encounters a British playwright, Bathurst (Claude King of "Arrowsmith"), who needs some help writing a play about the Chinese. Sam and he strike up a friendship and Sam furnishes him with cultural information about Asians. While they are relaxing in France, Sam meets a beautiful young woman, Allana Wagner (Constance Bennett of "Two-Faced Woman"), who falls madly in love with him. It seems that Allana and her wealthy father are vacationing in the same motel. Everybody at the motel knows about Sam being a Chinaman with the exception of Allana. Sensitive about his racial heritage, Sam holds Allana at arm's length until she convinces him that nothing could change her mind about him. They fall madly in love together. Allana's father drops the bomb on her when he reveals that Sam is a Chinaman and all the memories of living in San Francisco and dealing with coolies floods Allana's mind. She storms into the dining room at the motel and publicly flogs Sam with a riding crop in front of a room filled with on-lookers.Of course, Sam is terribly devastated by this reversal of events. He thought that Allana loved him but she didn't. About this time, Sam's father Lee Ying falls tragically ill and Ying's secretary of sorts, Eileen (Mildred Van Dorn of "Iron Man") sends Sam a telegram about Ying's illness. Predictably, Sam rushes home to New York to be at his father's side. Since his public humiliation, Sam has vowed to show no kindness to Anglo-Saxon Americans; Eileen is an Irish-Catholic and probably one of his few white friends. Lee Ying dies and Sam assumes control of the business and he practices his anti-White racism, until he learns that he was an Anglo-Saxon foundling that a San Francisco cop on the beat gave to Lee Ying and his wife to bring up. The cop forgot about it until two white busy-bodied social worker types wanted to take Sam away from the Yings. Sam learns this revelation about the same time that Allana comes to New York and falls ill. During her illness, she utters his name repeatedly in her sleep and her devoted father goes to see Sam and requests that Sam visit her in order to help her recover. Unbeknownst to Allana, Sam does visit her and she improves, but she has no memory of his visit, merely a hazy notion. Eventually, Allana learns the truth about Sam not being a Chinaman and they marry and live happily ever after.This socially conscientious Warner Brothers/First National Pictures Release contends frankly and unflinchingly with the race issue for the first hour or thereabouts before the revelation that Sam has no Chinese blood running in his veins catches both him as well as the audience by surprise. The reconciliation between Allana and Sam stretches credibility, despite their self-professed undying love for each other. However, in the name of a happy ending that would erase all the negativity that came before it, they wind up in each other's arms.The capitulation on the race issue with the revelation that Sam isn't Chinese damages some of the film's moral power. Incredibly, "Son of the Gods" is a Pre-Code film that almost seems prudish; for example, Sam is an American, not Chinese! Constance Bennett gives a wonderful performance as a petulant beautify and she holds your attention when she whips Sam with her riding crop. Claude King is good as Bathurst, and E. Alyn Warren is convincing as Lee Ying. Interestingly, Warren made a career out of portraying Asian characters. Richard Barthelmess is flawless as Sam; he delivers a highly nuanced performance. Despite its age, "Son of the Gods" is a son of a good movie!

Ron Oliver A wealthy young man, raised as a SON OF THE GODS, must confront his Chinese heritage while living in a White world.Although the premise upon which this film is based is almost certainly a biological impossibility and the secret of the plot when revealed at the movie's conclusion makes all which has preceded it faintly ludicrous, the story still serves up some decent entertainment and good acting.Richard Barthelmess has the title role as the sweet-natured Oriental whose life is terribly complicated because he looks Caucasian. Barthelmess keeps the tone of his performance serious throughout, gazing intently into the middle distance (a mannerism he developed during Silent Days) whenever his character is indecently misused. He makes no attempt to replicate his classic performance in D. W. Griffith's BROKEN BLOSSOMS (1919) and this is to his credit. Beautiful Constance Bennett is the millionaire's daughter who makes Barthelmess miserable. She is gorgeous as always, but her behavior does not endear her to the viewer and her terrible illness in the final reel is kept mercifully off screen.Multi-talented Frank Albertson has a small role as Barthelmess' improvident buddy. Serene E. Alyn Warren and blustery Anders Randolf play the leading stars' very different fathers, while Claude King distinguishes his brief appearance as the English author who befriends Barthelmess.Movie mavens will recognize little Dickie Moore, uncredited, playing Barthelmess as a tiny child.The original Technicolor of the flashback sequence has faded with time to a ruddy tint. The shot purporting to be the South of France instead looks suspiciously like Avalon on Santa Catalina Island, off the coast of Southern California.