Up until I saw this movie, I thought that THE BLACK PIRATE (with Douglas Fairbanks) was the first color film entirely shot using the two-color Technicolor process. However, this pirate film debuted four years after THE TOLL OF THE SEA, so the dust jacket from the Kino version of THE BLACK PIRATE was mistaken by proclaiming it the first. This might be because up until quite recently, THE TOLL OF THE SEA was thought to be lost. However, a print was recently found and restored with all but the last couple minutes available for viewing on The Treasures of the American Film Archives DVD series.
Being a two-color process film, the color seems very archaic. That's because unlike true color film, the two-color process involves special cameras with overlapping strips of film--one orange-red and the other green-blue. As a result, the print tends to look too orangy-green and colors like yellows and true blues and reds are non-existent. Probably the best example of the use of this process is in the small color segment of PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (1925), as they somehow DID get a nearly perfect red for the Phantom's costume at the ball. It's a gorgeous scene and if you are a nut about early films (like me), then it's imperative you see this restored print as well as THE TOLL OF THE SEA.
TOLL OF THE SEA is actually a pretty good film--even viewed today. What I especially like is that the film has a wonderful message about race and features honest-to-goodness Chinese actors and actresses in the film. In the 30s and 40s, Asians rarely every played leads (like Anna May Wong did in this movie). Think about it--Sidney Toler, Boris Karloff, Peter Lorre, Paul Muni and even Katherine Hepburn played leads in films about Asians or Asian-Americans only a decade or two after this film!!!!!
Ms. Wong plays a nice lady who finds a sailor washed up on the shore. She nurses him back to health and they fall in love. He later goes back to his country and vows to return to get her. However, time passes and she is left waiting,...along with the little bastard she bore this unworthy jerk. So far, I really liked the film. However, when the guy returns some time later with his White wife, the film has a less than perfect conclusion--at least for me. I won't say anything more, but the film was pretty sad and left me feeling a bit down when it was finished.
Overall, a very good film that is worth seeing for all fans of early cinema.
Being a two-color process film, the color seems very archaic. That's because unlike true color film, the two-color process involves special cameras with overlapping strips of film--one orange-red and the other green-blue. As a result, the print tends to look too orangy-green and colors like yellows and true blues and reds are non-existent. Probably the best example of the use of this process is in the small color segment of PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (1925), as they somehow DID get a nearly perfect red for the Phantom's costume at the ball. It's a gorgeous scene and if you are a nut about early films (like me), then it's imperative you see this restored print as well as THE TOLL OF THE SEA.
TOLL OF THE SEA is actually a pretty good film--even viewed today. What I especially like is that the film has a wonderful message about race and features honest-to-goodness Chinese actors and actresses in the film. In the 30s and 40s, Asians rarely every played leads (like Anna May Wong did in this movie). Think about it--Sidney Toler, Boris Karloff, Peter Lorre, Paul Muni and even Katherine Hepburn played leads in films about Asians or Asian-Americans only a decade or two after this film!!!!!
Ms. Wong plays a nice lady who finds a sailor washed up on the shore. She nurses him back to health and they fall in love. He later goes back to his country and vows to return to get her. However, time passes and she is left waiting,...along with the little bastard she bore this unworthy jerk. So far, I really liked the film. However, when the guy returns some time later with his White wife, the film has a less than perfect conclusion--at least for me. I won't say anything more, but the film was pretty sad and left me feeling a bit down when it was finished.
Overall, a very good film that is worth seeing for all fans of early cinema.