The Red Kimona

press release:

USA | 1925 | DCP | 77 min.

Director: Dorothy Davenport, Walter Lang; Cast: Priscilla Bonner, Nellie Bly Baker, Carl Miller

A small-town girl finds herself lured into New Orleans prostitution in this landmark, taboo-breaking melodrama. Pioneering producer Davenport served (uncredited) as the co-director and the screenplay was co-written by Dorothy Arzner, later the only woman director employed by the Hollywood studios during the 1930s and 1940s. The restored version from the UCLA Film & Television Archive, featuring a score by Libby Meyer, will be shown. Preceded by an extended fragment of Marion E. Wong’s The Curse of Quon Gwon (1916, 35 min.), thought to be the first feature directed by a Chinese-American filmmaker.

This October and November, the Cinematheque continues its tradition of screening great movies from before the dawn of sound. This Fall’s selection includes a special spotlight on the work of women filmmakers in the silent era with screenings of Dorothy Davenport’s The Red Kimona and Lois Weber’s Where Are My Children? Plus, a 35mm print of Lon Chaney in Laugh, Clown, Laugh with live piano accompaniment and a new 4K restoration of Borzage’s 7th Heaven, presented in person by Katie Trainor, Film Collections Manager at the Museum of Modern Art.

All Cinematheque screenings are free and open to the public.