Synopsis for
Broken Blossoms or The Yellow Man and the Girl (1919) More at IMDbPro »

Cheng Huan (Richard Barthelmess) is a Buddhist missionary living and working in the Limehouse district of London. He had traveled from his native China with the intent of spreading a message of love and hope to the British but instead became an opium addict. He admires from a distance young Lucy (Lillian Gish), a downtrodden teenager who shops in the district. Lucy's lives with her father, the prizefighter Battling Burrows (Donald Crisp). He is a cruel, brutal man who beats Lucy with a whip whenever she does anything wrong. She does her best to maintain a positive outlook but it is difficult.

Just before he goes to his training quarters, Battling beats Lucy severely because she accidentally spills food on him. After he leaves, Lucy stumbles to the Limehouse and collapses in Cheng Huan's shop. He takes her upstairs to his bedroom and nurses her back to health. He dresses her in Chinese silk gowns, gives her dolls and flowers, and for the first time in her life, Lucy feels safe. Cheng Huan's love for her is more than platonic but her beauty is so pure he refuses to sully her with sexuality.

One of Battling's assistants (George Baranger) buys some merchandise in Cheng Huan's shop. Cheng Huan leaves him alone in the store momentarily. The assistant hears a noise from upstairs and goes to investigate. He discovers Lucy. The assistant rushes to Battling's training ring and informs him of what he saw. Battling is outraged that Lucy is associating with a member of another race. That night, after winning his boxing match, Battling goes with two other men to Cheng Huan's shop. Cheng Huan is out buying flowers for Lucy. Battling destroys the bedroom and drags Lucy back to their dismal apartment. Although she tries to hide from him in a closet, she is unable to stop Battling from thrashing her mercilessly with the whip. She dies from her injuries.

Meanwhile, Cheng Huan has returned and discovered that Lucy is gone. He takes a gun and goes to Battling's apartment. He finds Lucy's dead body and in revenge guns down Battling. He then carries Lucy back to the bedroom above his shop. While Battling's friends alert the police to the boxer's death, Cheng Huan performs a Buddhist ritual for Lucy to reach the afterlife. He then commits suicide himself.