"He's an educated Chinaman" someone tells Constance Bennett who has come to apologize for racial slurs against Richard Barthelmess brought up to think he's Chinese even though he looks totally Caucasian. The statement meant to defend Barthelmess is actually a slur against the typical looking Chinese that Bennett claims she knew living in California, what this man, tearing Bennett down, is saying is that a Chiese man is OK as long as he's educated, hangs out with Caucasians and looks Caucasian.There's a ton of anti-Asian racial slurs used violently throughout the film, and audiences in 2013 might not understand the mindset of a 1930 audience. Even if the film blatantly used racism without its so-called defense, it wouldn't be as offensive as this. As a film, it is entirely too long, and the twist at the end will probably make you wince. This is a sad example of one type of pre-code celluloid that went too far and like the logo of the 1932 "Scarface" truly is the "shame of a nation" that does nobody any good. By the time the two-strip color flashback final occurs, you'll have given up.

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.

maybe we saw a different copy, but the version i watched had allana deciding she couldn't live without sam even though she thought he was Chinese. he only told her about his being white after she had already decided to stay with him. still unbelievable, but not as bad as if she could only consider him if he was white.yes, the Chinese spoken by the white actors were pretty awful, but at least it was recognizable as an attempt.for 1930, this was a pretty sympathetic portrayal of Chinese, even before world war two made china an ally of the united states against japan.

'Son of the Gods', starring Richard Barthelmess, is a good example of how an actor's current performance is inflected by his (or her) previous performances. With the possible exception of "Tol'able David", Barthelmess's best (and best-known) role was his performance as the gentle Chinese immigrant in 'Broken Blossoms'. Barthelmess played that role with all the usual gimmicks employed by a white actor depicting an Oriental: sellotaped eyelids, cringing posture, the lot. Despite some racist and unpleasant 'Chinky' dialogue, Barthelmess brought genuine dignity and realism to his performance as a Chinese in 'Broken Blossoms'. Memories of his performance in that role must have helped considerably for the audience who watched Barthelmess in 'Son of the Gods' during its original release.SPOILERS COMING. Barthelmess here plays Sam Lee, the son of a wealthy Chinese merchant. In this role Barthelmess's eyelids are normal, which the audience might interpret as simply the director's decision to avoid a ridiculous make-up job. At any rate, Barthelmess doesn't in any way *look* Chinese. There's an awkward scene in which Sam and his father begin to converse in Chinese but then lapse into English, clearly for our benefit.Sam embarks on a world tour, in which he meets wealthy socialite Allana Wagner, played by Constance Bennett. She's supposed to be very beautiful, but I'm still waiting. Allana is attracted to Sam, not realising that he's Chinese. (He certainly doesn't look it, and his accent isn't Asian.) They fall in love. Eventually, though, she learns the truth. This provokes an extremely unpleasant scene in which Allana strikes Sam in the face with a riding crop, while calling him a yellow dog, a cur, a liar, a cheat. Meanwhile, other people stand about watching her do this, without interceding.Later, Allana falls ill (maybe from Chinese flu?). While she's on her sickbed, her father (Anders Randolf) tells Sam that Allana is calling for him in her delirium. Wagner prevails on Sam to visit his daughter. Sam does this, and she recovers, but Wagner shows no gratitude. His attitude seems to be that Sam is just a filthy Chinese, so no gratitude is necessary.SPOILER NOW. And here's where it gets really offensive. It turns out that Sam isn't Chinese after all. A retired lawman informs Sam that he's a white foundling, adopted in infancy. He never knew he's actually white! But now that Sam is safely Caucasian, Allana is perfectly willing to marry him. Even more strangely, Sam is eager to marry Allana after all. Is he a masochist?There is a nasty tradition of films and plays in which a white woman is attracted to a dark-skinned man but is simultaneously repelled because he is the 'wrong' colour ... only to learn that in fact he's a white man after all, whose complexion is down to many years of being tanned by the sun. Examples of this offensive scenario include 'The Sheik' (Arab turns out to be white foundling) and 'Whoopee!' (Amerindian turns out to be white foundling). 'Son of the Gods' is one more example of this dark genre. What makes it vaguely plausible is the fact that Barthelmess is best known for playing a (genuine) Chinese in a previous film, so we accept him as Chinese in 'Son of the Gods'.In this film's favour, there is a moving scene in which - after learning the truth about his ancestry - Sam decides that he considers himself Chinese after all, as he was raised by Chinese within the Chinese culture after his 'own' people abandoned him. Also, this film contains some very beautiful exterior scenes and some elaborate interiors. There's also a Technicolor sequence filmed in San Francisco's Chinatown ... regrettably, this sequence was seriously deteriorated in the print which I viewed.Constance Bennett (who never appealed to me) is neither physically attractive nor sympathetic in a role that's apparently meant to be both. Her role in this film is a racial bigot, yet we're not expected to perceive her that way. Apparently, we're meant to find it perfectly reasonable that she would be attracted to this white man, then repelled by him when she discovers he's not white, then attracted to him again when she learns he's white after all.If I were going to rate this film on its political correctness quotient, it might barely merit a rating of 2 out of 10. Setting aside the fact that this movie's story is extremely racist and extremely implausible both at the same go, there are substantial merits in its photography, art direction, Frank Lloyd's supervision, and in the performances of Barthelmess and several supporting actors (but not Bennett). Trying to judge this film by the standards of its time, I'll rate 'Son of the Gods' 7 points out of 10.