The Willow Tree (1920 film)

The Willow Tree is a surviving 1920 American silent film directed by Henry Otto and distributed by Metro Pictures. The film is based on a Broadway play, The Willow Tree, by J. H. Benrimo and Harrison Rhodes. Fay Bainter starred in the Broadway play in 1917. The film stars Viola Dana and is preserved in the George Eastman House Motion Picture Collection.^[1][2][3]

The Willow Tree
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Directed by	Henry Otto
Written by	June Mathis (adaptation, scenario)
Based on	The Willow Tree by J. H. Benrimo and Harrison Rhodes
Produced by	Screen Classics Incorporated Maxwell Karger
Starring	Viola Dana
Cinematography	John Arnold
Distributed by	Metro Pictures
Release date	January 31, 1920 (1920-01-31)
Running time	6 reels
Country	United States
Language	Silent (English intertitles)

Plot

As described in a film magazine,^[4] O-Riu (Dana), daughter of a Japanese image-maker, rebels at his command that she marry a wealthy merchant in order to provide funds for her brother to attend an American college. Due to a coincidence, her flight is misinterpreted as a suicide, and her father sells to an Englishman living in the neighborhood his most prized image. Seeking refuge, O-Riu poses as the image and then "comes to life" apparently by magic. The Englishman falls in love with her and will not answer his country's call to arms until she has apparently disappeared. While he is away for four years, she lives at his home. When he returns after the war, they find happiness. The film has a parallel story concerning Japanese legends.

Cast

• Viola Dana as O-Riu
• Edward Connelly as Tomotada
• Pell Trenton as Ned Hamilton
• Harry Dunkinson as Jeoffrey Fuller
• Alice Wilson as Mary Fuller
• Frank Tokunaga as John Charles Goto
• Togo Yamamoto as Itomudo
• George Kuwa as Kimura
• Tom Ricketts as Priest
• Yutaka Abe as Nogo