Production
In 18th-Century Russia, the Czar, Paul, is surrounded by murderous plots and trusts only Count Pahlen. Pahlen wishes to protect his friend, the mad king, but because of the horror of the king's acts, he feels that he must remove him from the throne.
Oswald Lane is welcomed by his hometown as a war hero and enjoys recounting his adventures to anyone who will listen. He accepts an invitation to stay in the home of his rather colorless brother, Andrew, and is soon not only making love to Martha, the Belgian maid, but is also finding Andrew's wife, Hester, receptive to his flirting. After stealing money entrusted to Andrew by his church, Oswald is on his way out of town when he passes a school fire, rescues several children, and is himself seriously burned. Andrew offers his own skin for grafting, and Oswald directs Hester to return the money.
Newspaper men compete against each other to find a serial killer dubbed "The Lipstick Killer".
Wealthy John and Gay Masters lead a busy social life to the neglect of their son, Jackie. Also feeling herself slighted, Gay innocently flirts with Juan Camillo but is caught in a compromising situation and is sent away by John. Gay, forbidden to see her son, is penniless and miserable, while John also is unhappy and takes to drink. Gay slips into Master's house during a night of revelry to see Jackie, whom she rescues from playing the role of a cupid for the entertainment of the guests. Gay then upbraids John, who repents and asks forgiveness, thus reuniting the family.
Gangsters and police cross each other, including murder, in an attempt to cover up crimes.
Hard-boiled newspaper reporter Larry Doyle (Robert Armstrong) goes a bit too far in celebrating a work bonus and wakes up on a train bound for St. Louis with only a buck on his person. To remedy the problem, Doyle pawns the revolver he's carrying. When the gun is subsequently used in a murder, Doyle's problems only multiply. In the meantime, he's also fallen in love with a comely stranger (Maxine Doyle) he convinced to impersonate his wife.
In Winnebago, Wisconsin, a Jewish family comprising Molly and Ferdinand Brandeis and their two children, Fanny and Theodore, run a modest dry goods store.
A disparate group of people meet as passengers on a superspeed train crossing the U.S. Aboard are a seductive blackmailer and the stage director he intends to frame, a woman chasing her husband who is running away with the blackmail victim, and the stage director's feisty leading lady.
Mr. Wong is a "harmless" Chinatown shopkeeper by day and relentless blood-thirsty pursuer of the Twelve Coins of Confucius by night. With possession of the coins, Mr. Wong will be supreme ruler of the Chinese province of Keelat, and his evil destiny will be fulfilled. A killing spree follows in dark and dangerous Chinatown as Wong gets control of 11 of the 12 coins. Reporter Jason Barton and his girl Peg are hot on his trail, but soon find themselves in serious trouble when they stumble onto Wong's headquarters.
The film is perhaps the only remaining example of silent era cinema from a Chinese-American production company, and was co-written, co-directed (with Francis J. Grandon) and produced by James B. Leong, who changed his name from Leong But-jung after emigrating from Shanghai in 1913. Of the seven reels that originally comprised 'Lotus Blossom,' only one (the fifth, running for 12 minutes at 20fps) is known to survive. This remaining reel of film is now available on Disc 2 of the DVD Collection "More Treasures from the American Film Archives," and was preserved by the UCLA Film and Television Archive.
Mary Holmes (MacKellar), once a famous opera star known as Maria di Nardi, now lives in a run-down shanty and suffers from alcoholism. Known for her eccentric behavior, Mary breeds geese, and is thus known in her neighborhood as 'The Goose Woman'. She blames her grown son Geoffrey (Linden) for the deterioration of her voice, and does everything to destroy his life. When Geoffrey, who works as a commercial artist, announces to her that he will marry Joan Hoyt (Arthur), an actress, she becomes torn with jealousy and threatens to reveal to Joan that he is an illegitimate birth.
Sally McGill, a little Irish girl, brought up in a particularly sordid section, is compelled to work to support her entire family. Ben Blaney, the young foreman where she works, loves little Sally. Mrs. Rockwell, wealthy and childless, finds joy in taking a limited number of the poorest children to her country home each summer, and she selects those whom she will take. Sally's ambition is to become a refined lady like those about her, and she is attracted to Paul Taylor, but knows she is inferior to him.
