The Willow Tree (1920 film)

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
Running time
 6 reels
Country United States
Language Silent (English intertitles)

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.

Plot

As described in a film magazine, 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