East Is East
Plot
Victoria Vickers, a spirited Cockney girl from London's East End, unexpectedly inherits a vast fortune from her American uncle. Her solicitor discovers her working as a hop-picker in Kent during what was supposed to be his holiday, and informs her that she must spend three years learning to become a proper lady before receiving her inheritance. Despite her best efforts to adapt to high society, Vicky remains unhappy and disconnected from her new social circle. Meanwhile, her East End sweetheart Bert, having received a loan from Vicky to improve himself, builds a successful fish-and-chip empire and takes elocution lessons to become worthy of her. Feeling abandoned and lonely, Vicky accepts a marriage proposal from her guardian's spendthrift son, prompting a heartbroken Bert to flee London and return to Kent, where he and Vicky had once shared happy memories together.
Director
About the Production
This film was produced by Cecil Hepworth's company during a challenging period for the British film industry during World War I. The production utilized actual hop-picking locations in Kent, adding authenticity to the rural scenes. Florence Turner, an American star who had moved to England, was one of the biggest draws for this production.
Historical Background
East Is East was produced and released during the third year of World War I, a period that profoundly affected British society and cinema. The film industry faced numerous challenges including material shortages, male conscription affecting crew availability, and changing audience tastes. Despite these difficulties, 1916 saw the emergence of more sophisticated British feature films that sought to establish a national cinematic identity separate from American imports. The film's themes of social mobility and class division resonated strongly with wartime audiences, as the war was temporarily breaking down traditional class barriers while simultaneously creating new social tensions. The British film industry was also experiencing a transition from short films to feature-length productions, with East Is East representing this evolution toward more complex narratives and character development.
Why This Film Matters
East Is East holds an important place in British cinema history as one of the early feature films that successfully captured British social dynamics and class consciousness. The film contributed to the development of a distinctly British cinematic language that differed from American productions of the era. Its exploration of the class divide through the lens of romance and social aspiration became a recurring theme in British popular culture throughout the 20th century. The film also demonstrated the international nature of early cinema, featuring American star Florence Turner in a quintessentially British story. Its success helped prove that British productions could compete with imported American films, supporting the argument for a robust domestic film industry. The movie's portrayal of East End life and the emerging business class through the fish-and-chip shop storyline provided valuable social documentation of working-class London during the WWI period.
Making Of
The production of 'East Is East' took place during a pivotal moment in British cinema history. Director Henry Edwards and star Florence Turner had previously worked together on several successful films for Hepworth, establishing a creative partnership that resonated with wartime British audiences. The filming in Kent presented logistical challenges as the production had to work around the actual hop-picking season and the limitations imposed by wartime conditions. The cast and crew often had to work with limited resources due to material shortages during WWI. The elocution lessons depicted in the film mirrored real-life efforts by working-class individuals to improve their social standing during this period. The production design carefully contrasted the authentic East End settings with the opulent high society locations, emphasizing the class divide at the heart of the story.
Visual Style
The cinematography of East Is East was notable for its use of actual locations rather than studio sets, which was becoming increasingly common in British films of this period. The contrast between the bright, open fields of Kent during hop-picking season and the cramped, atmospheric streets of London's East End was effectively captured to emphasize the social divide at the film's heart. The camera work, while following the relatively static conventions of the era, employed careful composition to highlight social differences through framing and positioning of characters. The film made effective use of natural lighting in the outdoor scenes, particularly in the Kent sequences, which added to the authenticity of the production. Interior shots of high society locations were carefully lit to create a sense of opulence that contrasted sharply with the more naturalistic lighting of the working-class environments.
Innovations
While East Is East did not introduce revolutionary technical innovations, it demonstrated the growing sophistication of British film production techniques by 1916. The film's effective use of location shooting represented a move away from the studio-bound productions of earlier years. The editing showed improved narrative pacing compared to earlier British features, with more sophisticated use of cross-cutting between parallel storylines. The production design successfully created convincing contrasts between different social environments, a technical achievement that required careful planning and execution. The film also demonstrated improved techniques in capturing outdoor scenes with consistent lighting and exposure, which remained challenging for the film stock of this period. The sound recording, while nonexistent as the film was silent, showed in its visual storytelling the growing confidence of British filmmakers in conveying complex narratives purely through visual means.
Music
As a silent film, East Is East would have been accompanied by live musical performance during its original theatrical run. The typical cinema orchestra would have compiled appropriate music from classical sources and popular songs of the period, creating mood-appropriate scores for different scenes. Romantic moments between Vicky and Bert would have been accompanied by sentimental melodies, while the high society scenes might have featured more formal, classical pieces. The East End locations would likely have been scored with popular music hall tunes that working-class audiences would have recognized. The hop-picking scenes in Kent might have featured pastoral or folk-inspired melodies to emphasize the rural setting. Unfortunately, no specific cue sheets or musical documentation for this film's original accompaniment have survived.
Famous Quotes
Once a Cockney, always a Cockney, no matter how much money you've got
You can take the girl out of the East End, but you can't take the East End out of the girl
A proper lady doesn't speak with her hands, dear
Fish and chips - that's honest work for honest people
I'd rather be poor with you than rich without you
Memorable Scenes
- The discovery of Victoria Vickers hop-picking in Kent by her solicitor, who has abandoned his search for a photographic holiday
- Bert's first day running his new fish-and-chip shop, showing his business acumen and connection to his working-class roots
- Vicky's awkward attempts to fit in at high society gatherings, highlighting the cultural divide she experiences
- Bert taking elocution lessons, comically struggling with upper-class pronunciation while maintaining his essential character
- The emotional scene where Bert reads of Vicky's engagement in the newspaper and decides to leave London
Did You Know?
- Florence Turner, known as 'The Vitagraph Girl' in America, was one of the first film stars to move from Hollywood to Britain during World War I
- Henry Edwards not only starred in the film but also directed it, a common practice in early cinema
- The film was based on a popular stage play that capitalized on British fascination with class mobility stories
- The hop-picking scenes were filmed during the actual hop-picking season in Kent using real workers as extras
- This was one of the last major productions by Hepworth Picture Plays before the company's financial troubles
- The film's title became a common phrase in Britain to describe the cultural divide between working-class and upper-class society
- The fish-and-chip shop storyline reflected the real rise of this working-class business during the early 20th century
- The film was released while World War I was raging, making its themes of social mobility particularly resonant
- Cecil Hepworth, the producer, was a pioneer of British cinema who had been making films since 1899
- The film's success helped establish Florence Turner as a major star in British cinema
What Critics Said
Contemporary critics praised East Is East for its authentic portrayal of London life and its sensitive handling of class themes. The trade publication The Bioscope noted the film's 'genuine British character' and commended Florence Turner's performance as 'thoroughly convincing in her portrayal of Cockney life transformed by fortune.' The Cinema paper highlighted the film's 'excellent location work' and 'naturalistic performances.' Modern film historians consider East Is East an important example of early British feature filmmaking, particularly noting its successful blend of social commentary with popular entertainment. Critics have pointed out that while the film follows some conventional melodramatic patterns of the era, it distinguishes itself through its detailed observation of British social customs and its nuanced approach to class mobility.
What Audiences Thought
East Is East was well-received by British audiences in 1916, who appreciated its authentic depiction of familiar social situations and locations. The film's success at the box office demonstrated the growing appetite among British cinema-goers for homegrown productions that reflected their own experiences and social concerns. Audiences particularly responded to the romance between Vicky and Bert, seeing in their story reflections of the social changes occurring during the wartime period. The film's popularity extended beyond London to provincial audiences, who enjoyed seeing their own culture and social dynamics represented on screen. The combination of social realism with romantic elements proved to be a winning formula that resonated across different class backgrounds, though working-class audiences particularly appreciated the authentic East End settings and dialogue.
Film Connections
Influenced By
- The stage play tradition of British social comedy
- Charles Dickens' novels of social mobility
- Contemporary American romantic comedies
- Music hall traditions of working-class entertainment
- British literary traditions of class commentary
This Film Influenced
- Later British social comedies of the 1920s and 1930s
- Working-class romance films
- British films about social mobility
- Later films featuring fish-and-chip shop owners
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Film Restoration
East Is East is believed to be a lost film, as is the case with the majority of British films from the 1910s. The Hepworth company's bankruptcy in 1924 led to the destruction of many of their films when the negatives were melted down for their silver content. No complete copies of the film are known to exist in any film archive or collection. Only a few production stills and promotional materials survive to document the film's existence. The British Film Institute lists the film among the lost British features of the silent era, though they continue to search for any surviving fragments or copies that might exist in private collections or smaller archives worldwide.