Film takes place in London's Limehouse district and concerns a dancer (Carol Dempster), two brothers (Ralph Graves, Charles Emmett Mack), and assorted colorful characters who represent good and evil. Source material are stories by Thomas Burke, same author whose story gave us BROKEN BLOSSOMS and the Colleen Moore film TWINKLETOES, all of which have white girls "involved" with Chinese men.
Griffith seems to have filmed this one between WAY DOWN EAST and ORPHANS OF THE STORM and maybe there was overlap. Although it's hard to tell from such a draggy copy, the pacing of DREAM STREET seems erratic, the sets dreary, the acting uneven. But there are some brilliant moments. I don't dislike Dempster though a lot of people do. I think she was excellent in several other films. Here, the 20-year-old seems out of her depth, or maybe Griffith was directing her as if she were Mae Marsh or a Gish sister. Mack does far too much grimacing. Graves in many ways gives the best performance, one that seems to spin from stock character performance to brilliance.
Griffith must have considered this a major production and not just a filler between big projects. He filmed a talkie intro with himself and a couple of sound sequences (Graves singing and a dice game scene), which were only used in New York City theaters which were wired specifically for for the sound sequences. No other theaters saw/heard this innovation (six years before THE JAZZ SINGER).
Dempster's music hall sequence with dances seems extraneous. As the film winds to its climax, it's clear that the music hall could have been excised, tightening the plot and shortening the film.
The film does not rank with Griffith's several great films, but it's not the disaster that many seem to think it is. Dempster and Graves try hard and often succeed. This was Mack's first starring role in a feature film.
If you seek out this film, look for a copy that runs 100-110 minutes and avoid those that drag along to a 140minute running time.
