Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Overrated

Admirable film.

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

In 1930 this film must have been daring subject matter. Barthelmess, a top box office star, and Bennett, almost at the top, were the bait to lure in the audience. But the plot is hard to swallow. Barthelmess as the super nice Sam is Chinese but doesn't look it and he speaks English like a native American. Why would the other characters in the film believe he was Chinese? The ending, when we learn he's not Chinese, makes perfect sense. But this also ruins the whole moral point about racial prejudice.Bennett plays Allana, a girl in love with love. As an actress she is not yet skilled enough to make her sometimes stilted lines believable and her acting occasionally produces guffaws, such as when she proclaims to Sam, "I love you, I love you ..." and waves her arms about for emphasis. In reviewing this film, Variety wrote that Bennett, "offers a performance of exceptional excellence ... authenticity of her acting" and more words of high praise. Seeing this film in 2015, I fail to see what Variety saw in 1930.The scenes in the south of France, which looks like Catalina Island west of L.A., were idyllic. Sam was happy working for Bathurst, happy spending his days writing on the terrace and his nights at the casino. Whether Sam and Allana find happiness after the fadeout (doubtful), he/they should set up housekeeping/business here, where Sam can be who he is - a rich American who was adopted by a rich Chinese couple, and who, after some necessary mental readjustment and serious study of Confucius, will recognize and accept his good fortune of being the beneficiary of both cultures.

"He's an educated Chinaman" someone tells Constance Bennett who has come to apologize for racial slurs against Richard Barthelmess brought up to think he's Chinese even though he looks totally Caucasian. The statement meant to defend Barthelmess is actually a slur against the typical looking Chinese that Bennett claims she knew living in California, what this man, tearing Bennett down, is saying is that a Chiese man is OK as long as he's educated, hangs out with Caucasians and looks Caucasian.There's a ton of anti-Asian racial slurs used violently throughout the film, and audiences in 2013 might not understand the mindset of a 1930 audience. Even if the film blatantly used racism without its so-called defense, it wouldn't be as offensive as this. As a film, it is entirely too long, and the twist at the end will probably make you wince. This is a sad example of one type of pre-code celluloid that went too far and like the logo of the 1932 "Scarface" truly is the "shame of a nation" that does nobody any good. By the time the two-strip color flashback final occurs, you'll have given up.

maybe we saw a different copy, but the version i watched had allana deciding she couldn't live without sam even though she thought he was Chinese. he only told her about his being white after she had already decided to stay with him. still unbelievable, but not as bad as if she could only consider him if he was white.yes, the Chinese spoken by the white actors were pretty awful, but at least it was recognizable as an attempt.for 1930, this was a pretty sympathetic portrayal of Chinese, even before world war two made china an ally of the united states against japan.

'Son of the Gods', starring Richard Barthelmess, is a good example of how an actor's current performance is inflected by his (or her) previous performances. With the possible exception of "Tol'able David", Barthelmess's best (and best-known) role was his performance as the gentle Chinese immigrant in 'Broken Blossoms'. Barthelmess played that role with all the usual gimmicks employed by a white actor depicting an Oriental: sellotaped eyelids, cringing posture, the lot. Despite some racist and unpleasant 'Chinky' dialogue, Barthelmess brought genuine dignity and realism to his performance as a Chinese in 'Broken Blossoms'. Memories of his performance in that role must have helped considerably for the audience who watched Barthelmess in 'Son of the Gods' during its original release.SPOILERS COMING. Barthelmess here plays Sam Lee, the son of a wealthy Chinese merchant. In this role Barthelmess's eyelids are normal, which the audience might interpret as simply the director's decision to avoid a ridiculous make-up job. At any rate, Barthelmess doesn't in any way *look* Chinese. There's an awkward scene in which Sam and his father begin to converse in Chinese but then lapse into English, clearly for our benefit.Sam embarks on a world tour, in which he meets wealthy socialite Allana Wagner, played by Constance Bennett. She's supposed to be very beautiful, but I'm still waiting. Allana is attracted to Sam, not realising that he's Chinese. (He certainly doesn't look it, and his accent isn't Asian.) They fall in love. Eventually, though, she learns the truth. This provokes an extremely unpleasant scene in which Allana strikes Sam in the face with a riding crop, while calling him a yellow dog, a cur, a liar, a cheat. Meanwhile, other people stand about watching her do this, without interceding.Later, Allana falls ill (maybe from Chinese flu?). While she's on her sickbed, her father (Anders Randolf) tells Sam that Allana is calling for him in her delirium. Wagner prevails on Sam to visit his daughter. Sam does this, and she recovers, but Wagner shows no gratitude. His attitude seems to be that Sam is just a filthy Chinese, so no gratitude is necessary.SPOILER NOW. And here's where it gets really offensive. It turns out that Sam isn't Chinese after all. A retired lawman informs Sam that he's a white foundling, adopted in infancy. He never knew he's actually white! But now that Sam is safely Caucasian, Allana is perfectly willing to marry him. Even more strangely, Sam is eager to marry Allana after all. Is he a masochist?There is a nasty tradition of films and plays in which a white woman is attracted to a dark-skinned man but is simultaneously repelled because he is the 'wrong' colour ... only to learn that in fact he's a white man after all, whose complexion is down to many years of being tanned by the sun. Examples of this offensive scenario include 'The Sheik' (Arab turns out to be white foundling) and 'Whoopee!' (Amerindian turns out to be white foundling). 'Son of the Gods' is one more example of this dark genre. What makes it vaguely plausible is the fact that Barthelmess is best known for playing a (genuine) Chinese in a previous film, so we accept him as Chinese in 'Son of the Gods'.In this film's favour, there is a moving scene in which - after learning the truth about his ancestry - Sam decides that he considers himself Chinese after all, as he was raised by Chinese within the Chinese culture after his 'own' people abandoned him. Also, this film contains some very beautiful exterior scenes and some elaborate interiors. There's also a Technicolor sequence filmed in San Francisco's Chinatown ... regrettably, this sequence was seriously deteriorated in the print which I viewed.Constance Bennett (who never appealed to me) is neither physically attractive nor sympathetic in a role that's apparently meant to be both. Her role in this film is a racial bigot, yet we're not expected to perceive her that way. Apparently, we're meant to find it perfectly reasonable that she would be attracted to this white man, then repelled by him when she discovers he's not white, then attracted to him again when she learns he's white after all.If I were going to rate this film on its political correctness quotient, it might barely merit a rating of 2 out of 10. Setting aside the fact that this movie's story is extremely racist and extremely implausible both at the same go, there are substantial merits in its photography, art direction, Frank Lloyd's supervision, and in the performances of Barthelmess and several supporting actors (but not Bennett). Trying to judge this film by the standards of its time, I'll rate 'Son of the Gods' 7 points out of 10.