East is West

East is West (1918), a comedy by Samuel Shipman and John B. Hymer. [Astor Theatre, 680 perf.] Although she was given a proper Chinese upbringing, Ming Toy (Fay Bainter) is something of a hoyden. Brought to San Francisco's Chinatown, she falls in love with a handsome young American, Billy Benson (Forrest Winant). Two obstacles stand in the way of their marrying: both laws and sentiment argue against an interracial marriage, and a cynical Chinese man‐about‐town, Charlie Yang (George Nash), has purchased Ming Toy and by Chinese custom is thereby entitled to her. Matters turn out satisfactorily when it is learned that Ming Toy was adopted while still a baby and is Spanish by birth. Although the play itself was dismissed by most critics as absurd hokum, the gorgeous settings of Livingston Platt and Bainter's droll performance turned the William Harris Jr. production into one of the greatest hits of its era.