East Is East

Victoria Vickers, a little East End Cockney girl, is left a vast fortune by an uncle in America. She is finally discovered hop-picking in Kent by her solicitor, who has given up the search and gone off on a photographic holiday instead! The conditions of the legacy are that she must spend three years learning to be a lady before she inherits absolutely. 'Vicky' does her best, but she is not happy in high society. Meanwhile her old East End beau Bert accepts a loan from her in order to 'better himself' and starts a highly-successful fish-and-chip shop business. He takes elocution lessons and buys gentleman's clothes in the hopes of aspiring to her hand. But Vicky, who thinks he has deserted her now she is a fine lady, is lonely enough to accept an offer of marriage from her guardian's spendthrift son, and when Bert reads of the engagement in the newspapers he abandons London and goes down to live in Kent where they were once happy together.

Directed by Henry Edwards, East Is East leans on a strong ensemble — Florence Turner, Henry Edwards, Ruth Mackay — to carry a story that balances spectacle with character.

The film landed with audiences for its craft and performances, and remains one of the most talked-about drama titles of 1916.