Kintarō Hayakawa, known professionally as Sessue Hayakawa, was a Japanese actor and a matinée idol. He was a popular star in Hollywood during the silent film era of the 1910s and early 1920s. Hayakawa was the first actor of Asian descent to achieve stardom as a leading man in the United States and Europe. His "broodingly handsome" good looks and typecasting as a sexually dominant villain made him a heartthrob among American women during a time of racial discrimination, and he became one of the first male sex symbols of Hollywood.
The Dragon Painter is a 1919 English language silent romance drama film. It is based on the novel of the same name, written by Mary McNeil Fenollosa. It stars Sessue Hayakawa as a young painter who believes that his fiancée, is a princess who has been captured and turned into a dragon. It was directed by William Worthington and filmed in Yosemite Valley, Yosemite National Park, and in the Japanese Tea Garden in Coronado, California.
The Devil's Claim is a 1920 American silent drama film starring Sessue Hayakawa and Colleen Moore. A print of this film survives.
The Secret Game is a surviving 1917 American silent drama film produced by Jesse Lasky and released through Paramount Pictures. It was directed by William C. deMille and starred Sessue Hayakawa. It survives complete at the Library of Congress and was released on DVD.
The Swamp is a 1921 American silent drama film released by the Robertson-Cole Pictures Corporation and directed by Colin Campbell. The film was written and produced by Sessue Hayakawa, who also co-stars with Bessie Love. A print of this film is preserved at the Gosfilmofond archive in Moscow.
The Vermilion Pencil is a 1922 American silent drama film directed by Norman Dawn, and produced and distributed by Robertson–Cole. It is based on the eponymous 1908 novel by Homer Lea. The film stars Japanese actor Sessue Hayakawa in multiple roles, and white actors Ann May, Bessie Love, and Sidney Franklin, all in Asian roles. It is now a lost film.
Trimmed in Scarlet is a 1923 American silent drama film directed by Jack Conway and produced and distributed by Universal Pictures. It is based on the 1920 Broadway play, Trimmed in Scarlet, by William Hurlbut and starring Broadway's Maxine Elliott. This play marked the last time Maxine Elliott appeared on Broadway. Her role in the film is played by veteran cinema star Kathlyn Williams. All prints of this film are believed lost.
The Victoria Cross is a surviving 1916 American drama silent film directed by Edward LeSaint and written by Paul M. Potter and Margaret Turnbull. The film stars Lou Tellegen, Cleo Ridgely, Sessue Hayakawa, Ernest Joy, Mabel Van Buren and Frank Lanning. The film was released on December 14, 1916, by Paramount Pictures.
Each to His Kind is a lost 1917 American drama silent film directed by Edward LeSaint and written by George DuBois Proctor and Paul West. The film stars Sessue Hayakawa, Tsuru Aoki, Vola Vale, Ernest Joy, Eugene Pallette and Guy Oliver. The film was released on February 5, 1917, by Paramount Pictures.
The Courageous Coward is a 1919 American silent drama film directed by William Worthington and featuring Sessue Hayakawa and Tsuru Aoki in lead roles. It is presumed to be a lost film, with only reel 5 preserved at the EYE Film Institute Netherlands film archive.
The White Man's Law is a surviving 1918 American silent drama film directed by James Young and written by Marion Fairfax and John B. Browne. The film stars Sessue Hayakawa, Florence Vidor, Jack Holt, Herbert Standing, Mayme Kelso, and Forrest Seabury. The film was released on May 6, 1918, by Paramount Pictures.
His Birthright is a 1918 American drama film directed by William Worthington for Haworth Pictures Corporation. Sessue Hayakawa produced the film and played the lead role. The rest of the cast includes Marin Sais, Howard Davies, Mary Anderson, and Hayakawa's wife Tsuru Aoki.
Haworth Pictures Corporation was a film studio established by Japanese actor Sessue Hayakawa in March 1918.
The Temple of Dusk is a lost 1918 American silent drama film directed by James Young. It was produced by Sessue Hayakawa's Haworth Pictures Corporation.
The Man Beneath is a 1919 American silent crime drama film directed by William Worthington and produced by Sessue Hayakawa's Haworth Pictures Corporation. A complete copy of the film is in the collection of the EYE Film Institute Netherlands.
The Tong Man is a 1919 American thriller film directed by William Worthington and produced by Haworth Pictures Corporation.
The Beggar Prince is a lost 1920 film directed by William Worthington and produced by Sessue Hayakawa's Haworth Pictures Corporation.
The Brand of Lopez is a 1920 American film directed by Joseph De Grasse and produced by Sessue Hayakawa's Haworth Pictures Corporation. Although the main characters are a matador and an actress, there are no bull fighting or theater scenes portrayed in the film.
The First Born is a 1921 American silent film romantic drama directed by Colin Campbell and produced by and starring Sessue Hayakawa. It was distributed by the Robertson-Cole Company.
The Law Forbids is a 1924 American drama film directed by Jess Robbins and written by Lois Zellner and Ford Beebe. The film stars Baby Peggy, Robert Ellis, Elinor Fair, Winifred Bryson, James Corrigan, and Anna Dodge. The film was released on April 7, 1924, by Universal Pictures.
