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.
Tsuru Aoki was a Japanese stage and screen actress whose career was most prolific in the United States during the silent film era of the 1910s through the 1920s. Aoki may have been the first Asian actress to garner top billing in American motion pictures.
Vola Vale was a silent film actress.
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 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.
The Honorable Friend is a 1916 American silent drama film and Edward LeSaint's directorial debut. It was written by Elizabeth McGaffey and Eve Unsell. The film stars Sessue Hayakawa and Tsuru Aoki. The film was released on August 27, 1916, by Paramount Pictures.
The Soul of Kura San is a 1916 American drama silent film directed by Edward LeSaint and written by Charles Sarver. The film stars Sessue Hayakawa, Myrtle Stedman, Tsuru Aoki, George Webb, Kisaburo Kurihara and George Kuwa. The film was released on October 30, 1916, 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.
The Honor of His House is a 1918 American silent drama film directed by William C. deMille and written by Marion Fairfax. The film stars Sessue Hayakawa, Florence Vidor, Jack Holt, Mayme Kelso, Kisaburo Kurihara, and Forrest Seabury. The film was released on 1 April 1918, by Paramount Pictures.
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.
Sessue Hayakawa: Silent Cinema and Transnational Stardom is a biography of actor Sessue Hayakawa, written by Daisuke Miyao, assistant professor of film at the University of Oregon, and published by Duke University Press. It won the 2007 Book Award in History from the Association of Asian American Studies and the John Hope Franklin Book Award from Duke University (2007).
Five Days to Live is a 1922 American silent drama film directed by Norman Dawn and featuring Sessue Hayakawa, Tsuru Aoki, Goro Kino, Misao Seki, Toyo Fujita, and George Kuwa.
Haworth Pictures Corporation was a film studio established by Japanese actor Sessue Hayakawa in March 1918.
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.
An Arabian Knight is a 1920 American drama film directed by Charles Swickard and produced by Sessue Hayakawa's Haworth Pictures Corporation. Its survival status is classified as unknown, which suggests that it is a lost film. Nevertheless, the Library of Congress lists this as being in their collection.
The Green Book Magazine, originally titled The Green Book Album, was a magazine published from 1909 to 1921. It was published by the Story-Press Corporation as a companion to its Red Book and Blue Book magazines. For most of its run, the magazine covered theater, but converted to a magazine for career women in its last few years, before ceasing publication in 1921.
