Sessue Hayakawa
Biography: Sessue Hayakawa (June 10, 1889 – November 23, 1973) was a Japanese and American Issei (Japanese immigrant) actor who starred in American, Japanese, French, German, and British films. Hayakawa was the first and one of the few Asian actors to find stardom in the United States as well as Europe. Between the mid-1910s and the late 1920s, he was as well known as actors Charlie Chaplin and Douglas Fairbanks. He was one of the highest paid stars of his time; making $5,000 a week in 1915, and $2 million a year via his own production company during the 1920s. He starred in over 80 movies and has two films in the U.S. National Film Registry. His international stardom transitioned both silent films and talkies. Of his English-language films, Hayakawa is probably best known for his role as Colonel Saito in the film The Bridge on the River Kwai, for which he received a nomination for Academy Award Best Supporting Actor in 1957. He also appeared as the pirate leader in Disney's Swiss Family Robinson in 1960. In addition to his film acting career, Hayakawa was a theatre actor, film and theatre producer, film director, screenwriter, novelist, martial artist, and an ordained Zen master. Description above from the Wikipedia article Sessue Hayakawa, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Place of Birth: Not available
Birthday: June 10, 1889
Deathday: November 23, 1973
Popularity:
Known For
The Bridge on the River Kwai
1957-10-11
The Bridge on the River Kwai
Overview: The classic story of English POWs in Burma forced to build a bridge to aid the war effort of their Japanese captors. British and American intelligence officers conspire to blow up the structure, but Col. Nicholson, the commander who supervised the bridge's construction, has acquired a sense of pride in his creation and tries to foil their plans.
Genres: Drama History War
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1957-10-11
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House of Bamboo
1955-07-01
House of Bamboo
Overview: Eddie Kenner is given a special assignment by the Army to get the inside story on Sandy Dawson, a former GI who has formed a gang of fellow servicemen and Japanese locals.
Genres: Crime Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1955-07-01
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The Honorable Friend
1916-08-27
The Honorable Friend
Overview: Makino works for Kayosho, a Japanese curio dealer in America. To reward Makino's dedication, Kayosho sends for Toki-ye, a picture bride. Upon arrival, she is married to Makino in a civil ceremony. However, Kayosho intends to keep Toki-ye for himself. This angers Goto, another employee. Kayosho was betrothed to Goto's niece, Hana. One day Kayosho is found dead in a pool.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1916-08-27
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Temptation
1915-12-15
Temptation
Overview: Opera singer Renee Dupree is in love with struggling composer Julian who falls very seriously ill. She goes to impresario Mueller for the money Julian needs but is saved from sacrificing her virtue when a jealous lover kills Mueller.
Genres: Drama Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1915-12-15
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The City of Dim Faces
1918-07-15
The City of Dim Faces
Overview: Chinese merchant Wing Lung and Elizabeth Mendall, an American, marry and have a son named Jang Lung. Because Elizabeth wants Jang Lung to be raised as a Christian, Wing Lung locks her in the cellar and she becomes insane. Jang meets Marcell Matthews at an Eastern university, and she returns with him to San Francisco to be married.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1918-07-15
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Screen Snapshots, Series 3, No. 12
1922-11-05
Screen Snapshots, Series 3, No. 12
Overview: Another entry in the popular one-reel series.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1922-11-05
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Hell to Eternity
1960-08-01
Hell to Eternity
Overview: Based on the story about Guy Gabaldon, a Los Angeles Hispanic boy raised in the 1930s by a Japanese-American foster family. After Pearl Harbor, his foster family is interned at the Manzanar camp for Japanese Americans, while he enlists in the Marines, where his ability to speak Japanese becomes a vital asset. During the Battle of Saipan, he convinces 800 Japanese to surrender after their general commits suicide.
Genres: Drama War
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1960-08-01
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The Geisha Boy
1958-11-02
The Geisha Boy
Overview: Gilbert Wooley is a second-rate magician who is sent to entertain the troops in the pacific. During his time in Japan he becomes attached to a little orphan boy.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1958-11-02
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Forfaiture
1937-11-24
Forfaiture
Overview: Denise Moret joins her husband, Pierre, in Mongolia where he works as a civil engineer. One night she loose a lot of money on the roulette and therefore is forced to borrow money from Prince Lee-Lang. The Prince immediately begins to flirt and make advances towards Denise. Advances she rejects.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: fr
Release Date: 1937-11-24
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Green Mansions
1959-03-19
Green Mansions
Overview: A young Venezuelan idealist flees his native land to escape a revolution. Hoping to find peace, he goes to the mountains and the forests of the Amazon. There he encounters Rima, the Bird Girl, an orphan living a life of nature, who is feared by a local jungle tribe.
Genres: Adventure Drama Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1959-03-19
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Swiss Family Robinson
1960-12-21
Swiss Family Robinson
Overview: After being shipwrecked, the Robinson family is marooned on an island inhabited only by an impressive array of wildlife. In true pioneer spirit, they quickly make themselves at home but soon face a danger even greater than nature: dastardly pirates.
Genres: Adventure Family
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1960-12-21
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Tokyo Joe
1949-10-26
Tokyo Joe
Overview: An American veteran returns to Tokyo to try to pick up the threads of his pre-World War II life there, but finds himself squeezed between criminals and the authorities.
Genres: Drama Thriller Crime
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1949-10-26
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The Cheat
1915-12-13
The Cheat
Overview: A venal, spoiled stockbroker's wife impulsively embezzles $10,000 from the charity she chairs and desperately turns to a Burmese ivory trader to replace the stolen money.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1915-12-13
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Patrouille blanche
1942-03-05
Patrouille blanche
Overview: An Oriental villain named Halloway is called in by wealthy oil interests who want to destroy a dam project for hydroelectric power that may threaten their profits.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: fr
Release Date: 1942-03-05
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Le Soleil de minuit
1943-06-30
Le Soleil de minuit
Overview: Going to take up his post in Moukden, the forest engineer finds in a trainer from the cabaret "the midnight sun" a Russian princess, Armide, whom he once loved. He had met her in 1917 when the princess and her father were driven from their domain. Prince Ireniev is a gambler, a trickster, a matchmaker. Out of love for Armide, Forestier flew, and yet when he finds the two wrecks, he cannot resist. Abandoning everything, his position and his honor, he leaves with the woman of his destiny.
Genres: Adventure
Original Language: fr
Release Date: 1943-06-30
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Malaria
1943-06-30
Malaria
Overview: A colonial wife carries on an affair with a French officer, but the wife's native servant may have overheard their plan to leave Africa and return to Europe together.And then the servant goes missing.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: fr
Release Date: 1943-06-30
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Le Cabaret du Grand Large
1946-10-30
Le Cabaret du Grand Large
Overview: Superintendent Thomas is investigating a cabaret owner with suspicious actions.
Genres: Crime
Original Language: fr
Release Date: 1946-10-30
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Quartier chinois
1947-03-07
Quartier chinois
Overview: In a Far Eastern town, a settling of accounts between Western and Asian opium traffickers draws the attention of the police.
Genres: Crime Drama
Original Language: fr
Release Date: 1947-03-07
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The Devil's Claim
1920-05-02
The Devil's Claim
Overview: A Persian novelist living in New York throws aside the woman who loves him, and she gets an American woman to help get him back. Meanwhile, the novelist's current novel is in progress, and it's dramatized for us as he writes.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1920-05-02
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The Dragon Painter
1919-09-28
The Dragon Painter
Overview: A wild man and genius becomes a master painter's disciple, but loses his divine gift when he finds love.
Genres: Romance Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1919-09-28
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Three Came Home
1950-02-20
Three Came Home
Overview: Borneo, 1941, during World War II. When the Japanese occupy the island, American writer Agnes Newton Keith is separated from her husband and imprisoned with her son in a prison camp run by the enigmatic Colonel Suga.
Genres: War Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1950-02-20
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Daughter of the Dragon
1931-09-24
Daughter of the Dragon
Overview: At her Chinese father's bidding, a woman goes to murder an enemy and meets a Scotland Yard detective.
Genres: Crime Drama Science Fiction
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1931-09-24
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The Wrath of the Gods
1914-06-08
The Wrath of the Gods
Overview: An American sailor falls in love with a fisherman's daughter and convinces her that Jesus is more powerful than the gods who have cursed her.
Genres: Romance Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1914-06-08
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John Gunther's High Road
1959-09-07
John Gunther's High Road
Overview: John Gunther, a great traveler in many parts of the globe, presented on the American ABC channel the documentary program "John Gunther's High Road" from September 7, 1959 to October 1, 1960, namely 30 episodes. Two adventure trips filmed in distant places were broadcast: The first documentary film was shot exclusively for the show and the second film offered was a great classic adventure or exploit film by another director.
Genres: TV Movie Documentary Adventure
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1959-09-07
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The Tong Man
1919-12-14
The Tong Man
Overview: An opium smuggler is marked for murder in this story of the Chinese Mafia.
Genres: Drama Crime
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1919-12-14
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Yellowface: Asian Whitewashing and Racism in Hollywood
2019-10-13
Yellowface: Asian Whitewashing and Racism in Hollywood
Overview: A history of anti-Asian racism and yellowface in Hollywood after the 1941 Pearl Harbor attack.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2019-10-13
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The Last of the Line
1914-12-24
The Last of the Line
Overview: Sioux leader Chief Gray Otter sends his son Tiah to the white man's school so that he can become a great leader. The son returns home drunk, disappointing his father. Things get worse when the son joins a group of renegades and robs a payroll wagon. The father, observing the clash from a distance, takes a side.
Genres: Western Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1914-12-24
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Yoshiwara
1937-06-23
Yoshiwara
Overview: Based on a novel by Maurice Dekobra, the film is set in the Yoshiwara, the red-light district of Tokyo, in the nineteenth century. It depicts a love triangle between a high-class prostitute, a Russian naval officer, and a rickshaw man.
Genres: Romance Drama
Original Language: fr
Release Date: 1937-06-23
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The Rise and Fall of a Jungle Giant
1958-01-01
The Rise and Fall of a Jungle Giant
Overview: A behind-the-scenes look at the building of the bridge in the film The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) and the preparations for its destruction.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1958-01-01
Popularity:
The Typhoon
1914-10-10
The Typhoon
Overview: Tokoramo, a Japanese diplomat on a mission to Paris, begins a love affair with Helene, a chorus girl, who subsequently rejects her American fiancé, Richard Bernisky. When the Japanese discover the affair, they try to force Tokoramo to end it, but Helene refuses to stop visiting him. One night, during one of her visits, Bernisky comes to Tokoramo's apartment and, while Helene hides, rebukes her to her lover. After Bernisky leaves, Tokoramo orders Helene out, but when he realizes his love for her, he calls her back. Suddenly, she rejects and insults him to the point that he strangles her. Tokoramo wants to confess his crime, but he must complete his work, and so his countrymen sacrifice a boy, Hironari, who pleads guilty to the murder and eventually is guillotined. In the end, Tokoramo also dies and his colleagues burn his valuable papers in order to protect Japan. -From the TCM.com Database, powered by the AFI.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1914-10-10
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The Daydreamer
1966-06-01
The Daydreamer
Overview: A young Hans Christian Andersen goes in search of knowledge in the Garden of Paradise in order to make his studies easier. Each time he falls asleep, he experiences in his dreams the different characters he would later write about in fairy tales including The Little Mermaid, Thumbelina, and The Emperor's New Clothes.
Genres: Animation Adventure Family Fantasy Music
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1966-06-01
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Running Hollywood
1932-01-27
Running Hollywood
Overview: Running Hollywood is a comedy short.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1932-01-27
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The Death Mask
1914-09-25
The Death Mask
Overview: A Native American warrior travels to a faraway tribe to find and defend a woman that haunts his dreams.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1914-09-25
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The Daughter of the Samurai
1937-02-04
The Daughter of the Samurai
Overview: Teruo gets caught up in a conflict between tradition and modernism after returning to Japan from Germany after having spent a number of years there studying. Now, he is supposed to marry Mitsuko, the daughter of his adoptive father, to whom Teruo has long been promised. But Teruo, who has gotten to know the freedoms of the western world, would rather marry the woman he loves and behaves brusquely to Mitsuko.
Genres: Drama Romance
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1937-02-04
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The Clue
1915-07-08
The Clue
Overview: Russian brothers Count Boris and Alexis Rabourdin obtain a Japanese coastline defense map and plan to sell it to German agents in London. In America, Alexis schemes to marry wealthy Eve Bertram, who loves him. Boris, meanwhile, falls in love with Christine Lesley, Eve's neighbor whom Eve's brother Guy, an amateur inventor experimenting with explosives, also loves.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1915-07-08
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The Motherland Far Far Away
1950-03-05
The Motherland Far Far Away
Overview:
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1950-03-05
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The Secret Game
1917-12-03
The Secret Game
Overview: In the office of Major Northfield, the quartermaster of the Pacific Coast, a leak has been discovered which may endanger the safety of American transports that are secretly carrying troops across the Pacific. Nara-Nara, a Japanese detective, is assigned to the case because his country has guaranteed safety to these transport ships. Nara-Nara believes that Northfield is guilty, although in reality it is Northfield's secretary Kitty Little, a girl of German ancestry, who is passing information to Dr. Ebell Smith, a German agent. Nara-Nara falls in love with Kitty, but soon after discovers that she is the leak in the quartermaster's office.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1917-12-03
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His Birthright
1918-09-08
His Birthright
Overview: Yukio is illegal in the United States and is used by a gang of spies for their plans. Yukio must steal secret documents from an admiral. When he's submitting the documents to the gang, he realizes what he has done and claims the documents back. A struggle follows.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1918-09-08
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悲劇の将軍 山下奉文
1953-04-29
悲劇の将軍 山下奉文
Overview: When Japan entered into the great tragedy that was unforgettable, the general general of the history of the Ming Dynasty, hokudai Yamashita, left the Malay front and occupied Singapore at once, and was praised as a "Malay tiger." However, the situation in Japan changed steadily by the failure of Sai pan from the GA Talca translation.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1953-04-29
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Les Miserables I: God and the Devil
1950-11-03
Les Miserables I: God and the Devil
Overview:
Genres: Drama History
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1950-11-03
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Les Miserables II: Banner of Love and Freedom
1950-11-14
Les Miserables II: Banner of Love and Freedom
Overview:
Genres: Drama History
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1950-11-14
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The Frozen Moment
1964-03-09
The Frozen Moment
Overview: Created for the "Esso World Theater" series of films in 1964, it features excerpts from "Bugaku," "Gagaku," "Noh, " and "Kabuki" scenes performed by the well-known dancers, musicians and actors and actresses.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1964-03-09
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The Bottle Imp
1917-03-25
The Bottle Imp
Overview: Lopaka, a poor Hawaiian fisherman, falls in love with Kokua, a young girl of royal blood. Her father refuses to let him marry her, though, unless Lopaka can bring him two feather cloaks from a rare bird. While searching the mountains for the bird, Lopaka encounters a dying priest of Pele who sells him a wishing bottle in which Kono, the god of the volcanos, is confined.
Genres: Drama Fantasy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1917-03-25
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Gambling Hell
1942-04-11
Gambling Hell
Overview: In Macao, where places of pleasure and arms trafficking are concentrated, a tragedy opposes an adventurer and his daughter whom he has brought up in ignorance of his profession. She is torn from her environment and saved from tragedy by a young journalist who loves her.
Genres: Adventure Thriller Drama
Original Language: fr
Release Date: 1942-04-11
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The Courageous Coward
1919-03-31
The Courageous Coward
Overview: Sessue Hayakawa was making the transition from Asian villain to sympathetic hero in this picture. The plot is a combination of racial stereotypes that were common in the U.S. during the silent era and real-life situations experienced by Asians living Stateside. Hayakawa plays Suki Iota, a student who, while born and bred in America, wants a wife with traditional Japanese values. She appears in the form of Rei (Tsuru Aoki, Hayakawa's real-life wife), a singer who becomes known as the Japanese Nightingale.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1919-03-31
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The Man Beneath
1919-07-05
The Man Beneath
Overview: The renown Hindu scientist, Dr. Chindi Ashutor, who has conquered plague in India, visits Scotland and falls in love with Kate Erskine, whose sister Mary is engaged to Ashutor's college friend, James Bassett. Although Kate loves Ashutor, she says marriage would make them social outcasts.
Genres: Drama Crime
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1919-07-05
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Tempête sur l'Asie
1938-04-20
Tempête sur l'Asie
Overview: An adventurer tries to seize oil deposits in Mongolia .
Genres: Adventure
Original Language: fr
Release Date: 1938-04-20
Popularity:
The Call of the East
1917-10-15
The Call of the East
Overview: While visiting Alan, who works in Tokyo, she attends a festival with her Japanese maid while wearing a Japanese kimono. There she meets the wealthy Arai Takada, who is taken by the mysterious woman. Alan has dishonored and betrayed O'Mitsu, and her brother Arai plans a terrible revenge.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1917-10-15
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The Great Prince Shan
1924-05-01
The Great Prince Shan
Overview: An assassinated Lord's daughter refuses to marry a Chinese prince but agrees to be his mistress.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1924-05-01
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47 Vendettas
1953-03-31
47 Vendettas
Overview: The legendary tale of the forty-seven samurai who seek vengeance against the man who caused their master's death.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1953-03-31
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Screen Snapshots (Series 1, No. 20)
1921-02-22
Screen Snapshots (Series 1, No. 20)
Overview: Intimate views of the movie stars of the Silent Era, at work and play; featuring Sessue Hayakawa, Lillian Gish and others.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1921-02-22
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The Victoria Cross
1916-12-14
The Victoria Cross
Overview: Maj. Ralph Seton is a British army officer stationed in Cawnpore, India, when the Sepoy Rebellion--a mutiny of Indian soldiers in the Brtitish army in India--breaks out in 1857. He receives the prestigious Victoria Cross--the highest decoration that can be awarded to a British soldier--for his actions in battle. However, after a night of drunken debauchery, he is stripped of the honor and disgraced in front of his love, Joan Strathallen, the daughter of his commanding officer. When Indian rebel leader Azimoolah instigates an uprising by the natives and has Joan kidnapped, Seton sets out to redeem his honor and save the woman he loves.
Genres: Drama History
Original Language: xx
Release Date: 1916-12-14
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The Battle
1923-12-23
The Battle
Overview:
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: fr
Release Date: 1923-12-23
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Lover's Duet
1967-09-30
Lover's Duet
Overview: A melodrama about a talented singer who finally makes her debut. A remake of the 1939 film of the same name.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1967-09-30
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The Big Wave
1961-04-02
The Big Wave
Overview: Yukio, a farm boy, and Toru, a fisherboy, live in a small Japanese village that is periodically threatened by a volcano on one side and tidal waves on the other. Yukio's younger sister Setsu follows then and dreams of becoming a pearl diver. Toru is preparing to go fishing with his father when a bell tolls and a danger flag is hung high on the hill behind the village to warn of an impending tidal wave by the village patriarch, known as Old Gentleman.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1961-04-02
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The Temple Of Dusk
1918-10-20
The Temple Of Dusk
Overview: Japanese poet Akira living in Tokyo, loves American Ruth Vale, who was placed in the care of Akira's father when her missionary parents died. Ruth returns Akira's affections until she meets Edward, but the American proves an unfaithful husband. Three years later, Ruth is gravely ill while Edward amuses himself with his new lover, Adrienne Chester, but Akira comforts the dying woman with the promise that he will protect her little daughter Blossom.
Genres: Drama Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1918-10-20
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The Secret Sin
1915-10-21
The Secret Sin
Overview: Blanche Sweet has a dual role in this picture -- she plays twin sisters, Edith, a sweet, normal young girl, and Grace, who is a drug fiend. They live in poverty with their parents and their father (Hal Clements) finally finds work. Because he is faithful to his boss (Thomas Meighan), he is offered a partnership.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1915-10-21
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Where Lights Are Low
1921-09-04
Where Lights Are Low
Overview: The Chinese prince T'Su Wong Shih loves Quan Yin, the daughter of a gardener, but his uncle wants him to marry a girl of his own class. Leaving to study in the United States, the young man promises his beloved that they two will be together soon. Having finished university, one day T'Su Wong Shih visits the market of San Francisco, and at an auction of slaves, he finds Quan Yin auctioned. To save her, he agrees to pay a price of five thousand dollars but, not possessing the full amount, he makes a deal with the auctioneer for a three-year extension in which he must work to raise the money needed to rescue the girl. T'Su Wong Shih has no great success until he manages to win a large sum in a lottery. However, Quan Yin is now in danger because a Chinese gangster wants to have it and, to do that, goes to threaten the auctioneer who is forced to comply. T'Su Wong Shih is then engaged in a struggle to liberate his beloved: he defeats the gangster, rescues Quan Yin and claims her as his...
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1921-09-04
Popularity:
The Swamp
1921-10-30
The Swamp
Overview: Mary and her son Buster live in a single room in the slums of the city, having been deserted by their husband and father, wealthy Spencer Wellington. While selling newspapers, Buster meets Wang.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1921-10-30
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Bonds of Honor
1919-10-04
Bonds of Honor
Overview: In this picture, Sessue Hayakawa is in a dual role, playing twin brothers. One of them, Yamashiro is serious and hardworking, while the other, Sadao, is a playboy. There is a girl, Toko-Ku, who loves them both, but really prefers the bad boy. Sadao encounters Paul Berkowitz in a gambling den and borrows far more money from him than he can ever pay back.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1919-10-04
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Li Ting Lang
1920-07-24
Li Ting Lang
Overview: In a day and age when interracial marriages were considered taboo, film star Sessue Hayakawa rarely got the girl in his pictures. The issue of prejudice is broached here -- and Hayakawa still doesn't get the girl, who in this case is society girl Marion Halstead (Doris Pawn).
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1920-07-24
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An Arabian Knight
1920-08-22
An Arabian Knight
Overview: Japanese actor Sessue Hayakawa is cast as an ancient Egyptian donkey boy in An Arabian Knight. The humble Hayakawa rescues high-born Lillian Hall from lascivious pasha Fred Jones. All this brouhaha is actually a dream experienced by Hall.
Genres: Action Adventure Fantasy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1920-08-22
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The Honor of His House
1918-04-01
The Honor of His House
Overview: Marooned on a desert island, Dr. Robert Farlow and wealthy toxicologist Count Ito Onato both fall in love with Lora, a beautiful Japanese-American girl. Lora prefers Robert but decides to reject him because of his excessive fondness for drinking. After their rescue, Lora marries Count Ito, but Robert, still in love and resolving to win her, stops drinking, and soon attains a reputation in medicine matched only by the count's.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1918-04-01
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Hidden Pearls
1918-02-18
Hidden Pearls
Overview: Hawaiian prince Tom Garvin (Sessue Hayakawa) receives an American college education and falls in love with Enid Benton (Florence Vidor).
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1918-02-18
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The First Born
1921-01-30
The First Born
Overview: Loey Tsing, the first love of Chan Wang, is sold into slavery by her father. Although Chan marries another, he still loves Loey; only the birth of a son relieves his unhappiness. He adores little Chan Toy even though he finds nothing to like about his wife.
Genres: Drama Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1921-01-30
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The White Man's Law
1918-05-06
The White Man's Law
Overview: Japanese leading man Sessue Hayakawa stars as John A. Ghengle, the Oxford-educated son of an Arab chieftain. Entering into a business partnership with Sir Harry Falkland (Jack Holt), a notorious roue, Ghengle relocates to Sierra Leone, where he falls in love with French-Sudanese girl Maida Verne (Florence Vidor.) Upon proposing marriage, Ghengle is turned down and hotly demands to know why.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1918-05-06
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Black Roses
1921-05-22
Black Roses
Overview: Japanese architect Yoda is hired as groundskeeper for retired criminal Benson Burleigh.
Genres: Crime Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1921-05-22
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Forbidden Paths
1917-07-12
Forbidden Paths
Overview: Sato (Sessue Hayakawa) faithfully works for importer James Thornton (James Neill). When the old man dies, he leaves his daughter Mildred (Vivian Martin) in Sato's care. Sato loves the girl, but as he is Japanese he cannot hope to ever marry her (at least not in the racially prejudiced era of the early 1900s). Besides, Mildred loves Harry Maxwell (Tom Forman), who was raised alongside her.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1917-07-12
Popularity:
Sen Yan’s Devotion
1924-07-01
Sen Yan’s Devotion
Overview: A disguised servant of a dying Japanese prince saves articles of succession from a rival faction.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1924-07-01
Popularity:
O Mimi san
1914-02-05
O Mimi san
Overview: A silent melodrama from the very first series of American films to use a Japanese cast. The scenes of the story are laid in Japan during the last revolution in the late '60's.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1914-02-05
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Why Be Good?: Sexuality & Censorship in Early Cinema
2007-05-23
Why Be Good?: Sexuality & Censorship in Early Cinema
Overview: Before the G, PG and R ratings system there was the Production Code, and before that there was, well, nothing. This eye-opening documentary examines the rampant sexuality of early Hollywood through movie clips and reminiscences by stars of the era. Gloria Swanson, Mary Pickford, Marlene Dietrich and others relate tales of the artistic freedom that led to the draconian Production Code, which governed content from 1934 to 1968. Diane Lane narrates.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2007-05-23
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I Have Killed
1924-10-25
I Have Killed
Overview: Hideo, an antiques dealer in Tokyo, is accused of killing his best friend. In a dramatic court-room hearing, the truth will be revealed.
Genres: Drama Crime
Original Language: fr
Release Date: 1924-10-25
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Around the World with Douglas Fairbanks
1931-11-19
Around the World with Douglas Fairbanks
Overview: With the advent of sound, the world's leading screen idol, Douglas Fairbanks, experienced a downturn in his fortunes. His thin, reedy voice was not suited to the talkies, his marriage to Mary Pickford was on the outs, and his son, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., had replaced him as a major box-office draw. Faced with the Hollywood equivalent of a mid-life crisis, Doug called up three of his best friends - director Victor Fleming, cinematographer Henry Sharp, and production manager Charles Lewis - and took them on a six-month tour of Asia, ostensibly to shoot a travelogue for United Artists (of which Fairbanks was still a major shareholder.) Their first stop is Honolulu, followed in quick succession by Japan, China, Peking, Hong Kong, Indochina, the Philippines, Siam, and India. Fairbanks and company spend time at such noteworthy spots as the Taj Mahal, Angkor Wat, the Summer Palace and the Sun Yat-Sen Mausoleum.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1931-11-19
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A Heart in Pawn
1919-03-20
A Heart in Pawn
Overview: Toyama wants to go to college in America but his alcoholic father won't supply the funds. He gets the money to go, however, from Sada, whom he has married in secret. But Sada has a secret of her own -- she told Toyama that she got the money from a relative, but the truth is that she has signed up to do a four-year stint as a Geisha girl.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1919-03-20
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The Bravest Way
1918-06-16
The Bravest Way
Overview: Japanese actor Sessue Hayakawa was one of the most popular leading men in American silent films-this despite the fact that orientals were traditionally (and stereotypically) cast as villains at the time. In The Bravest Way, Hayakawa carries self-sacrifice to the nth degree. He is so devoted-in a perfectly platonic manner-to the widow of his best friend (Tsuri Aoki) that he loses the love of his American fiancee (Florence Vidor). Lost film.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1918-06-16
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Banzai
1918-10-01
Banzai
Overview: A Liberty Bond fundraising short.
Genres: War
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1918-10-01
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The Vermilion Pencil
1922-03-19
The Vermilion Pencil
Overview: 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.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1922-03-19
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Night Life in Hollywood
1922-11-15
Night Life in Hollywood
Overview: A picture depicting the engrossing adventures of a small town youth in Hollywood and showing the intimate home life of some of the screen's greatest stars.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1922-11-15
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After Five
1915-01-28
After Five
Overview: Thinking that he has lost both his money and his beloved Nora's in a bad investment young New Yorker Ted Ewing arranges for his own murder. Suddenly he discovers the money is safe and has in fact doubled and sets out to cancel the contract on his life. But will he be able to do so in time?
Genres: Crime Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1915-01-28
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Swiss Family Robinson: Adventure in the Making
2002-05-07
Swiss Family Robinson: Adventure in the Making
Overview: A look behind the scenes at Walt Disney’s Swiss Family Robinson (1960)
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2002-05-07
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Escape to Paradise/Water Birds
1960-12-18
Escape to Paradise/Water Birds
Overview: A behind-the-scenes show on the filming of Swiss Family Robinson on the West Indian island of Tobago. Then the True Life Adventure Water Birds.
Genres: Documentary Adventure Family TV Movie
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1960-12-18
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The Soul of Kura San
1916-10-30
The Soul of Kura San
Overview: When his fiancée commits suicide after being used by an American artist, a Japanese art dealer seeks to get vengeance by seducing the artist's wife.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1916-10-30
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Each to His Kind
1917-02-05
Each to His Kind
Overview:
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1917-02-05
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