Sessue Hayakawa
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.
The classic story of English POWs in Burma forced to build a bridge to aid the war effort of...
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Swiss Family Robinson
as Kuala, Pirate ChiefAfter being shipwrecked, the Robinson family is marooned on an island inhabited only by an...
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The Love Goddesses
as (archive footage)This insightful documentary features some of the major and most beautiful actresses to grace the...
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House of Bamboo
as Inspector KitoEddie Kenner is given a special assignment by the Army to get the inside story on Sandy Dawson,...
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Tokyo Joe
as Baron KimuraAn American returns to Tokyo to try to pick up threads of his pre-World War II life there but...
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The Daydreamer
as The Mole (voice)A young Hans Christian Andersen goes in search of knowledge in the Garden of Paradise in order...
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Green Mansions
as RuniA young Venezuelan idealist flees his native land to escape a revolution. Hoping to find peace,...
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Hell to Eternity
as General MatsuiBased on the story about Guy Gabaldon, a Los Angeles Hispanic boy raised in the 1930s by a...
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The Cheat
as Hishuru Tori [Haka Arakau]A venal, spoiled stockbroker's wife impulsively embezzles $10,000 from the charity she chairs...
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Three Came Home
as Colonel Michio SugaBorneo, 1941, during World War II. When the Japanese occupy the island, American writer Agnes...
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The Geisha Boy
as Mr. SikitaGilbert Wooley is a second-rate magician who is sent to entertain the troops in the pacific....
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Yellowface: Asian Whitewashing and Racism in Hollywood
as (archive footage)A history of anti-Asian racism and yellowface in Hollywood after the 1941 Pearl Harbor attack.
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Why Be Good?: Sexuality & Censorship in Early Cinema
as Self (archive footage)Before the G, PG and R ratings system there was the Production Code, and before that there was,...
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Lover's Duet
as TajimaA melodrama about a talented singer who finally makes her debut. A remake of the 1939 film of...
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Daughter of the Dragon
as Ah KeeAt her Chinese father's bidding, a woman goes to murder an enemy and meets a Scotland Yard...
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The Typhoon
as TokoramaTokoramo, a Japanese diplomat on a mission to Paris, begins a love affair with Helene, a chorus...
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Forfaiture
as Prince Hu-LongDenise Moret joins her husband, Pierre, in Mongolia where he works as a civil engineer. One...
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Yoshiwara
as Ysamo, KuliBased on a novel by Maurice Dekobra, the film is set in the Yoshiwara, the red-light district of...
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Hidden Pearls
as Tom GarvinHawaiian prince Tom Garvin (Sessue Hayakawa) receives an American college education and falls in...
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The Wrath of the Gods
as Lord YamakiAn American sailor falls in love with a fisherman's daughter and convinces her that Jesus is...
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Le Cabaret du Grand Large
as Professeur WangSuperintendent Thomas is investigating a cabaret owner with suspicious actions.
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Le Soleil de minuit
as MatsuiGoing to take up his post in Moukden, the forest engineer finds in a trainer from the cabaret...
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The City of Dim Faces
as Jang LungChinese merchant Wing Lung and Elizabeth Mendall, an American, marry and have a son named Jang...
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Malaria
as uncreditedA colonial wife carries on an affair with a French officer, but the wife's native servant may...
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The Daughter of the Samurai
as Iwao YamatoTeruo gets caught up in a conflict between tradition and modernism after returning to Japan from...
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Patrouille blanche
as uncreditedAn Oriental villain named Halloway is called in by wealthy oil interests who want to destroy a...
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Black Roses
as YodaJapanese architect Yoda is hired as groundskeeper for retired criminal Benson Burleigh.
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Night Life in Hollywood
as SelfA picture depicting the engrossing adventures of a small town youth in Hollywood and showing the...
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The Swamp
as WangMary and her son Buster live in a single room in the slums of the city, having been deserted by...
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Li Ting Lang
as Li Ting LangIn a day and age when interracial marriages were considered taboo, film star Sessue Hayakawa...
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The First Born
as Chan WangLoey Tsing, the first love of Chan Wang, is sold into slavery by her father. Although Chan...
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O Mimi san
as YorotomoA silent melodrama from the very first series of American films to use a Japanese cast. The...
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Forbidden Paths
as SatoSato (Sessue Hayakawa) faithfully works for importer James Thornton (James Neill). When the old...
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The Tong Man
as Luk ChenAn opium smuggler is marked for murder in this story of the Chinese Mafia.
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The Rise and Fall of a Jungle Giant
as SelfA behind-the-scenes look at the building of the bridge in the film The Bridge on the River Kwai...
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The Victoria Cross
as AzimoolahMaj. Ralph Seton is a British army officer stationed in Cawnpore, India, when the Sepoy...
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Tempête sur l'Asie
as Prinz LingAn adventurer tries to seize oil deposits in Mongolia .
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Screen Snapshots (Series 1, No. 20)
as HimselfIntimate views of the movie stars of the Silent Era, at work and play; featuring Sessue...
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Temptation
as Opera AdmirerOpera singer Renee Dupree is in love with struggling composer Julian who falls very seriously...
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The Dragon Painter
as Tatsu - the Dragon PainterA wild man and genius becomes a master painter's disciple, but loses his divine gift when he...
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The Temple Of Dusk
as AkiraJapanese poet Akira living in Tokyo, loves American Ruth Vale, who was placed in the care of...
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An Arabian Knight
as AhmedJapanese actor Sessue Hayakawa is cast as an ancient Egyptian donkey boy in An Arabian Knight....
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The Big Wave
as The Old ManYukio, a farm boy, and Toru, a fisherboy, live in a small Japanese village that is periodically...
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The Secret Sin
as Lin FooBlanche Sweet has a dual role in this picture -- she plays twin sisters, Edith, a sweet, normal...
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The Bottle Imp
as LopakaLopaka, a poor Hawaiian fisherman, falls in love with Kokua, a young girl of royal blood. Her...
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Gambling Hell
as Ying TchaïIn Macao, where places of pleasure and arms trafficking are concentrated, a tragedy opposes an...
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The Bravest Way
as Kara TamuraJapanese actor Sessue Hayakawa was one of the most popular leading men in American silent...
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John Gunther's High Road
as SelfJohn Gunther, a great traveler in many parts of the globe, presented on the American ABC channel...
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Around the World with Douglas Fairbanks
as SelfWith the advent of sound, the world's leading screen idol, Douglas Fairbanks, experienced a...
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47 Vendettas
as Sakon TachibanaThe legendary tale of the forty-seven samurai who seek vengeance against the man who caused...
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A Heart in Pawn
as TomayaToyama wants to go to college in America but his alcoholic father won't supply the funds. He...
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The Man Beneath
as Dr. Chindi AshutorThe renown Hindu scientist, Dr. Chindi Ashutor, who has conquered plague in India, visits...
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The Devil's Claim
as Akbar Khan / HassanA Persian novelist living in New York throws aside the woman who loves him, and she gets an...
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Where Lights Are Low
as T''Su Wong ShihThe Chinese prince T'Su Wong Shih loves Quan Yin, the daughter of a gardener, but his uncle...
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I Have Killed
as HideoHideo, an antiques dealer in Tokyo, is accused of killing his best friend. In a dramatic...
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The Clue
as NogiRussian brothers Count Boris and Alexis Rabourdin obtain a Japanese coastline defense map and...
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The Call of the East
as Arai TakadaWhile visiting Alan, who works in Tokyo, she attends a festival with her Japanese maid while...
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The Last of the Line
as Tiah - Gray Otter's SonSioux leader Chief Gray Otter sends his son Tiah to the white man's school so that he can become...
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Bonds of Honor
as Yamashito / SasamotoIn this picture, Sessue Hayakawa is in a dual role, playing twin brothers. One of them,...
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The Honor of His House
as Count Ito OnatoMarooned on a desert island, Dr. Robert Farlow and wealthy toxicologist Count Ito Onato both...
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悲劇の将軍 山下奉文
as uncreditedWhen Japan entered into the great tragedy that was unforgettable, the general general of the...
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The Frozen Moment
as SelfCreated for the "Esso World Theater" series of films in 1964, it features excerpts from...
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His Birthright
as YukioYukio is illegal in the United States and is used by a gang of spies for their plans. Yukio must...
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The Secret Game
as Nara-NaraIn the office of Major Northfield, the quartermaster of the Pacific Coast, a leak has been...
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The Vermilion Pencil
as Tse Chan / The Unknown / Li ChanThe Vermilion Pencil is a 1922 American silent drama film directed by Norman Dawn, and produced...
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The Courageous Coward
as Suki IotaSessue Hayakawa was making the transition from Asian villain to sympathetic hero in this...
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Quartier chinois
as TchangIn a Far Eastern town, a settling of accounts between Western and Asian opium traffickers draws...
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The Death Mask
as Running WolfA Native American warrior travels to a faraway tribe to find and defend a woman that haunts his...
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The Honorable Friend
as MakinoMakino works for Kayosho, a Japanese curio dealer in America. To reward Makino's dedication,...
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Taikouki
as Takeda ShingenBased on the life of Hideyoshi Toyotomi (February 2, 1537 – September 18, 1598) a Sengoku period...
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Asian Americans
as SelfThis five-part series traces the story of Asian Americans, spanning 150 years of immigration,...
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