{"id":5191,"date":"2013-11-03T15:55:54","date_gmt":"2013-11-03T20:55:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/?p=5191"},"modified":"2018-08-03T02:54:27","modified_gmt":"2018-08-03T06:54:27","slug":"barker-1914-the-wrath-of-the-gods","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/?p=5191","title":{"rendered":"(Barker 1914) The Wrath of the Gods"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"The<\/a>While he is best known for his role as the Japan\u00adese camp com\u00adman\u00adder in The Bridge on the Riv\u00ader Kwai<\/i>, and oth\u00ader films of the 1950s, Ses\u00adsue Hayakawa was a super\u00adstar in the silent era. Among Hollywood\u2019s high\u00adest payed stars, he was in the same league with Fair\u00adbanks, Chap\u00adlin and Valenti\u00adno. He found\u00aded his own pro\u00adduc\u00adtion com\u00adpa\u00adny because he resent\u00aded the mis\u00adrep\u00adre\u00adsen\u00adta\u00adtion of Asians in Hol\u00adly\u00adwood films. A metic\u00adu\u00adlous actor, he was high\u00adly influ\u00aden\u00adtial in trans\u00adform\u00ading film act\u00ading meth\u00adods from the broad ges\u00adtures inher\u00adit\u00aded from stage act\u00ading to the more restrained tech\u00adniques appro\u00adpri\u00adate to film. This film, the sec\u00adond one in which he appeared, was a sto\u00adry with a Japan\u00adese set\u00adting. A cast\u00adaway sailor courts a young girl who has been for\u00adbid\u00adden to mar\u00adry by a tem\u00adple prophe\u00adcy. Hayakawa was a young man, hav\u00ading just dropped out of the Uni\u00adver\u00adsi\u00adty of Chica\u00adgo, where he stud\u00adied eco\u00adnom\u00adics, but he appears in heavy make\u00adup as the hero\u00adine\u2019s elder\u00adly father. The film dis\u00adplays the old\u00ader, melo\u00addra\u00admat\u00adic style of act\u00ading that Hayakawa was soon to change. The lead\u00ading female role was played by Tsu\u00adru Aoki, whom Hayakawa fell in love with and mar\u00adried dur\u00ading the pro\u00adduc\u00adtion. Despite the dat\u00aded act\u00ading tech\u00adniques, the film holds up well, with some excit\u00ading action scenes at sea, and some mov\u00ading moments.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hayakawa in 1918, four years after this film was made.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

Hayakawa led an inter\u00adest\u00ading life. As a teenag\u00ader in Japan, he attempt\u00aded sep\u00adpuku<\/i> after fail\u00ading to qual\u00adi\u00adfy for the naval career his upper class fam\u00adi\u00adly had planned for him. He played quar\u00adter\u00adback in Amer\u00adi\u00adcan col\u00adlege foot\u00adball. He stum\u00adbled into act\u00ading by acci\u00addent while wait\u00ading for a ship home, rock\u00adet\u00ading to star\u00addom with his good looks. He made for\u00adtunes and lost them gam\u00adbling, lived extrav\u00ada\u00adgant\u00adly, and became a social lion by buy\u00ading up a huge stock of liquor just before Pro\u00adhi\u00adbi\u00adtion was enact\u00aded. He wrote sev\u00ader\u00adal plays and a nov\u00adel. He pro\u00adduced a ver\u00adsion of The Three Mus\u00adke\u00adteers<\/i> in Japan. For awhile, broke and out of work, he sup\u00adport\u00aded him\u00adself by paint\u00ading water\u00adcolours. He moved to France to make films in which he would not be racial\u00adly stereo\u00adtyped \u2014 and end\u00aded up fight\u00ading in the French Resis\u00adtance. As an mid\u00addle-aged man, he was able to take on a crowd of young Mex\u00adi\u00adcan toughs in a brawl and defeat them hand\u00adi\u00adly. He retired to become a Zen mas\u00adter and tutor. Some of his roles won him acco\u00adlades as a mature actor, but he was nev\u00ader pop\u00adu\u00adlar in Japan, where he was con\u00adsid\u00adered \u201ctoo American.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Asian actors in Hol\u00adly\u00adwood faced com\u00adplex chal\u00adlenges, per\u00adform\u00ading in the lime\u00adlight of a soci\u00adety that held bizarre and some\u00adtimes dis\u00adgust\u00ading atti\u00adtudes about race and eth\u00adnic\u00adi\u00adty. In the 1920\u2019s, America\u2019s anti-mis\u00adce\u00adgena\u00adtion laws influ\u00adenced all cast\u00ading, script-writ\u00ading and per\u00adfor\u00admance. In the 1930\u2019s the rise of anti-Japan\u00adese sen\u00adti\u00adments and the per\u00adva\u00adsive cen\u00adsor\u00adship of films did fur\u00adther dam\u00adage. To weave their way through these obsta\u00adcles, Asians had to be resource\u00adful and strong. Their achieve\u00adments should not be forgotten.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While he is best known for his role as the Japan\u00adese camp com\u00adman\u00adder in The Bridge on the Riv\u00ader Kwai, and oth\u00ader films of the 1950s, Ses\u00adsue Hayakawa was a super\u00adstar in the silent era. Among Hollywood\u2019s high\u00adest payed stars, he \u2026<\/p>\n

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