 | What Happened to Hayakawa |  |
The Ticklish Talkies
He pondered the matter, walking up and down a bit restlessly, as though troubled.
“In my own case. Suppose I use speech in my picture. Then it must be pidgin English, since I speak with accent.”
He changed the subject abruptly. Began to talk of books—he is widely read; of golf—he is an addict, and says his idea of Nirvana is that moment when after a fine shot the ball drops into the hole. He talked of psychology, reincarnation, of his wife, who “makes things pleasant at my home,”[3] of his former scenarist, Eve Unsell—“A charming lady of great talent and beauty.”[4] (Incidentally, Eve Unsell has said of Hayakawa that he is one of the greatest actors the screen has produced—“a man possessed of that rare quality–genius!”)
Sessue Hayakawa has changed little since he left America. He is still in his twenties, a man above the average height, possessed of a figure as lithe as an acrobat's. He was born in Tokyo, of Samurai ancestry; is a graduate of the Imperial University, a naval officer, an amateur boxer, wrestler, fencer, ju-jutsu expert and swimmer.
“The Bandit Prince” is the name of the story in which he will make his reappearance in pictures. Hayakawa himself wrote the novel.[5] It has to do with the capture of two American girls by bandits. There are two heroines, the blonde American girl and a little Manchu princess.
Hayakawa's wife, Tsuru Aoki, was also an actor and frequently played opposite him in his films.
Eve Unsell (1887-1937) was actively involved in the film industry from the mid-1910s through the mid-1930s, receiving writing credit for nearly a hundred films (in contrast to Eaton's six). Eaton worked with Unsell in 1930, on a project titled Texas Rangers—possibly an early precursor to King Vidor's 1936 film version.
| What Happened to Hayakawa | |