HistoricVids氏による、戦前のハリウッドの大スター、早川雪洲の紹介。同氏ともう一人の分だけGoogle翻訳。フランスレジスタンス参加って、知らなかった。

Historic Vids @historyinmemes

Considering how poorly Asian men are portrayed in Hollywood, I was genuinely surprised to learn about Sessue Hayakawa, a Japanese actor who became one of the biggest stars during the American silent era of the 1910s. He became one of Hollywood's first sex symbols after starring in the film "The Cheat" (1915), in which he plays a cruel villain (there's a scene in which he literally brands a woman). Despite his portrayal, Hayakawa became extremely popular with American women for his "broodingly handsome" good looks. At one point, he was the highest paid actor in Hollywood, making over $3,500 a week, and his fame was on par with that of Charlie Chaplin. Although Hayakawa was highly sought after during the 1910s and early 1920s, he became disillusioned by constantly being typecast for the same roles. He decided to start his own production company to fight Asian stereotypes and ended up producing 23 films in a span of three years. However, he had to scrap his company after getting into an argument with a distributor who called him a racial slur. By the 1930s, Hollywood had set strict moral guidelines called the Hays Code, which prohibited interracial love from being portrayed on screen. As a result, Hayakawa continued to be cast as either a villain or a "forbidden lover," since most of his co-stars were white women. In 1937, Hayakawa went to France to star in a French film but ended up being trapped in the country when World War 2 broke out. He sold watercolor paintings to financially support himself and joined the French resistance to help fight the Germans. In 1949, Hayakawa, upon reflecting on his career, mentioned, "My one ambition is to play a hero." He never really got that chance but did end up being nominated for best supporting actor for his role in "The Bridge on the River Kwai" (1957), in which he plays an "honorable villain" in charge of a Japanese prison camp in Thailand. Upon retirement, Hayakawa became a Zen master and dedicated his life to Zen Buddhism. He died at the age of 87 in 1973.

拡大

THΞGABO.ΞTH @thegaboeth

Sessue Hayakawa Hayakawa was born Kintaro Hayakawa in the village of Nanaura, now part of a town called Chikura, in the city of Minamibōsō in Chiba Prefecture, Japan, on June 10, 1886.From a young age he yearned to go overseas and took on English studies in preparation. His father was the head of a fishermen's union with some wealth. He had five siblings. From an early age, Hayakawa's family intended him to become an officer in the Imperial Japanese Navy. However, while a student at the naval academy in Etajima, he swam to the bottom of a lagoon (he grew up in a shellfish diving community) on a dare and ruptured his eardrum. The injury caused him to fail the navy physical. His father felt shame and embarrassment by his son's failure and this drove a wedge between them. The strained relationship drove the 18-year-old Hayakawa to attempt seppuku (ritual suicide). One evening, Hayakawa entered a shed on his parents' property and prepared the venue. He put his dog outside and attempted to uphold his family's samurai tradition by stabbing himself more than 30 times in the abdomen. The barking dog brought Hayakawa's parents to the scene and his father used an axe to break down the door, saving his life. After he recovered from the suicide attempt, Hayakawa moved to the United States and began to study political economics at the University of Chicago to fulfill his family's new wish that he become a banker. While a student, he reportedly played quarterback for the football team and was once penalized for using jujitsu to bring down an opponent.Hayakawa graduated from the University of Chicago in 1912, and subsequently made plans to return to Japan. Hayakawa traveled to Los Ángeles and awaited a transpacific steamship. During his stay, he discovered the Japanese Theatre in Little Tokyo and became fascinated with acting and performing plays. The above account, however, is disputed, in part or in whole. According to professor of Japanese language and literature at UC San Diego Daisuke Miyao, Hayakawa's turn to acting was in reality less eventful; there is no record of Hayakawa having attended University of Chicago or having played sports there. Hayakawa's acting career instead likely followed a series of odd jobs in California: as a dishwasher, waiter, ice cream vendor, and factory worker; his theatrical appearances also were just another temporary pursuit. Another revisionist account by author Orie Nakagawa holds that Hayakawa had always intended to go to California to find work under his older brother in San Francisco; his father, however, convinced him to study at Chicago instead, and Hayakawa did so for a year before leaving to return to his original pursuits. It was around this time that Hayakawa first assumed the stage name Sessue, meaning "snowy continent". One of the productions in which Hayakawa performed was called The Typhoon. Tsuru Aoki, a member of the acting troupe, was so impressed with Hayakawa's abilities and enthusiasm that she enticed film producer Thomas H. Ince to see the play. Ince saw the production and offered to turn it into a silent film with the original cast. Eager to return to Japan, Hayakawa tried to dissuade Ince by requesting the then-astronomic fee of $500 a week, but Ince agreed to his request. The Typhoon (1914) became an instant hit and was followed by two additional pictures produced by Ince, The Wrath of the Gods (1914) co-starring Hayakawa's new wife, Aoki, and The Sacrifice (1914). With Hayakawa's rising stardom, Jesse L. Lasky soon offered Hayakawa a contract, which he accepted, making him part of Famous Players–Lasky (now Paramount Pictures). Hayakawa was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1645 Vine Street, in Hollywood, Los Angeles. Hayakawa retired from film in 1966. He died in Tokyo on November 23, 1973, from a cerebral thrombosis, complicated by pneumonia. He was buried in the Chokeiji Temple Cemetery in Toyama, Japan.

拡大

拡大

拡大

Still N⁸ 🌿 @NeedBatteries

@historyinmemes A scene from "The Bridge on the River Kwai" featuring Hayakawa as Colonel Saito pic.twitter.com/NygFBSOi8k

CoolCat @CoolCat_2023

@historyinmemes I didn't know that he was part of the French Resistance. Force et honneur à toi, Héros de la nation ! Puisses-tu reposer en paix et trouver parmi les anges, toute la douceur et la joie qui t'a manqué ici-bas. 🇫🇷🕊❤️🪦❤️🕊🇫🇷

James F. Plott @JFP704

@historyinmemes "The Bridge on the River Kwai" earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor, making him the first Asian actor to receive such a nomination in Hollywood's history.

Journal of Warfare @JournalWarfare

The son of an aristocratic line in his native Chiba, Japan, Hayakawa was being groomed by his family for a naval career. That prospect ended, however, when Hayakawa foolishly dove to the bottom of a lagoon one day on a schoolmate’s dare. He promptly ruptured his eardrum, thus disqualifying himself from service. Ashamed at his family’s disappointment (and especially that of his father, a provincial governor), Hayakawa attempted hara-kiri, the form of suicide whereby one falls on one’s sword or dagger. He was saved when his dog alerted servants to the ruckus.After healing the rift with his family, Hayakawa enrolled in the University of Chicago in 1912, majoring in political economy. Despite the racism he encountered, and despite weighing only 60 kilograms (132 lb), he was able to secure a spot on the school’s football team. He used judo to bring down larger opponents, and as Asian martial arts were little known in the West back then, he claimed that this led people to believe he possessed “occult power.” Eventually, Hayakawa made his way to Los Angeles where he became involved with a playhouse in the Little Tokyo neighborhood. One of their productions, The Typhoon, impressed a local producer and was turned into a film featuring the original cast. The film was a success, and the roles that followed cemented Hayakawa’s movie-star status. He drove a gold-plated Pierre-Arrow and was renowned for throwing lavish parties at his 32-room LA mansion.

拡大

DeFi Samurai @DefiSamurai

Sessue Hayakawa conformed to his parents' wishes and entered the naval academy as soon as he could. He, however, suffered a ruptured eardrum while diving to the bottom of a lagoon, causing him to fail the necessary physical. His character in "The Cheat" was originally identified as Japanese, but this was changed to Burmese for the 1918 re-release as Japanese Americans protested.

Danner Foundation @DannerFoundati1

@historyinmemes m.imdb.com/name/nm0370564/. His actiing career, from 1914-1967 included American, Japanese and French Films and TV Shows with never more than a 3 year gap including the war years.

Kirill Dorokhov @zutraeumen

@historyinmemes Sessue Hayakawa in «The Cheat» (1915). pic.twitter.com/BaMwPUZX7l

Alexander 💎 @AConstatini

"Production Code" and "Hays Commission" redirect here. For TV episode numbering, see Production code number. For the 1937 investigation by Arthur Garfield Hays, see Ponce massacre. Motion Picture Production Code The Motion Picture Production Code was a set of industry guidelines for the self-censorship of content that was applied to most motion pictures released by major studios in the United States from 1934 to 1968. It is also popularly known as the Hays Code, after Will H. Hays, president of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America (MPPDA) from 1922 to 1945. Under Hays's leadership, the MPPDA, later the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and the Motion Picture Association (MPA), adopted the Production Code in 1930 and began rigidly enforcing it in 1934. The Production Code spelled out acceptable and unacceptable content for motion pictures produced for a public audience in the United States. From 1934 to 1954, the code was closely identified with Joseph Breen, the administrator appointed by Hays to enforce the code in Hollywood. The film industry followed the guidelines set by the code well into the late 1950s, but it began to weaken, owing to the combined impact of television, influence from foreign films, controversial directors (such as Otto Preminger) pushing boundaries, and intervention from the courts, including the US Supreme https://t.co/e1HDbIWBW1 1968, after several years of minimal enforcement, the Production Code was replaced by the MPAA film rating system.

拡大

Time Trip @TimeTriping

@historyinmemes "Notice the difference between what happens when a man says to himself, I have failed three times, and what happens when he says, I am a failure." - Sessue Hayakawa pic.twitter.com/JpBruYE5uK

拡大

TheOut-Cast @cast_theout

Sessue Hayakawa came from a family with diplomatic ties in Japan. His family's background was in the samurai class, and some of his relatives had served in diplomatic roles. However, Hayakawa himself chose to pursue an acting career rather than follow the diplomatic path of his family. While his exact family history in diplomacy might not be extensively documented, his decision to become an actor marked a departure from the traditional roles his family might have been involved in.

拡大

Still N⁸ 🌿 @NeedBatteries

@historyinmemes Good on him for paving the way quite impressively despite adversity. Man, what a life this guy lived

K.B. 🤴🏽 @SkywalkerMcFly_

@historyinmemes There should definitely be a movie about this man.

this motherfucker back here is not real @ThePejYouKnow

@stan1m1r @AhnafIshaq @historyinmemes Americans can’t read

Littman @Littman9G

@NeedBatteries @historyinmemes Masterpiece

minja.eth @minjaNFT

@historyinmemes Stop holding asian men back!

lostplay🎖️ @lostplay_

@historyinmemes What a story! Love seeing my Asian brothers(grandfathers really😅) put their impact in history

Arcane🦇🔊 @Zabalanche

@historyinmemes Man’s a legend

Donna Cohen MLIS MEd @donnalc

@AConstatini @historyinmemes Did you know Mel Blanc put a dig on the Hays code into dialogue that Bugs Bunny said? (I don’t have reference handy but learned it at a museum exhibit about Blanc’s life)

History @historyfunn

@historyinmemes bro looks charming. look at his killer eyes

GriffeyJ @tmjacobs13

@historyinmemes Dude was a legend