The Dragon Painter (1919)

A young man (Sessue Hayakawa) dwells in the Japanese mountains where he paints dragon imagery believing that a princess has been turned into a dragon by the gods. When he his brought to the city to meet a famous artist (Edward Peil Sr.) who will be his mentor, he believes the artist's daughter (Tsuru Aoki) is the reincarnation of the princess. Based on the novel by Mary McNeil Fenollosa and directed by William Worthington (THE GIRL ON THE STAIRS). While diversity in film is very much on the mind of contemporary Hollywood these days, it should be noted that two of the most popular stars in silent cinema were Asian: Sessue Hayakawa and Anna May Wong. While most people know Hayakawa from his Oscar nominated performance in BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI, his striking good looks made him a leading man in Hollywood from 1914 to 1922. The stunning Yosemite National Park stands in for the Japanese mountain country while the Japanese Tea Garden in Coronado (where SOME LIKE IT HOT was filmed) stands in for the mentor's estate. The film brings into play whether Art is more important than love when Hayakawa's painter loses his ability after falling in love. Should the woman remove herself from the equation in order for her beloved exercise his Art? With Toyo Fujita.