Sessue Hayakawa has been studying medicine in Scotland. On the eve of his return to India, he confesses his love to Helen Jerome Eddy. She is terrified of the social stigma that such a marriage would bear, and so Hayakawa returns to India alone, pledging his devotion. It is soon tested, when John Gilbert, who is affianced to Miss Eddy's sister, Pauline Curley, has been studying a secret society of criminals and gotten too close to his subject. They demand he commit a murder for them. He tells Miss Curley the marriage will have to be postponed, and flees to India, shadowed by two agents of the society. He seeks refuge with Hayakawa, and the two take ship back to Scotland. Gilbert falls ill and dies, and is buried at sea. Is it a natural death, have the agents of the secret society enacted their vengeance, or has Hayakawa's frustrated love turned to murderous hatred?
People who know Hayakawa only from his Oscar-nominated role in THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI will be surprised to learn that he was a substantial Hollywood star in the 1910s. He retired from acting in 1966 to become a Buddhist monk, but remained an acting coach until his death in 1973 at the age of 87.
People who know Hayakawa only from his Oscar-nominated role in THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI will be surprised to learn that he was a substantial Hollywood star in the 1910s. He retired from acting in 1966 to become a Buddhist monk, but remained an acting coach until his death in 1973 at the age of 87.