Actor Sessue Hayakawa, after his role in 1915's "The Cheat," became extremely upset how Hollywood was portraying Asians in unflattering steorotypical images. Securing start-up funding, the Japanese-born Hayakawa set out to establish the first Asian-owned film production company in the United States, Haworth Pictures Corporation. Its owners set out to portray Asians in their own environment, interacting in their own customs and traditions, a much more realistic portrayal of the millions of people an ocean away from North America than they were being seen on the screen.
The earliest surviving film of Haworth Pictures Corp. Is September 1919's "The Dragon Painter." Adapted from a 1906 novel of the same name, the studio's ninth movie depicted a mad, solitary artist (Hayakawa) who believed his wife of 1,000 years ago was a dragon hidden in the wilds of Japan (the stunning mountains were filmed in Yosemite National Park). A few of his paintings end up in the hands of a famous aging painter who is seeking a protege to take over his mantle once he dies. Trouble is, the nutty painter draws inspiration on his late imaginary 1,000 year-old wife. The master artist sets up his daughter to transform into that dragon wife to encourage him to remain in his household. When the young painter falls in love with the daughter (played by Hayakawa's actual wife, Tsuru Aoki), he loses all inspiration in painting, causing a dilemma in the master's plans.
In its three years of existence, Haworth Pictures was a reasonable success, producing 23 movies and making enough money for Hayakawa to pay off the initial one million dollar loan as well as enjoy a luxurious lifestyle, complete with a gold-plated Pierce-Arrow car. Anticipating Prohibition in 1920, the actor purchased an enormous amount of liquor, allowing him to hold elaborate parties fortified with plenty of booze when a legal drop of alcohol couldn't be bought anywhere.
