His Birthright
About His Birthright
Yukio's Japanese mother, Saki San, kills herself after his father, an American naval officer, does not return. Yukio comes to the United States to kill him. The father is now Admiral John Milton. A German spy, Edna Kingston, gets Yukio to steal a paper from the admiral, then rejects him. Ashamed, Yukio fights her gang, takes the document back, and returns it as the admiral arrives with the police. Milton says he loved Saki San and could not find her. Yukio stays as his son and plans to join the U.S. Army in the war.
Cast & crew
More about His Birthright
Sessue Hayakawa produced the film and plays Yukio. William Worthington directed. Hayakawa and Denison Clift wrote the story. Robert Newhard photographed it. Haworth Pictures made it, and Mutual Film released it. New York and San Francisco openings were on August 25, 1918, with a general release on September 1, 1918.
Themes
Background
Mutual released the film in the last months of World War I. The story ends with Yukio set on joining the American army in a war Japan and the United States were both fighting.
Making
Hayakawa's own company, Haworth, made the picture, with his wife Tsuru Aoki in the cast as the mother.
Reviews
Variety's review praised the acting and the settings, then called the admiral's affair with a Japanese woman disagreeable.
Look
Robert Newhard photographed the film.
Music
Joseph O'Sullivan wrote a score for the film called Nipponese.
Preservation
Three of the five reels survive at the EYE Filmmuseum in the Netherlands.
Notes
- Marin Sais plays Edna Kingston. Howard Davies is Admiral John Milton, Mary Anderson is Helen Milton, and Tsuru Aoki, Hayakawa's wife, plays Saki San.
- Joseph O'Sullivan wrote a score titled Nipponese.
- Variety liked the acting and the settings and objected to an admiral's love affair with a Japanese woman. The reviewer wanted the father to be an ordinary citizen stuck with an illegitimate son.
- On September 18, 1918, after the New Orleans run, Naval Intelligence officers seized the print at the Palace. Friends of Rear Admiral John B. Milton, stationed at the local navy yard, said the character's name reflected on him.
- Only three of the five reels are known to survive. The EYE Filmmuseum in the Netherlands holds them.
Scenes
- Edna Kingston takes the stolen paper and then turns Yukio away.
- Yukio fights the spy ring and hands the document back as his father comes in with the police.
Also available
- Internet Archive (silent-his-birthright)
