The Courageous Coward (1919)

Sessue Hayakawa was making the transition from Asian villain to sympathetic hero in this picture The plot is a combination of racial stereotypes that were common in the US during the silent era and reallife situations experienced by Asians living Stateside Hayakawa plays Suki Iota a student who while born and bred in America wants a wife with traditional Japanese values She appears in the form of Rei Tsuru Aoki Hayakawas reallife wife a singer who becomes known as the Japanese Nightingale