''The Temple of Dusk'' is a

lost Lost may refer to getting lost, or to: Geography *Lost, Aberdeenshire, a hamlet in Scotland * Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail, or LOST, a hiking and cycling trail in Florida, US History *Abbreviation of lost work, any work which is known to have bee ...

1918 American silent

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

directed by James Young. It was produced by

Sessue Hayakawa , known professionally as , was a Japanese actor and a matinée idol. He was a popular star in Hollywood during the silent film era of the 1910s and early 1920s. Hayakawa was the first actor of Asian descent to achieve stardom as a leading man ...

Haworth Pictures Corporation Haworth Pictures Corporation was a film studio established by Japanese actor Sessue Hayakawa in March 1918. Haworth Pictures Corporation was Hollywood’s first Asian-owned production company. Filmography * ''His Birthright'' (1918) * '' The Te ...

Plot

As described in a

film magazine Film periodicals combine discussion of individual films, genres and directors with in-depth considerations of the medium and the conditions of its production and reception. Their articles contrast with film reviewing in newspapers and magazines whi ...

, Akira (Hayakawa), a Japanese poet who lives in Tokyo, falls in love with an American, Ruth Vale (Novak), who has grown to womanhood under his father's care. He is much saddened, however, when she marries an American. Three years elapse and Ruth dies of an illness, leaving a baby in the poet's care. Akira agrees to accompany the child and father to America, and when the American is accused of the murder of a man who entered his home, Akira assumes the guilt. He escapes from prison to visit the child and is shot by a guard. An allegorical scene shows Akira and Ruth entering the Temple of Dusk together.

Cast

as Akira *

Jane Novak Jane Novak (born Johana Barbara Novak; January 12, 1896 – February 3, 1990) was an American actress of the silent film era. Background Jane Novak was born Johana Barbara Novak in St. Louis, Missouri to Bohemian immigrant Joseph Jerome Novak a ...

as Ruth Vale *

Louis Willoughby Louis Willoughby (10 July 1876 – 12 September 1968) was an English actor of the silent era. Born in England, he was married to artist Vera Willoughby and the father of artist Althea Willoughby. He lived his final years in the United Stat ...

as Edward Markham *

Mary Jane Irving Mary Jane Irving (October 20, 1913 – July 17, 1983) was an American actress. She appeared in 58 films between 1917 and 1938. Biography Born in Columbia, South Carolina, Irving began her career as a child actor in silent films. A popular ...

as Blossom * Sylvia Breamer as Adrienne Chester * Henry A. Barrows as Pembroke Wilson (credited as Henry Barrows)

Reception

Like many American films of the time, ''The Temple of Dusk'' was subject to cuts by city and state film censorship boards. For example, the Chicago Board of Censors required a cut, in Reel 3, of the scene with the wife at the mantle and her lover on the couch and the first kissing scene between wife and lover where Akira discovers them.

References

External links

* * Haworth Pictures Corporation films 1918 drama films 1918 films Silent American drama films American black-and-white films American silent feature films Lost American drama films Films with screenplays by Frances Marion 1918 lost films 1910s American films 1910s English-language films English-language drama films {{1910s-drama-film-stub