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Hako’s Sacrifice
(1910) United States of America
B&W : One reel / 995 feet
Directed by (unknown)
Cast: Kenneth Casey [Hako], Adele DeGarde [Morning Glory]
The Vitagraph Company of America production; distributed by The Vitagraph Company of America. / Released 23 July 1910. / Standard 35mm spherical 1.33:1 format.
Drama.
Synopsis: [The Moving Picture World, 6 August 1910, page ?] Poor Hako, a Japanese boy, is sold into bondage to a cruel fisherman who makes his life a burden and even more wretched than his physical deformities and weakness. Morning Glory, a little Japanese girl, in passing the fisherman’s hut with her mother, sees Hako, looks into the sad face, and feels sorry for him. Her father is a florist, and when he gives his daughter a couple of chrysanthemum plants, she gives one of them to Hako, who stealthily plants it where it cannot be seen by his cruel master, at night watering and cultivating it as the only bright thing in his unhappy life, and his sole possession. Morning Glory’s father fails in business and is put in jail for debt, to the great delight of Keiki, his enemy and competitor in business. The Prince of the province offers a reward of five hundred yen to the child who brings the finest specimen of chrysanthemum on Festival Day. Hako is delighted, and hopes to win the prize and his freedom at the same time. Morning Glory rejoices in the thought that she will win the prize and her father’s release from prison. Keiki, in passing Morning Glory’s garden, sees her watching her cherished plant and its remarkable flower. He waits until nightfall, and, stealing into the garden, destroys the precious plant. The little girl, on discovering her loss, is inconsolable. Hako happens to be passing her house at this moment and resolves to sacrifice his chrysanthemum to the child’s purpose, for he loves the girl who has always been so kind and good to him. At night, Hako removes his plant and transplants it in Morning Glory’s garden in place of the one she lost. The child goes into the garden the next morning. Her joy is unbounded. She thinks the gods have answered her prayer. The Festival Day arrives, and Morning Glory wins the prize; her father is released from prison and Hako’s sacrifice has won the great happiness and joy which is only the compensation gained by those who make it.
Reviews: [The Moving Picture World, 6 August 1910, page ?] A powerful Japanese drama worked out with such careful attention to details that one feels that for the time one must be in Japan. Staging and costuming have been carefully done, and the closest attention was given to the study of the details of the picture. Dramatically it will rank with the best of the week, and the actors perform their parts with skill and discretion. So far as the average person can see, it has no flaw. The sacrifice, which is the basis of the story, is graphically represented, and one is disposed to feel a sense closely approaching gratification when it is accomplished and its necessity is comprehended. The actors deserve commendation for the sympathetic manner in which they interpret the play, and one will want to see the film more than once.
Survival status: (unknown)
Current rights holder: Public domain [USA].
Listing updated: 9 September 2023.
References: Robinson-Palace p. 142 : Website-AFI; Website-IMDb.
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