Despite an industrywide reluctance to cast non-Caucasians in leading roles in the mid-teens, Japanese stage star Sessue Hayakawa was one of the most popular film personalities of the era. In Alien Souls, Hayakawa plays a wealthy importer, who assumes the responsibility of raising his late friend's daughter (played by Tsuri Aoki, Hayakawa's wife). Led to believe that she's a rich heiress, the girl is seduced by fortune-hunting Earl Foxe (who later retired from acting to manage a highly regarded Hollywood military academy). When Hayakawa reveals that the girl hasn't a penny, Foxe deserts her. She is saved from committing suicide when Hayakawa himself proposes marriage. The director of Alien Souls was Frank Reicher, who became a prolific character actor in the talkie era (he plays Captain Engelhorn in King Kong). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi