The Famine (film)
1915 American silent short drama film

The Famine is a 1915 American silent short drama film directed by George Osborne and featuring Sessue Hayakawa and Tsuru Aoki.
Plot
According to a film magazine, "At the time of the famine, Misao shares her last bit of bread with a beggar, Horisho. He never forgets, and later, when he finds Misao on the point of marrying Toyomo against her will, to save her father from poverty, the beggar determines to help her wed Yoshiro, whom she loves. Going to the home of Toyomo, Horisho pleads for a hearing. But the haughty Japanese, who is much above Misao in station, kicks him out of the house. That night Horisho overhears him telling Misao, that he has no intention of marrying her but wants her for his mistress. The beggar slips from his hiding place and kills Toyomo. He then helps Misao to escape to her lover. Meanwhile, the body of Toyomo has been discovered.
The public source identifies “The Famine (film)” as 1915 American silent short drama film. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Famine, film and American.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “The Famine (film)”, the useful work is to connect “1915 American silent short drama film” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 28, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q19363594. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1915.
Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.
- Identifying works and editions
- Tracing reception history
- Finding collection records
The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “The Famine (film)”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow The Famine (film) primary sources, The Famine (film) archive and Famine research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “The Famine (film)”?
- How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
- Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “The Famine (film)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.