Seeking creative control over his films, in 1919 Sessue Hayakawa established Haworth Pictures. The first year out, he produced Tong Man, a controversial melodrama based on Clyde Westover's "The Dragon's Daughter." Set in San Francisco's Chinatown, the story concerns Luk Chan, a Tong hatchetman who refuses to murder his sweetheart's father. All manner of criminal activity-extortion, drug dealing, kidnapping-transpires in this action-oriented version of Romeo and Juliet in which the delicate heroine, Sen Chee, is played by Helen Jerome Eddy, an obviously white actress. The questionable depiction of Chinese culture caused quite an uproar in the community and an injunction against the film's exhibition was sought. The presiding judge in the case denied the injunction, claiming, "This is a picture that shows action in real life. There is nothing misleading about it. It is entertaining, gripping and instructive." Almost seventy years later, Tong Man remains instructive, but for different reasons.