IMDb > The Bitter Tea of General Yen (1933)

The Bitter Tea of General Yen (1933) More at IMDbPro »

Overview

User Rating:
7.2/10   915 votes
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Director:
Frank Capra
Writers:
Grace Zaring Stone (story)
Edward E. Paramore Jr. (screenplay)
Contact:
View company contact information for The Bitter Tea of General Yen on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
6 January 1933 (USA) more
Genre:
Drama | War more
Tagline:
They found a love they dared not touch!
Plot:
The American missionary Megan Davis arrives in Shanghai during the Chinese Civil War to marry the missionary Dr... more | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
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User Comments:
Capra's finest and most unexpected film more (33 total)

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)

Barbara Stanwyck ... Megan
Nils Asther ... General Yen
Toshia Mori ... Mah-Li
Walter Connolly ... Jones
Gavin Gordon ... Bob
Lucien Littlefield ... Mr. Jacobson
Richard Loo ... Captain Li
Helen Jerome Eddy ... Miss Reed
Emmett Corrigan ... Bishop Harkness
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Additional Details

Parents Guide:
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Runtime:
88 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English | Mandarin | French
Color:
Black and White
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)
Certification:
South Korea:15 (2007) | USA:TV-PG (TV rating)
Filming Locations:
San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles, California, USA
Company:
Columbia Pictures Corporation more

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
This movie was the first to play at Manhattan's fabled showplace, Radio City Music Hall, beginning on January 11, 1933. more
Quotes:
Jones: Between war and women, the General's got me by the nuts. more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in Die bitteren Tränen der Petra von Kant (1972) more
Soundtrack:
Bridal Chorus (Here Comes the Bride) more

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User Comments

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26 out of 41 people found the following comment useful.
Capra's finest and most unexpected film, 7 May 2006
9/10
Author: TrevorAclea from London, England

Frank Capra's most atypical and sensual picture, The Bitter Tea of General Yen defies everything people think they know about the director. No small town schmaltz or last minute reprieves here, but a surprisingly modern and often brutal adult drama set in a surprisingly morally ambiguous China torn apart by local warlords and opportunistic Westerners making a fast buck out of the chaos. Bodies hang from what is left of buildings, refugees are machine-gunned from passing trucks as children watch with emotionless faces, and when Stanwyck arrives in the middle of the evacuation of Shanghai to marry a missionary she hasn't seen in three years, no-one – not even the priest who has come to collect her – can be bothered to help her dying rickshaw driver. 'Rescued' by Nils Asther's General Yen, she is awoken by the sound of firing squads carrying out mass executions of prisoners. Yen apologises and promises it will not happen again – "They are taking the rest of them down the road, out of earshot." Quickly realising that he has no intention of returning her to her fiancé, she finds herself involuntarily drawn to him as he constantly challenges her preconceived notions of the Chinese, with tragic consequences.

Although racist stereotypes are present, especially in a surprisingly sexual nightmare sequence where Yen appears as both vampiric rapist and heroic rescuer, they're mainly there to be subverted, and it's surprisingly critical of how incompatible and patronising the intentions of Christian missionaries to impose western values are with the people they have come to 'save.' Racism and defeatism is rife among their ranks as they see dubious merit in their work – as one elderly missionary reveals when explaining how he misinterpreted a group of Mongolian bandits' spellbound interest in the Easter story until they promptly crucified the next merchants' caravan to pass through their territory. Indeed, it's an act of 'Christian' charity and forgiveness that has the most devastating results for Yen, with Barbara Stanwyck only faintly beginning to understand the world she finds herself in too late.

Both characters are uncomfortable with the nature of their desires, and Yen's relationship with his Chinese mistress and his insistence that Stanwyck give herself to him freely or not at all is surprisingly sophisticated considering the usual 'Yellow Peril' stereotypes of the day. Asther in particular does a fine job of avoiding cliché with a complex and unpatronising portrait mixing casual cruelty, bemused cynicism and great sensitivity that is quite remarkable for its time. Walter Connolly similarly plays against expectations as the general's 'financial adviser,' and to him falls the beautiful closing lines in the film's final scene – one of those pieces of great writing that left me thinking, "Damn, I wish I'd written that!" A critical and commercial fop in its day, much cut by the censors (Columbia's UK DVD appears to be uncut) and rarely revived, it has maturity and a tortured romanticism that is truly unique among Capra's work and is well worth seeking out. Great photography by Joseph Walker too.

(A version of this review appeared in Movie Collector magazine)

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