Robert J. Maxwell It was directed by Frank Capra and stars Barbara Stanwyck in her pretty, vulnerable youth, but it comes out as a sluggish and uninspired romantic melodrama.Stanwyck is a missionary who is waylaid and sequestered in Shanghai by the local warlord, Nils Asther, in the most grotesque Oriental make up known to man or beast. He courts her with presents and poetry, but Stanwyck has seen him execute some prisoners of a rival warlord and, although she's attracted by his courtly manners, she's repelled by the brutality he tells her is necessary to the safety of his province.The decor is echt-Hollywood. So are the costumes, which are about one hundred years out of date. The plot is only half that age.In 1932, China was in fact ruled by warlords but they'd been organized into two rival armies -- the Nationalists under Chang Kai Shek and the Communists under Mao Tse Tung. The Communists had been largely driven out and taken refuge in a northern province. The two armies were later to loosely reunite to fight Japanese incursions before returning to the fighting that had been suspended. Chang lost.Stanwyck should have been able to contact her Consulate one way or another. Shanghai, like Hong Kong, was a European enclave and a sophisticated port city. It is gradually reverting to type.But none of that has to do with the story, which has to do with love, greed, power, and treachery. Richard Loo appears as Captain Li, the palace tattle-tale. Buffs will recognize him as the sneaky enemy in various movies about World War II and Korea. He can't make up for Nils Asther.It's probably Capra's most innovative movie as far as technique is concerned. There is a weird dream sequence in which Asther batters his way into her locked room and is about to ravish her with his inch-long fingernails, about as attractive a prospect has being ravished by the aged Howard Hughes with HIS Mandarin fingernails. Freud said that all dreams were a form of wish fulfillment. If that's true, Stanwyck is pretty perverse, especially for a missionary.

dimplet Frank Capra made an artistic masterpiece in The Bitter Tea of General Yen, but it didn't make money. So a year later, with Columbia near bankruptcy, Capra made a smash hit, It Happened One Night and saved the studio. So Capra makes more hits, and some reviewers here act like he sold out. I wonder which films they saw?Actually, Bitter Tea foreshadows themes that we will see in most of Capra's films: the powerful vs. the powerless, money and how it corrupts, idealism and the obstacles to its realization. Capra was ahead of his time with many of his movies, often outraging the establishment. This was obvious in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, but also in Meet John Doe, which features a remarkably Rupert Murdoch-like villain, and The State of the Union, which was 20 years ahead of The Candidate.Bitter Tea must also have been outrageously ahead of its time, offending Christians and Americans, not to mention Chinese. The cinematography by Joseph Walker is unusually beautiful and polished for 1933. But as he would work on most of Capra's movies, this does not make Bitter Tea exceptional, beyond that the print may have been better preserved than some. I find it strange that some would call this movie dated. The setting of 1930s civil war China is dated, but not the movie. I could imagine this movie remade by Steven Spielberg today with modern equipment, and he wouldn't need to change much.But what is so remarkable about Bitter Tea is the literary richness of the story. What we have here is the ideas of Nicolo Machiavelli in movie form. It is the story of the prince, who has power and ideals, but must also be prepared to wield naked power to achieve his goals. And it is the story of the naive unarmed prophet, who has ideals but no power, and no understanding of the worldly mechanisms for achieving those ideals. Those who have read and understood Machiavelli will understand this film.This is a must see film for fans of Frank Capra (I've seen 11 of his films). If you get this far, you might want to read Capra's autobiography, where he talks about the film. Spoiler alert:The result is that the naive missionary unintentionally wrecks the plans of the general, whom she learns too late might have accomplished great things.I love the ending. The Christian missionary vows she will never leave General Yen's side for the rest of his life. He promptly drinks poison. The ending, a suicide, was surely one reason this film wasn't the box office success Capra hoped for. I've seen many smart aleck critics say John Doe should have jumped on Christmas, and I've tried to imagine how this would have made Meet John Doe a better movie. Capra had already tried the suicide ending, and it was the right ending for Bitter Tea. But it would have been the wrong ending for Meet John Doe.

rpvanderlinden I would describe this film as sumptuous, erotic, sophisticated and emotionally complex. It is a 1933 Frank Capra film, about a love affair between a Christian missionary's fiancée and an educated Chinese warlord, a film which broke the taboo against depicting inter-racial relationships just prior to the introduction of the reactionary Hayes code in Hollywood.As a work of film craftsmanship and artistry it is just breath-taking - starting with the initial scenes of chaos in the midst of a bombing raid where Megan Davis (Barbara Stanwyk) makes her first impression on General Yen through a small act of kindness. The crowd scenes are masterfully directed and the photography positively glows. Later on, watch the superimposition of images as they gradually hover around Megan's face, suggesting a dream state. Then, in the train compartment, the three main characters are assembled - Megan, General Yen, and Yen's concubine, Mah-Li. Without a word being spoken the camera prowls among the three characters catching every little nuance of the eyes and body language as they react to one another. It is very intimate - almost uncomfortably so - and very dramatic. There is a dream sequence of Megan's later in the film, too. I will not spoil it for you, but it is provocative and jaw-dropping, and it must have caused gasps in the audience back in 1933.The film is somewhat a psychological dance among the main characters. None of them is quite who they seem to be or even who they think they are. As General Yen's fortunes decline Megan's dearly held Christian beliefs seem overwhelmed by a tragic set of events that she has no control over but which she is inexorably a part of. Even when she is compelled to bargain for the Christian ideal of mercy, Yen is stung, fearing he is being "taken" by a missionary type, while loving said missionary type so passionately. Nils Asther's performance as Yen is, at this point, heartbreaking.It has been commented that several Chinese in the Christian household at the beginning of the film appear in shadow and are depicted as sinister. That is not my take on it at all. If anything, this film is anti-racist .Those Chinese servants in shadows are depicted as being practically invisible to the whites at the party - people you snap your fingers at if you want an hors-d'oeuvre or the piano played. David Lean did something similar in "A Passage to India" decades later. Toshia Mori, as Mah-Li, plays a fully-developed character, and adds considerable weight to the authenticity of the movie. Oh, and Walter Connolly, as the resident white scumbag, fatuous as he may sound, delivers a lot of wisdom and expert postulating, particularly at the end. He's a one-man Greek chorus.

wes-connors Barbara Stanwyck (as Megan Davis) arrives in Shanghai, to marry missionary Gavin Gordon (as Bob Strike). Instead, she falls in love with a sexy Chinese warlord, Nils Asther (as General Yen), who is winds up holding her prisoner. Frank Capra's "The Bitter Tea of General Yen" isn't as offensive as it appears, on the surface; although, the story is, ultimately, unsatisfactory.Still, it's a fine looking production, with beautiful direction and photography (Joseph Walker). Ms. Stanwyck and Mr. Asther perform their sexual attraction marvelously; their characterizations are worthy of "Best Actress" and "Best Actor" consideration. And, supporting actress Toshia Mori (as Mah-Li) makes it a passionate threesome - when the three of them share a scene, on Asther's train, every movement sizzles.******* The Bitter Tea of General Yen (1/6/33) Frank Capra ~ Barbara Stanwyck, Nils Asther, Walter Connolly, Toshia Mori