The Bitter Tea of General Yen

1932

Action / Drama / Romance / War

8
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Certified Fresh 86% · 59 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Upright 64% · 500 ratings
IMDb Rating 6.9/10 10 4861 4.9K

china shanghai, china missionary chinese civil war betrayal interracial romance

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Plot summary

An American missionary is gradually seduced by a courtly warlord holding her in Shanghai.

Director

Frank Capra Photo
Frank Capra

Top cast

Robert Bolder Photo
Robert Bolder as Missionary
Richard Loo Photo
Richard Loo as Capt. Li
Nora Cecil Photo
Nora Cecil as Missionary
Walter Connolly Photo
Walter Connolly as Jones
720p.BLU 1080p.BLU
802.24 MB
968*720
English 2.0
TV-PG
Subtitles
23.976 fps
1 hr 27 min
Seeds 1
1.45 GB
1440*1072
English 2.0
TV-PG
Subtitles
23.976 fps
1 hr 27 min
Seeds 2

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by Stefano L 10 / 10

Haunting, epic, galloping, heart breaking, dreamlike, upliftingly t...

Haunting, epic, galloping, heart breaking, dreamlike, upliftingly tragic. Beautiful, a century ahead of its time.
Reviewed by michael D 8 / 10

Years ago I tried watching it off part-way

Years ago I tried watching it off part-way through the film because I thought that the casting of Nils Asther as "General Yen" was ridiculous and rather insensitive since he looks about as Chinese as Nipsy Russell. However, on a second viewing I found that the movie STILL had a lot going for it. Plus, like it or not, casting Westerners in leading roles of Asian characters was the norm in the 1930s and 40s--there's no getting past this with only a very few exceptions. What did I like about the film? Well, first off, despite being made in Hollywood, Columbia did an exceptional job in getting the look correct. Very impressive sets, costumes and convincing battle scenes all indicate that this was a top project for a studio which, at the time, was definitely a second-tier company. Heck, MGM and Warner would have been proud to make a movie that looked this good--and they were the "big money" studios. It certainly was a pretty film to look at and lovely cinematography sure helped as well. Second, while the movie has some silly stereotypes, in a way it is also very modern compared to other pictures of the day. It dares to consider the possibility of interracial love (something banned when the new Production Code was put in place the following year) and despite initially come off as a demon, General Yen was quite decent and civilized in his own manner. He definitely was NOT some one-dimensional Asian caricature--having greater depth than you'd usually find in non-White characters of the day. Finally, while odd and fully of bizarre twists, the plot really was pretty exciting and romantic. I especially loved the silly but majorly cool dream that Barbara Stanwyck had soon after Yen took her into protective custody! So, if you are looking for an unusual, pretty and very interesting film from Hollywood's golden era, then look no further. This is quite an unusual film and you won't soon forget it.
Reviewed by Steve D 4 / 10

Dated, unlike most of its stars work. Hard

Dated, unlike most of its stars work. Hard to root for anyone too.
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