The General Died at Dawn [Blu-ray]

Director: Lewis Milestone Lewis Milestone

Overview

General Yang (Akim Tamiroff) is a politically ambitious Chinese bandit who holds the Northern districts in a grip of terror. Yang is opposed by O'Hara (Gary Cooper), an American mercenary who fights on behalf of the peasants. When he is entrusted with a large sum of money to buy guns, O'Hara becomes the target of Yang and his minions. Betrayed by a cowardly Caucasian (Porter Hall), O'Hara nonetheless falls in love with his betrayer's daughter Judy (Madeline Carroll). Yang captures both O'Hara and Judy and spirits them away on his junk, where the General intends to torture O'Hara so as to find out where the money is. A bizarre and gloomy ending caps this atmospheric thriller, adapted from Charles G. Booth's best-selling novel by Clifford Odets--who, along with director Lewis Milestone, novelist John O'Hara and Hollywood columnist Sidney Skolsky, appears as an extra in one scene.

Product Details

Release Date:	04/07/2020
UPC:	0738329244835
Original Release:	1936
Rating:	NR
Source:	Kl Studio Classics
Region Code:	A
Presentation:	[B&W]
Sound:	[DTS 5.1-Channel Surround Sound]
Language:	English
Time:	1:38:00
Sales rank:	30,199

Special Features

Audio Commentary by Author/Film Historian Lee Gambin and Actress/Film Historian Rutanya Alda; Theatrical Trailer

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Gary Cooper	O'Hara
Madeleine Carroll	Judy Perrie
Dudley Digges	Mr. Wu
Akim Tamiroff	Yang
J.M. Kerrigan	Leach
William Frawley	Brydon
Porter Hall	Perrie
Philip Ahn	Oxford
Lee Tung Foo	Mr. Chen
Leonid Kinskey	Stewart
Val Duran	Wong
Walter Wong	Bartender
Willie Fung	Bartender
Hans Fuerberg	Yang's Military Advisor
Sarah Edwards	American Couple
Paul Harvey	American Couple
Spencer Chan	Killer,House Boy,Porter
Harold Tong	House Boy,House Boy
Charles Leong	House Boy,Guard
Harry Yip	House Boy
Swan Yee	House Boy
Frank Young	Clerk,Guard
Carol DeCastro	Clerk
Barnett Parker	Englishman
Hans Furberg	Yang's Military Advisor
Hans von Morhart	Mandarin
Dudley Lee	Waiters on Train,Waiters on Train
Walter Lem	Waiters on Train
George Wong Wah	Waiters on Train
Tom Ung	Steward on Train
Taft Jung	Guard
Sam Laborador	Guard
Jung Kai	Guard
Chan Suey	Guard
Paul Tom	Guard
Loo Loy	Guard
Quon Gong	Guard
Wong Fong	Guard
Leo Abbey	Guard
Bob Jowe	Guard
Clifford Odets	Reporter
John O'Hara	Reporter
Sidney Skolsky	Reporter
Lewis Milestone	Reporter

Technical Credits

Lewis Milestone	Director
Gordon Jennings	Special Effects
William Le Baron	Producer
Arthur Smith	Special Effects

Editorial Reviews

While time has made much of The General Died at Dawn feel a bit dated, it's still a thoroughly enjoyable "exotic" thriller. Probably the biggest obstacle of General doesn't lie in the script or story but in the then-habitual casting of Caucasian actors in Asian roles. Those willing to accept this practice will enjoy General much more than those for whom this presents a problem. General is pure pulp, an adventure movie filled with typical dangerous situations, hissable villains and truly delicious tough guy dialogue. In other words, realism (despite some of writer Clifford Odets' leftist insertions in the dialogue) is not the order of the day: thrills and danger and narrow escapes and just enough romance to keep things interested are. Odets' screenplay crackles and pops delightfully, and Lewis Milestonedirects with a very sure hand, capturing the faux-exotic atmosphere of Hollywood-ian China brilliantly and filling the screen with action. The effort is aided enormously by the cast and by Victor Milner's superb, at times beautiful cinematography. Gary Cooper is aces as the mercenary American hero, more complex than some of Cooper's more well-known roles, and Madeleine Carroll also benefits from having a bit more dimension to her character than she often got. Akim Tamiroff, as the ultimate Chinese villain, walks off with the top acting honors in a wonderfully evil performance that skirts with comedy without falling prey to it, and there's also good work from William Frawley.