Review of The Bitter Tea of General Yen (1932) by Norm D — 29 Oct 2013

Jones (Walter Connolly): "Yen was crazy. He said we never really die... we only change. He was nuts about cherry trees. Well, maybe he's a cherry tree now. Maybe he's the wind that's pushing that sail. Maybe he's the wind that's playing around in your hair. Ah... its all a lot of hooey! I'm drunk. Just the same... I hope when I cool off, the guy that changes me sends me where Yen is... and I bet I'll find you there, too.".

It's fairly disappointing that the lead was played by a non-Asian actor but one must realize how old this film was and it is ground-breaking enough that the story revolves around a bi-racial love affair, so I guess I can give this film an A for effort, at the very least. Barbara Stanwyck was gorgeous and was an awesome protagonist; she was very Jane Eyre in her belief and moral code, which made her such an interesting heroine. Nils Aster, played General Yen well and gave credibility to the character. Also being such an obvious antagonist in the beginning, he does show that we can sympathize with the character; that he's not a complete monster as Megan initially thought, nor as Mah-Li seemed to portray him. He's just different and although his methods seemed barbaric, they are not without merit and within the context of his surroundings, made absolute sense. Walter Connolly's Jones was the most perplexing character of them all because he seemed like a stereotypical villain at first but ends up being some kind of Jiminy-Cricket-esque, sage-like, voice-of-reason. I think the boat-ride home with Jones talking to a silent Megan was the best scene in the entire film and was worth sitting through the whole movie. This was a uniquely engaging film and I can honestly say, there might not be another one like it, 'The King and I' comes to mind but this film was a little odder, in a good way.