User reviews

The General Died at Dawn, the title itself is enough of a giveaway as to what happens. But the circumstances leading up to the death of Chinese Warlord Akim Tamiroff is quite a tale.

The setting for this film is Kuomintang China where the government of Chiang Kai-Shek doesn't have its writ run very far. Most of China in the Twenties is controlled by various provincial warlords. In fact a case could be made that the Chinese Communists under Mao Tse-tung was viewed as just another warlord. But that's a whole different story.

American adventurer Gary Cooper has a money belt with a whole lot of cash in it entrusted to him by the opposition faction to Akim Tamiroff. He's supposed to make contact with William Frawley in Shanghai who when he's not drinking the hotel bar dry, runs guns.

But Madeleine Carroll and her father Porter Hall who are working for Tamiroff help Tamiroff part Cooper from his money. In the case of Coop, he's real guilty of thinking with his gonads. Then Porter Hall steals the money for himself and the film gets real interesting.

There's one big flaw in the film, occurring when Madeleine Carroll who starts falling for Cooper, refers to him as the "O'Hara Boy." O'Hara is Cooper's character name. Coop was 35 when this film was made and referring to him as 'boy' was ludicrous. But then again a man of 35 should have been on better guard. Film might have worked better if someone younger like Robert Taylor or Tyrone Power played the part of O'Hara. Or Clifford Odets's script should have given Carroll a more elaborate ruse to play on Cooper.

Two major oriental roles were given to occidental players. Casting like Akim Tamiroff as the warlord Yang and Dudley Digges as Mr. Wu who employs Cooper would never happen today. But both do well and come to think of it Tamiroff does have an oriental strain in his ancestry.

One bit of casting really hits home. By all accounts William Frawley was hardly the lovable tightwad Fred Mertz in real life. He was a misanthropic alcoholic in the tradition of W.C.Fields and a mean drunk when he was loaded which was often back then. His role as Brighton, the misanthropic, mean, and thoroughly racist gunrunner was way closer to the real Bill Frawley.

Gary Cooper in The General Died at Dawn was playing a role that Humphrey Bogart would probably have done in the forties. It was always joked that Cooper's dialog consisted of 'yup' and 'nope.' But the way he gets himself, Carroll and Digges out of a real predicament in the end called for quite a gift of gab.

Between masterworks such as "All Quiet on the Western Front" (1930) and "The Strange Love of Martha Ivers" (1945) the Moldovan born Lewis Milestone had a mixed career. He made a bunch of good movies, a bunch of bad ones, and several bunches of films that have just been forgotten. Somewhere in here we also encounter "The General Died at Dawn" (1936), an interesting adventure film set in China. The film features the first screenplay by Clifford Odets, then one of the hottest playwrights around. Even though the film boasts a charismatic ensemble of actors, it often feels like the real star here is the screenplay.

The movies opens very strong. We are introduced to the plight of the poor Chinese, who struggle against a ruthless warlord General Yang, played by Akim Tamiroff in an Oscar-nominated role. Gary Cooper is our idealist hero, a guy who could never catch an even break, and is now trying to give the Chinese one. Coop is something of a spy, carrying important money shipment to the people fighting Yang, but unfortunately Yang has his own spies and is very much on to him...

I would go as far as to call the first half an hour (or so) of this film a masterpiece. Coop is introduced wonderfully, he has a monkey named Sam as a sidekick, and the whole train sequence, featuring the female lead Madeleine Carroll, and eventually Tamiroff as Yang, is wonderfully written. The suspense of the narrative feels real, but the screenplay also has time to be witty and funny. Cooper gets great lines, and throws a few unexpected (yet so enjoyable) punches around as well. I laughed a bunch and was rooting for the hero, rooting for the film really.

Unfortunately after the first third of the film, the narrative takes several missteps. All the important characters go their different ways for too long of a period, and by the time they are all in the same space again, the film has lost its momentum. The ending is not bad, but it is nothing breathtaking either. The film also runs into some trouble, when it can't quite decide, how it wants to portray General Yang and his men.

Still, I would very much recommend this to fans of classic Hollywood. Cooper gets a really good role as our hero, and Tamiroff is very memorable as Yang. Tamiroff was originally Armenian, so in Hollywood-land, that will have to pass as Chinese. I do, however, seriously wish they hadn't turned poor Dudley Digges into Mr. Wu. That was a bit cringe-worthy.

"The General Died at Dawn" features Gary Cooper in a role similar to the one he played in "For Whom the Bell Tolls" a couple of years later. Directed by Lewis Milestone the movie is visually stunning and exciting. Madeleine Carroll (fresh from her success in Hitchcock's "The 39 Steps")is very good as Cooper's love interest.Akim Tamiroff was nominated for an Oscar as the General.He's certainly a menacing figure here.But I think Philip Ahn as his second in command delivers the best performance.What subtle fanaticism he conveys.The movie is full of interesting twists in the storyline and except for the ending,which I found a bit silly,it is a solid movie.

Did you ever come in late to a movie and miss the beginning? You have to try hard to concentrate and catch up, all the while feeling off-balance and wondering how much you missed. That's the way this picture starts off, and I spent some time trying to 'fit in' to the plot. But this film's plot moves at break-neck speed and made me think it is an editing flaw.

Having recovered, I found the story completely original and refreshing (can't think of too many Chinese Civil War flicks!). I also found a lack of tension - what's the opposite of nerve-wracking? - as there is no sense of urgency to the proceedings. The principals were just fine; Gary Cooper, Madeleine Carroll and Akim Tamiroff, and special mention must be made of Philip Ahn, who was the personification of evil Japanese military in many WWII pictures.

It is worth viewing but is a minor entry in the Gary Cooper canon. I liked it and recommend it but I plan to watch it again soon because I think it is one of those pictures in which some subtlety is overlooked in only one viewing.

As Universal states, in their nicely packaged DVD set entitled "The Gary Cooper Collection" (2005), the celebrated actor is "a mysterious American soldier of fortune determined to foil the ambition of a ruthless enemy general planning to take over the provinces of Northern China. Exotic settings, captivating performances, and extraordinary cinematography power this thrilling tale of courage in the line of fire."

The story isn't as substantive or engaging as the presentation, but quality certainly permeates the production. "The General Died at Dawn" helped Mr. Cooper become Quigley Publications' "World Box Office" male star of 1936. In beautiful form, Madeleine Carroll (as Judy Perrie) certainly helped. Of five "Best Supporting Actor" possibles, Akim Tamiroff (as General Yang) received the "Oscar" nomination.

****** The General Died at Dawn (9/2/36) Lewis Milestone ~ Gary Cooper, Madeleine Carroll, Akim Tamiroff, William Frawley

Two impossibly beautiful people, Gary Cooper, and Madeleine Carroll star in "The General Died at Dawn" from 1936, featuring Akim Tamiroff, Dudley Digges, William Frawley, and Porter Hall.

Cooper plays O'Hara, an adventurer who is given a money belt of cash to be delivered to one Mr. Wu (Digges) so that he and his oppressed people can go up against the warlord General Yang (Tamiroff). O'Hara runs into Judy Perrie (Carroll) and her dad (Hall) on a train. It gets confusing here because it seems that Judy knows O'Hara, which wasn't evident originally.

In fact the Perries are in cahoots with General Yang and manage to get the money away from O'Hara. However, Perrie has no intention of giving Yang the money; he plans to take it for himself, which upsets his daughter greatly.

As usual, the main Chinese are played by white actors Akim Tamiroff and Philip Ahn (though Tamiroff did have some Chinese blood). William Frawley has a larger than usual role as a drunken gun runner wait to get the money and deliver supplies to Mr. Wu.

A couple of people have mentioned that O'Hara was really a role for someone like Bogart, who was not yet a star. Given Clifford Odets' script, Cooper is pretty talky in this. Also, the O'Hara character is referred to as "the O'Hara boy." Cooper was 35 at the time. He gives the role a light touch, rather than that of a cynical tough guy. I found him likeable.

Madeline Carroll, on the other hand, so incredibly photographed, gives a very old-fashioned performance.

There are some silly and aggravating things in this film. One is the denoument, which involves William Frawley, rather than the lead in the movie! Another is the hiding place of the money, which is too obvious.

The third is how easily O'Hara is conned by Judy. If he had really been that "boy O'Hara" it would have been more believable. But a 35-year-old should have known better.

Speaking of the O'Hara boy, the writer John O'Hara was visiting the set and actually plays a reporter.

Tamiroff was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar.

Lewis Milestone is surely one of the most under-appreciated directors from Hollywood's Golden Era. He may be the best example to illustrate how cinematographers and film editors have less to do with how good a movie looks than the director himself. Lewis Milestone's pictures exhibit the same fluid, sensuous, exhilarating black and white cinematography and silky smooth scene changes no matter who his camera man and editor were. The fluid movement of his camera was his trade mark and an innovative style much copied, especially in the 'forties. He is in fact credited with the invention of the camera dolly while filming the early talkie classic All Quiet On The Western Front (1930).

In The General Died At Dawn the gorgeous cinematography finds a worthy subject of concentration in the breath-taking beauty of leading lady Madeleine Carroll, who plays a tormented femme fa-tale, manipulated into wicked and even murderous money-making schemes by her terminally ill and morally challenged father (Porter Hall). When she has to lure idealistic soldier of fortune Gary Cooper into the clutches of cruel, tyrannical Chinese warlord Akim Tamiroff, she quite naturally falls in love with him -- Cooper, not Tamiroff, of course! Miss Carol has never looked lovelier than in this picture. As she reached thirty years of age, a dawning maturity was adding character to her beauty and endowing her gorgeous face with an aching sensuality. Okay, trying to describe what makes a beautiful woman that way is like trying to describe what makes Oreo cookies taste so good. Believe me, Madeleine had it! Not to mention, she was a terrific actress!

When Gary Cooper is on screen, he doesn't have to worry about anyone stealing attention, even a beaut like Madeline Carroll. Tamiroff, who earned an Accademy Award nomination for his role, is bizarrely riveting, as he was in nearly every movie appearance. Good support is also provided by Hall in one of his best performances, Dudley Digges, and William Frawley. Frawley is rather irritating, as in all his roles, but it was intended here.

The plot is confusing at times, and doesn't always make complete sense, but it wasn't so difficult to keep up with as others have carried on. Compared to, say, The Big Sleep (1946), it was as easy to follow as The Three Little Pigs. Whatever the story, Milestone knew how to reel it out in a way that would keep your peepers glued to the screen. This style of suspenseful story-telling immersed in eye-grabbing cinematography would be honed to a fine edge in the next decade with his masterpieces Edge Of Darkness (1943) (see my review) and The Strange Loves of Martha Ivers (1946). In fact this 1936 movie's flowing camera work, oblique angles, frequent night scenes, and dark, brutal story seem to be pointing the way to the stylish noir thrillers of the next decade.

The General Died At Dawn has everything you could ask from a movie -- top stars, exciting action, gorgeous cinematography. Top-notch Old Hollywood entertainment from the smoothest of the smooth, Lewis Milestone!

O'Hara (Gary Cooper) is on a mission to deliver money to Mr Wu (Dudley Digges) so that Mr Wu can buy weapons from Brighton (William Frawley) in his struggle against the Chinese warlord General Yang (Akim Tamiroff). However, he is betrayed by Judy Perrie (Madeleine Carroll) and her father Peter Perrie (Porter Hall) and is captured by Yang on a train. He hands over the money and is taken hostage but escapes and determines to get the money back.......

This film is pretty confusing and you have to pay attention to keep up. It still loses you in parts, though, especially at the beginning. The cast are nothing special and fall in between the extremes of Akim Tamiroff who is excellent as the warlord and William Frawley who is dreadful in every scene that he appears in. Frawley also has an awful, raspy-throat voice which really invades your brain. He manages to produce a very offensive performance and it doesn't help the film at all.

The story confuses at the beginning, then levels out into semi-tedium with unbelievability factor 10. The way in which Cooper breezes through the film with his cocky manner is pure phoniness (he would have been killed at his first meeting with Yang). The plot is also somewhat cheapened by the way that General Yang meets his death. Frawley's involvement in the final denouement is an outrageous con to those who are looking forward to a good climax.

The film is done in such a way as to preach to the viewer and this stand of taking the moral high ground insults the audience...........Shut up, Cooper!!..... There is also some really crass dialogue in the love scenes. Overall, the film is a let-down.

I was surprised at the low rating for this film at IMDb, 6.7 as of this writing. I found it a very enjoyable film. I'm a sucker for strong, moody visuals, and this film sure has them. In fact, about half way through I began to wonder, with all the shadows and fishing nets, if this were a Von Sternberg film. The script, which some reviewers found too wordy or too preachy, I found very engaging. The pacing was excellent.

Some reviewers have taken offense at the two main Chinese characters being played by occidentals who spoke pigeon English. Well, that's how films were made back then. Sure it seems unfair to modern viewers. It was unfair. Is that reason to trash the whole film? The Asian actors who had speaking roles came across as intelligent and well spoken.

If you're in the mood for some dark, exotic espionage, I definitely recommend this.

A just ok thriller starring Gary Cooper and Madeleine Carroll.

It's heavy on the atmosphere, which I liked, but it never manages to work up much excitement. And it's also a bit rough around the edges, with some sloppy editing that maybe suggests it was churned out pretty quickly.

Akim Tamiroff was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar in the first year of that category's existence, for donning yellow face and playing a Chinese villain. The film was also nominated for Best Cinematography in a year that only saw three nominees in that category, and for Best Scoring, which went not to the film's actual composer (Werner Janssen), but rather to the studio's music department head, Boris Moross.

Grade: B.

Thanks to the cast of characters in here, led by the wise-cracking Gary Cooper and a pretty Madeline Carroll, this was a pretty interesting film. Some of the minor characters also made this movie to fun, notably Akim Tamiroff's "General Yang," as well as Bill Frawley''s "Brighton;" Porter Hall's "Peter Prrie/Peter Martin" and Dudley Digges' creepy busybody "Mr. Wu."

Nowaday, Digges and Tamiroff's characters would be played by real Asian actors and would be a bit more credible. Also, in a real-life situation, Cooper would have been eliminated early on after the bad guys had gotten his money.

Nevertheless, credibility issues aside (which you have to do in most movies, anyway, old and new), the good dialog, interesting faces, characters and cinematography all make this movie a lot better than I expected.

Confusing, meandering plot. Uneven pace. Too many slow scenes with supporting characters that don't move the story along. The General Died at Dawn is famous for the line "We could have made wonderful music together." Well, the film could have been wonderful. It could have been a great vehicle for Gary Cooper. It could have been a great adventure film from the 1930s similar to Beau Geste or The Real Glory--two films starring Cooper that came out in 1939.

Unfortunately, it's not any of those things and falls flat. It has a promising beginning: an exotic setting, warlords, an oppressed population, and Cooper looking like a dashing precursor to Indiana Jones with his fedora hat, pet monkey, and panache. There's also an interesting train sequence that is vaguely reminiscent of something you would see in a Hitchcock film, like The Lady Vanishes. I would say the first third, or even the first half, of the movie is enjoyable. In general, there's always the potential for danger or excitement, but it doesn't quite materialize or peters out very quickly. Overall, it's very disappointing and easily one of the weakest films in Cooper's impressive and varied filmography.

The scene in the train where femme fatal Judy Perrie seduces O'Hara is a masterpiece of steamy sensuality. Carroll's silky-smooth alabaster skin and flaxen hair, gorgeously highlighted by her exquisitely outlined lips and eyes, were masterfully exploited by director Lewis Milestone and some extremely skilled cameramen, as her feminine delights proved too much for the otherwise unswervingly steadfast O'Hara. Throughout, the curiously uneven script takes a decided turn for the better, with both participants delivering some highly suggestive verbal exchanges, brimming with innuendo and wit, culminating with O'Hara mockingly asking Judie if he can kiss her, only to receive in return the playful reply that he must first ask her mother. He then looks into the neighboring compartment and makes the request in mock earnestness, for there is no Mrs. Perrie! All the while, the sinister war lord General Yang and his dark forces are preparing to intercept the train, "relieve" O'Hara of the funds he's set to deliver to Mr. Wu for the sole purpose of ridding the province of the scurrilous Yang. Let your imaginations soar, esteemed classic film buffs, for this is truly great film-making.

Gary Cooper dutifully read his lines and went through the motions, and Madeleine Carroll looked pretty, but the plot doesn't hang together and barely makes sense. Maybe it was a rush job or maybe it was butchered in the editing, but it all feels thrown together and patchy. The pseudo-Chinese characters slip in and out of quasi-pidgin "no tickee no washee" lingo, while Cooper's stage-drama speeches about justice and oppression etc are flown in from a different movie. There's also a monkey that Cooper has to carry around for no discernible reason for the first half of the picture, which is then forgotten for the last half.

Well, yes. It certainly is. This 1936 Paramount feature, made and released in an era when Hollywood scriptwriters evidently still believed in the Mystery and Inscrutability of the Orient, has pretty good cinematography (by Victor Milner), a fine musical score (by Boris Morros) and, frankly, not much else. That's a fairly damning assessment for a movie that also happens to star Gary Cooper and the lovely Madeleine Carroll, but even those two were unable to bring this turkey to life. Directed by Lewis Milestone and set in war-torn 1930's China, "The General Died at Dawn" works overtime to be a hard-boiled thriller about gun-running and double-crossing, but it doesn't gel. The movie has great, gaping holes in its narrative line, for starters. Several western actors also do impoverished turns playing Asian characters (including Akim Tamiroff playing Chinese war-lord General Yang, and Dudley Digges as the proprietor of a Shanghai hotel). But the single worst feature of the movie is the howlingly bad, overwrought dialogue supplied courtesy of Clifford Odets. As you watch the movie, you may unwittingly find your lips moving, as you try to memorize the worst phrases that Mr. Odets has penned for these characters to speak. It might, however, be even better for you to keep a pad of paper and pencil beside you as you watch; there are so many bad lines to choose from and they follow so thick and fast, one after the other, that you'll have to write them down just to remember them all. The real problem is that Clifford Odets wrote dialogue that nobody would ever say. Lord knows the actors do their best, and aren't to blame... but what on earth was the studio thinking when it released this? There, now -- doesn't that sound like an inducement to watch this movie?

There's sometimes a fascination in watching a truly bad movie (think "Dune" or the Elizabeth Taylor "Cleopatra" or insert your own favorite here: ________________). But "The General Died at Dawn" really doesn't qualify to breathe that rarified air. It's just too cringe-inducing. Don't believe me? Go. Watch. But don't say you weren't warned...

There are better films than The General Died at Dawn; however, there are few films that make so much out of so little. The story itself is little more than fond manipulation of Asian stereotypes. Yet Lewis Milestone takes the material and in his hands, it becomes a cinematic jewel. Watch how the round features of a minor Chinese actor becomes a doorknob and then a billiard ball. Note how multi-imaging creates a visual record of the story being told. Watch how the stylized performances of Cooper and Carroll are used as foil for the larger-than-life storyline.

Sure, there are better films than this. But there are very few better entertainments - a concept that Hollywood lost years ago and which is only now infiltrating the thick skulls of TV land.

Set in the violent, chaotic, Hobbesian world of warlord-era China. Worthy to be compared with, and in some ways superior to, the possibly better known _Shanghai Express_. Surprisingly brutal film for its time.