Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Copyright 4 September 1936 by Paramount Pictures, Inc. New York opening at the Paramount: 2 September 1936. Australian release: 19 December 1936. Sydney opening at the Prince Edward: 19 December 1936 (ran 5 weeks). 98 minutes.SYNOPSIS: The Northern districts of China are being terrorized by the ruthless Chinese bandit chief General Yang. He and his twelve aides hope one day to rule the twelve provinces and subjugate China's millions. O'Hara, an American soldier of fortune, sides with the suppressed peasants, accepting the job of carrying a large sum of money to Shanghai to buy guns for their defense. He is to go to Pengwa, then fly to Shanghai where he is to meet with the loyal Mr Wu and Mr Chen, who are in contact with an American gun-runner named Brighton... Oxford, General Yang's chief aide, makes an attempt on O'Hara's life at Pengwa, but fails. He enlists the services of a cowardly American, Peter Perrie, to help him. Perrie plays on the sympathy of his daughter Judy, inducing her to lure O'Hara aboard a train. NOTES: Number 5 at Australian ticket windows for 1937. Tamiroff was nominated for a prestigious Hollywood award for Best Supporting Actor, losing to Walter Brennan in "Come and Get It". Milner's Cinematography was also Award-nominated, but lost out to Tony Gaudio's "Anthony Adverse". Also losing out were Boris Morros and Werner Janssen, defeated by Korngold's "Anthony Adverse" for Best Score. VIEWERS' GUIDE: Adults.COMMENT: A visual feast created by a master of the cinema, "The General Died at Dawn" is one of the most stylishly accomplished, pictorially exciting films of the 1930's. However, the story is not just an excuse for dazzling set-pieces. It provides wonderful opportunities for the players to shine in well-honed, highly memorable roles. When you think of the dozens of great performances delivered over the years by Akim Tamiroff, for instance, it would normally be a daunting task to select a single portrait that transcends many magnificent others. But fortunately the actor lent his talents to the title role of this movie — which makes selecting the ultimate front-runner easy!The same observation could be applied with equal veracity to other players, such as Porter Hall, William Frawley and J. M. Kerrigan. As for Cooper and Carroll, they make the perfect screen couple!Realized on a no-expense-spared budget, with stunningly imaginative sets, engrossing atmospheric photography, bizarrely off-beat editing, and a weirdly appealing music score, The General Died at Dawn provides thrillingly exotic entertainment in its every powerfully composed frame, its every brilliant stratagem of camera movement, its every breathtakingly novel cut, juxtaposition and dissolve.Formerly available on an excellent Universal DVD.

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.

i sat down with good expectations - what wasn't to like? the mysterious orient, a fine cast, a capable director, odets at work on the script...let's start with the script: the lines he had to mouth over and over made cooper sound like an automated propaganda-doll getting its string pulled till it frayed. he was absolutely tiresome in his protestations of good intentions against a backdrop of evil times; i think it must be a feat to write lines that cooper couldn't make seem fresh, lines that he could dust with a laconic wit. i can only imagine that the agenda beneath all this was to lay bare the evils of the rapacious, fascist warlords for folks at home too depressed to much care about how someone else was also having troubles getting dinner on the table; the script certainly was making a wooden effort to go beyond mere entertainment and to politically educate. no subtlety, no finesse, no nuance was wasted on this script. where some dry wit, as in casablanca, might have told the tale we are treated to lectures. so, that is my complaint. i liked the actors. they certainly did their best with the material, but this ain't no 'for whom the bells toll' - and maybe it could have been.... don e.

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.