Really Surprised!

Highly Overrated But Still Good

Fantastic!

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

This is a beautiful love story blended with a carefully made war drama.The movie is set in China during Civil War. Megan is about to get married. The preparations are going well. But, when the groom comes, he has to postpone the marriage as he has to rescue some kids at the orphanage. She joins him. On their way back, they get separated. She was hit by a man on the street and falls unconscious. When she wakes up, she was on the train of General Yen. She drinks a bitter tea from the General and falls asleep. Then she wakes up in the General's castle. The racism of Hollywood did not allow to cast Asian actors in the lead role at that time. So Nils Asther (born in Denmark) was cast as General Yen. If you are a movie maniac, you might know about Richard Barthelmess in "Broken Blossoms (1919)".There is a very good chance that some films lovers might have missed this movie. In that case, you should watch it very soon. Because it is such a beautiful film.

I knew going into this film what to expect just by the basic plot outline. What I didn't expect was how well made this film was.Normally with these old 30's dramas you get decent actors and a decent storyline with an average script. The actors have to keep up the paces to make the film work. This is not the case with this film. I was really surprised at the quality of every aspect of this film.The star of this film is not Barbara Stanwyck. Although most would think by her name alone it would be but she's very ordinary in this one. A lot of her 30's stuff is "Joe basic average". The star of this is Nils Asther. He is an absolute chameleon in this. The make-up he has is so convincing you'll look twice. Even though you can hear his Swedish accent come through you can still see how good his attempt at Chinese was. This film was his absolute pinnacle.The action scenes are done very very well. The shootout close to the end and the sequence early on in the orphanage are really very convincing. I'm just amazed at how well this film holds up even in this day and time.This film is known for one thing and one thing only and that's the interracial overtones it has. I'm here to tell you folks, it's so mild it didn't even come into play for my viewing. I mean it's there but the story really is about the downfall of a ruthless Chinese General. He's blindsided by the American girl he keeps hostage and his attempts to woo her.The ending though reminds me of a very similar film from around the same year...The Barbarian. Both have a very ridiculous ending. It doesn't fit with how Stanwyck played the character. I guess that's what the author of the book intended. Always confuses me how here and there, back in the day, at how Hollywood throws these curve ball films in to make America think about interracial issues. What's makes me laugh is does anyone remember back then any stars actually doing what they portray? There's no way they thought this would be a financial success back then with this subject matter.All this being said, this is a really fine effort. Just a very well made and engrossing film.

American missionary Megan Davis (Barbara Stanwyck) is sent to China which is in the middle of a civil war. There she meets cold, evil General Yen (Swedish actor Nils Asther). He is attracted to her despite already being married. She rejects his advances but slowly becomes attracted to him too.This was not a big hit in its day (which is probably why it's mostly unknown today). Back then dealing with an interracial romance was pretty risky but today it comes across as pretty silly! Even though this is pre-Code it's not that explicit and they never push the envelope in terms of the romance. As a result this comes across as pretty muted and I'm still not sure WHAT was going through Stanwyck's mind at the end. Even worse Stanwyck is badly miscast. Really--her as a missionary???? Also Asther isn't even remotely believable as an Asian. Still I didn't hate the film. It was well-done with some beautiful settings (General Yen's palace is an eye-opener) and some great cinematography. Also, despite his miscasting, Asther is great as Yen and is obviously having a whale of a time in his role. I had a lot of fun hearing him trying to cover his Swedish accent with an Asian accent! Some people might find this film offensive. I saw it in a revival theatre back in the 1980s and a white college student was laughing at it and hissing it virtually nonstop. I'm not sure WHAT his problem was with it (maybe having a Swedish guy playing an Asian guy might have something to do with it) but I'm guessing it might offend some people. I just find this an antiquated, miscast but beautiful film. It's also pretty short (88 minutes). I give this a mild recommendation.

Though it dates from 1933 both director Capra and actress Stanwyck were veterans of the movies and had indeed already worked together notably on Miracle Woman, a thinly-veiled take on Aimee Semple MacPherson. This time the canvas is broader embracing racism, politics and miscegenation just for starters. Swedish Nils Asther was convincing as the eponymous Chinese warlord who more or less kidnaps Stanwyck who has ostensibly journeyed to China to marry her missionary fiancé. Much has been made of the erotic dream sequence which gives Stanwyck an opportunity to confront her sexual confusion - attraction/repulsion - regarding Yen. For the time the setting was remarkably authentic and we have to score it as a little-known/seen gem.