Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.0

The Bitter Tea of General Yen Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman October 1, 2020

There are some inherent ironies at play for modern viewers of one of Frank Capra’s lesser remembered films, 1933’s The Bitter Tea of General Yen. The film offers a kinda sorta romance between an American woman named Megan Davis (Barbara Stanwyck) and a Chinese general named Yen (Nils Asther), something that was deemed pretty shocking back in the day and which would seem to indicate that the film is rather forward thinking. However, The Bitter Tea of General Yen also offers a veritable grabbag of commentary about the Chinese that my hunch is Asians in particular are going to find pretty objectionable. Aside from the once accepted but now disparaged casting of a non-Asian in the title role, the film has both other presentational and overt plot references that seem to suggest the Chinese are “savages” in various ways. Early in the film, at a Shanghai party where some assembled multitudes await what they expect to be the wedding of Megan and missionary Robert Strike (Gavin Gordon), a Caucasian minister talks about thinking he had really made an impact on some Mongols by relaying the story of the crucifixion to them, only to come to the horrifying conclusion that the reason they were paying such rapt attention is that they were gaining information so that they could crucify their enemies. The fact that Capra chooses to follow this alarming anecdote with a whip pan to a seemingly representative Chinese man gives the film a rather uneasy subtext quite a bit of the time. Even this opening sequence shows Chinese obviously decked out to “resemble” Westerners in their attire, with them singing and playing traditional Christian hymns, as if to suggest that the “natives” had been civilized in some fashion. For viewers in 1933, this was probably accepted as easily as the casting of Asther as General Yen, but for modern day eyes and sensibilities, I suspect that many may find there to be some disconnect between the film’s frankly kind of weird romantic angle and some of the perspective our contemporary reactions bring to some of the underlying representations of Chinese in general (no pun intended) in the film.

In some ways The Bitter Tea of General Yen seems to be hinting at the opening few scenes of Capra's Lost Horizon, with scenes of a war torn Asian landscape and hordes of refugees attempting to flee devastated, burning heaps of rubble. The unrest in China is a simmering subplot here, but it only plays into things almost as a McGuffin, with Megan and Richard attempting to save some orphans which soon results in Megan being taken captive more or less by General Yen, albeit admittedly in an attempt to save her from precarious circumstances. However, the whole central part of the film deals with the growing intimacy between Megan and Yen, with a few sidebars thrown in courtesy of some supporting characters, notably a concubine named Mah-Li (Toshia Mori) and an American advisor to Yen named Jones (Walter Connolly).

Though this was a pre-Code outing and therefore not really subject to the strictures that would soon be imposed upon the American film industry, there's still a curious discursiveness to the very romantic angle that would seem to be the main emotional component of The Bitter Tea of General Yen. While there is the truly curious element of an implied concubine being front and center throughout much of the film even as Yen and Megan develop feelings for each other, the actual relationship between Yen and Megan is often only hinted at, with about the only "traditional" lovey dovey stuff happening in a fever dream Megan has.

This is the kind of film that no doubt appealed to audiences in the thirties simply because it offered a look at a supposedly "exotic" locale, one rife with political intrigue. But Yen would seem to be a rather odd choice for a romantic lead character, at least in the general context of Hollywood films of the time, given his penchant for executing his enemies and being involved in various other nefarious activities. As a result, there is perhaps less of a catharsis at the film's climax (guess what makes General Yen's tea bitter?), with a brief coda involving Megan and Jones attempting to offer a little poetry, but seeming kind of unnecessary given the circumstances. The totally bizarre shunting of the character of Strike is also among the film's odder plot contrivances.

The Bitter Tea of General Yen does hold a rather interesting place in cinematic history, whatever qualms modern day viewers may have with at least some of its elements. This was the first film screened at Radio City Music Hall after its brief life as only a live performance venue came to a close. The film was evidently not the smash that was hoped (Radio City Music Hall was already in financial troubles), and the run was shortened as a result. Despite having a relatively small budget, The Bitter Tea of General Yen had its own bitter brew to contend with, namely not showing a profit during its initial theatrical exhibition.

The Bitter Tea of General Yen Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Bitter Tea of General Yen is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.33:1. Sony is one of the more reliable curators of its catalog, and this is another often pretty luscious looking transfer, though it needs to be viewed with an understanding that Capra and cinematographer Joseph Walker intentionally softened a lot of the presentation courtesy of various diffusion filtering techniques (including allegedly using a silk stocking over the lens). As such, a lot of the visuals can be slightly hazy in appearance (see screenshot 1), though even in many of these shots fine detail in elements like hair and patterns on fabrics still look precise and well rendered. There are some occasional minor signs of age related wear and tear (if you look closely at screenshot 19, you'll see a very fine scratch running down the middle of the frame, which is the overall level of any problematic material). The film does have a lot of opticals, and some of those have baked in issues which can affect both grain resolution and detail levels. Grain does ebb and flow somewhat even aside and apart from things like optical dissolves. Contrast is really strong throughout the presentation, supporting good, deep blacks and nicely modulated gray scale.

The Bitter Tea of General Yen Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Bitter Tea of General Yen features a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono track that can't escape the technologies of its era but which sound reasonably full bodied. Some of the music, including things like the Chinese "converts" playing Christian hymns in the opening sequence, can sound slightly brash in the upper registers, and some of the war torn sound effects are a bit boxy, as in a firing squad that Megan witnesses. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. The entire track is very narrow and shallow sounding, but doesn't really have any egregious signs of damage. Optional English subtitles are available.

The Bitter Tea of General Yen Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This is a bare bones release that doesn't even have a Main Menu, and which instead boots directly to the presentation after the FBI warnings. The Pop Up Menu provides access to the other language tracks as well as to the subtitles.

The Bitter Tea of General Yen Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Bitter Tea of General Yen is a decidedly odd picture, and it's not really hard to see why it didn't connect with audiences very strongly when it was originally released. Probably unfortunately, there are only going to be more obstacles for many modern day viewers whose "PC" antennae may start vibrating due to some of the film's presentational and representational proclivities. Still, those interested in film history, and specifically fans of either Stanwyck and/or Capra will probably want to check this out. Technical merits are generally solid for those considering a purchase.