The Bitter Tea of General Yen

The Bitter Tea of General Yen is a pre-Code 1933 film, directed by Frank Capra based on the novel by Grace Zaring Stone and starring Barbara Stanwyck and Nils Asther. The film was the first to play at the Radio City Music Hall upon its opening in January, 1933. It was one of the first movies ever to deal openly with interracial sexual attraction. Bitter Tea was a box office failure upon its release and has since been overshadowed by Capra's later efforts. In recent years, the film has grown in critical acclaim. In 2000, the film was chosen by British film critic Derek Malcolm as one of the... hundred best films in The Century of Films. Megan Davis comes to China to marry a missionary and help in his work. During the Chinese Civil War, Davis and her fiancé enter the war zone to rescue orphans. They become separated at a railway station, and rendered unconscious, and Davis is rescued/kidnapped by warlord General Yen . Davis awakes in Yen's summer palace. From her window, she witnesses a mass execution, ordered by General Yen. She becomes greatly upset.
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