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...

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.

Gary Cooper plays Mr. O'Hara--a mercenary with a heart of gold. It seems that he's carrying money to help fund a revolt against a Chinese warlord, General Yang (Akim Tamirof). However, due to the work of an indifferently written woman (Madeleine Carrol), O'Hara is captured by Yang and the revolution is doomed to fail. It's up to O'Hara to somehow escape, find the money and then pay the arms merchant (William Frawley) so the revolution can commence.In general (bad pun, I know), the film is pretty good. However, Ms. Carroll's character simply made no sense. While she constantly professed that she was a good person, at every turn she behaved otherwise--making her confusing and quite stupid. How she could supposedly care for O'Hara AND betray him to be killed makes no sense at all nor do any of her actions. She is THE big problem with the film--otherwise it's mostly very good. Another problem, though much smaller, is that Dudley Diggs is perhaps the worst cast Chinese character in history. Despite decent makeup, his very, very strong English accent made him laughable--as much as Katharine Hepburn playing a Chinese lady in "Dragon Seed"! As for Cooper, he was cool--playing his heroic macho role extremely well. While it was rare to see a heroic man slap a woman, here it was quite fitting and he carried it off well in macho heroic fashion, he slugged a lot of folks in the movie! Because of this, his professing his love for Carroll at the end really made no sense. And, And, although Akim Tamirof wasn't the least bit Chinese, his General Yang was also quite good--and menacing. In fact, all the production aside from Carroll and Diggs was pretty good and I can see why the film was a success. Of particular note was the very good fake Chinese makeup. Although lots of Anglos had these roles, at least they LOOKED pretty Asian--unlike many other films of the period (such as the Charlie Chan pictures). Reasonably well made and interesting, though far from Cooper's best from this era.By the way, from what I have read about William Frawley in real life, he pretty much played himself in the movie.

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