The General Died at Dawn

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The General Died at Dawn
Promotional movie poster for the film
Directed by	Lewis Milestone
Produced by	William LeBaron
Written by	Charles G. Booth Clifford Odets
Starring	Gary Cooper Madeleine Carroll Akim Tamiroff
Music by	Werner Janssen
Cinematography	Victor Milner
Editing by	Eda Warren
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date(s)	September 2, 1936 (premiere) October 30 November 8 November 12
Running time	98 min.
Country	U.S.A.
Language	English
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

The General Died at Dawn is a 1936 film which tells the story of a mercenary who meets a beautiful girl while trying to keep arms from getting to a vicious warlord in war-torn China. The movie was written by Charles G. Booth and Clifford Odets, and directed by Lewis Milestone.

It stars Gary Cooper, Madeleine Carroll and Akim Tamiroff. Director Milestone has a cameo role.

The movie was deservedly nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Tamiroff), Best Cinematography and Best Music, Score. There are several scenes in the film that show startling originality. At one point, an almost bald oriental's head segues to a door knob and then to a billiard ball to connect disparate scenes; in another, two characters ask questions and the answers appear in screen segments, marking an unusual use of split screen to join narrative. The lighting is always flawlessly beautiful and the story, which is typical Odets left-wing, moves forward with deft hand.

In 1938 a spoof version, called The Major Lied Till Dawn, was produced, but goodness knows why.