Search a film or person :
FacebookConnectionRegistration
The General Died at Dawn is a american film of genre Drama directed by Lewis Milestone released in USA on 2 september 1936 with Gary Cooper

The General Died at Dawn (1936)

The General Died at Dawn
If you like this film, let us know!
Released in USA 2 september 1936
Length 1h38
Directed by ,    
OriginUSA
Genres Drama,    War,    Thriller,    Action,    Adventure,    Crime
Rating64% 3.245973.245973.245973.245973.24597

The General Died at Dawn is a 1936 film that 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, Akim Tamiroff, and Dudley Digges. Director Milestone has a cameo role.

The movie was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Akim Tamiroff), Best Cinematography and Best Music, Score. There are several scenes in the film that show startling originality at the time. At one point, the camera focuses on a white door knob, and then dissolves to a white billiard ball to connect disparate scenes. In another scene, two characters have a conversation in which they speculate about the fates of other characters in the drama. The answers to their questions appear in screen segments in the corners of the screen, marking an unusual use of split screen to join narrative.

The main character, O'Hara, is based on the real-life Anglo-Canadian Jewish adventurer Morris Abraham "Two-Gun" Cohen. During the early 1930s, Cohen ran guns for various warlords in mainland China.

This is reported to be the first film to use foam latex appliances. Makeup artist Charles Gemora applied sponge rubber eyelids for one of the actors.

John Howard Reid called it one of the fifty finest films Hollywood ever made.

Synopsis

O'Hara, un mercenaire altruiste au service de Wu se porte volontaire pour faire passer une importante somme d'argent devant permettre aux opposants au général Yang de se procurer des armes par l'intermédiaire d'un trafiquant alcoolique nommé Brighton. L'américain Peter Perrie vit avec sa fille Judy en Chine. Il se propose de livrer O'Hara à Yang, sa fille devant servir d'appât, puis d'acheter lui-même des armes pour le compte de Yang auprès de Brighton. Peter Perrie est atteint d'un mal incurable en phase terminale et rêve de finir ses jours aux États-Unis. Dans le train Judy séduit O'Hara et réussit sa mission : O'Hara est gardé prisonnier par Chang, au grand désespoir de Judy qui est réellement tombée amoureuse d'O'Hara. Ce dernier s'évade, retrouve Judy à son hôtel, et veut lui faire avouer où est caché l'argent, mais elle refuse, car son père convoite le butin. Peter Perrie intervient et meurt à la suite d'un échange de coups de feu. Le général Wang surgit et fait prisonnier O'Hara, Judy, Wu, et un maître chanteur ; il les emmène sur son bateau. Judy propose alors de se sacrifier contre la promesse que les autres prisonniers seront délivrés ; mais entre-temps, Brighton, qui était retenu à fond de cale, se réveille de son ivresse en provoquant un tel chahut que Yang se déplace, recevant un coup de couteau mortel dans la confusion. Yang mourant veut faire exécuter tout le monde : il commence par le maître chanteur, mais O'Hara le dissuade de continuer lui expliquant que dans ces conditions tout le monde oubliera le grand général Yang. Ce dernier avant de succomber demande alors à sa garde de s’entre-tuer.

Actors

Trailer of The General Died at Dawn

Bluray, DVD

Streaming / VOD

Source : Wikidata

Comments


Leave comment :

Suggestions of similar film to The General Died at Dawn

There are 273 films with the same actors, 68 films with the same director, 80553 with the same cinematographic genres (including 5 with exactly the same 6 genres than The General Died at Dawn), 7796 films with the same themes, to have finally 70 suggestions of similar films.

If you liked The General Died at Dawn, you will probably like those similar films :
They Who Dare, 1h47
Directed by Lewis Milestone
Origin United-kingdom
Genres War
Themes Seafaring films, Transport films, Aviation films, Political films
Actors Dirk Bogarde, Denholm Elliott, William Russell, Akim Tamiroff, Eric Pohlmann, Peter Burton
Rating55% 2.755782.755782.755782.755782.75578
Seconde Guerre Mondiale - Un commando britannique se fait débarquer sur l'île de Rhodes avec pour mission d'y saboter deux aérodromes nazis. Aux sujets de Sa Majesté se joignent quatre Grecs ...
Halls of Montezuma, 1h53
Directed by Lewis Milestone
Origin USA
Genres Drama, War, Action, Adventure
Themes Seafaring films, Transport films, Political films, Children's films, United States Armed Forces in films
Actors Richard Widmark, Richard Boone, Jack Palance, Reginald Gardiner, Jack Webb, Martin Milner
Rating65% 3.2949953.2949953.2949953.2949953.294995
During World War II, a Marine battalion prepares to land on a large Japanese-held island in the Pacific. Lieutenant Colonel Gilfillan (Richard Boone) warns the men that it will be a tough mission, and that they have been ordered to take prisoners in order to gain information about the Japanese fortifications. Below deck, veteran Lieutenant Carl A. Anderson (Richard Widmark), a chemistry teacher in civilian life, questions his former student, Corporal Stuart Conroy (Richard Hylton), who complains that he is ill and cannot fight. Anderson assures him that he has shown courage before and can do so again. In the landing boat heading to shore, Navy corpsman C. E. "Doc" Jones (Karl Malden) is worried because Anderson has been suffering from "psychological migraines" for months. Anderson and his platoon have been fighting since Guadalcanal, and now only seven men remain of the original platoon. Although Doc urged Anderson to seek treatment in the United States, Anderson refuses to leave his men and has been relying on Doc to supply him with painkillers.
The North Star, 1h48
Directed by Lewis Milestone
Origin USA
Genres Drama, War, Action, Adventure
Themes Politique, Documentary films about war, Documentary films about historical events, Political films, Documentary films about World War II
Actors Anne Baxter, Dana Andrews, Walter Huston, Walter Brennan, Erich von Stroheim, Ann Harding
Rating59% 2.9516352.9516352.9516352.9516352.951635
In June 1941 Ukrainian villagers are living in peace. As the school year ends, a group of friends decide to travel to Kiev for a holiday. To their horror, they find themselves attacked by German aircraft, part of the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union. Eventually their village itself is occupied by the Nazis. Meanwhile, men and women take to the hills to form partisan militias.
Wake Island, 1h27
Directed by John Farrow, Hal Walker, Harve Foster
Origin USA
Genres Drama, War, Action
Themes Seafaring films, Transport films, Aviation films, Documentary films about war, Documentary films about historical events, Political films, Documentary films about World War II, United States Armed Forces in films
Actors Brian Donlevy, Robert Preston, William Bendix, Macdonald Carey, Albert Dekker, Walter Abel
Rating66% 3.343733.343733.343733.343733.34373
The film's opening credits state that the screenplay was written by W.R. Burnett and Frank Butler "From the Records of The United States Marine Corps", and includes many Marine Corps and military advisers. It also states that "In this picture, the action at Wake Island has been recorded as accurately as possible. However, the names of the characters are fictional and any similarity to the personal characteristics of the officers and men of the detachment is not intended." This is likely because the actual events were unfolding during the production of the film, and names were being protected.
Pork Chop Hill, 1h37
Directed by Lewis Milestone
Origin USA
Genres Drama, War, Action, Historical
Themes Politique, Political films, United States Armed Forces in films
Actors Gregory Peck, Rip Torn, George Peppard, Woody Strode, James Edwards, Harry Guardino
Rating69% 3.4959053.4959053.4959053.4959053.495905
In April 1953, during the Korean War, a company of American infantry, led by Lieutenant Joe Clemons (Gregory Peck) are to recapture Pork Chop Hill from a larger Communist Chinese army force; they recapture the hill, but are depleted, only 25 of a 135-man unit are left. They prepare for a large-scale Chinese counter-attack which they know will overwhelm and kill them in vicious fire fights and hand-to-hand fighting while the Panmunjeom cease-fire negotiations continue.
China
China (1943)
, 1h19
Directed by John Farrow, Hal Walker, Oscar Rudolph, Harve Foster, Gerd Oswald
Origin USA
Genres Drama, War, Adventure
Themes Political films
Actors Loretta Young, Alan Ladd, William Bendix, Philip Ahn, Richard Loo, Victor Sen Yung
Rating65% 3.2949253.2949253.2949253.2949253.294925
In 1941, in Mei-Ki, China, war profiteer David Jones (Alan Ladd) narrowly escapes with his life when Chinese Captain Tao-Yuan-Kai arrests him for selling oil to the Japanese but releases him because he is American. Japanese aircraft bomb the town, and Jones drives toward Shanghai with his partner, Johnny Sparrow (William Bendix), who has brought with him an orphaned baby boy.
All Quiet on the Western Front, 2h32
Directed by Lewis Milestone, Nate Watt
Origin USA
Genres Drama, War, Action, Historical
Themes Political films
Actors Louis Wolheim, Richard Alexander, Lew Ayres, John Wray, William Bakewell, Ben Alexander
Rating80% 4.048034.048034.048034.048034.04803
Professor Kantorek gives an impassioned speech about the glory of serving in the Army and "saving the Fatherland". On the brink of becoming men, the boys in his class, led by Paul Baumer, are moved to join the army as the new 2nd Company. Their romantic delusions are quickly broken during their brief but rigorous training under the abusive Corporal Himmelstoss, who bluntly informs them, "You're going to be soldiers—and that's all."
The Purple Heart, 1h39
Directed by Lewis Milestone
Origin USA
Genres Drama, War, Action
Themes Seafaring films, Prison films, Transport films, Aviation films, Documentary films about war, Documentary films about historical events, Political films, Films about capital punishment, Documentary films about World War II, Children's films, Disaster films, Films about aviation accidents or incidents, United States Armed Forces in films
Actors Dana Andrews, Richard Conte, Farley Granger, Don "Red" Barry, Trudy Marshall, Sam Levene
Rating64% 3.2453253.2453253.2453253.2453253.245325
In April 1942, after a raid on Japan, eight American aircrew made up of the crews from two North American B-25 Mitchell bombers, are captured. Capt. Harvey Ross (Dana Andrews), becomes the leader of the captives. Initially, the men are picked up by a local government official who is a Chinese collaborator in a Wang Jingwei controlled section of China. The Chinese official delivers the Americans to the Imperial Japanese Army to be put on trial at the Shanghai Police Headquarters. Although international observers and correspondents are allowed to witness the trial, the commanding officer, General Mitsubi (Richard Loo) refuses to allow Karl Kappel (Torben Meyer), the Swiss Consul to contact Washington.
Edge of Darkness, 1h59
Directed by Lewis Milestone, Raoul Walsh
Origin USA
Genres Drama, War
Themes Political films
Actors Errol Flynn, Ann Sheridan, Walter Huston, Helmut Dantine, Judith Anderson, Nancy Coleman
Rating71% 3.5922853.5922853.5922853.5922853.592285
In the Norwegian fishing village of Trollness, residents resist the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany. In October 1942, the Norwegian flag is flying high over the Nazi outpost but almost everyone in town is dead. The German troops sent to investigate discover the German commander, Captain Koenig, dead in his office. The film the proceeds to tell the events that led to this disaster.
A Walk in the Sun, 1h57
Directed by Lewis Milestone
Origin USA
Genres Drama, War
Themes Political films, Children's films
Actors Dana Andrews, Richard Conte, John Ireland, George Tyne, Lloyd Bridges, Richard Benedict
Rating68% 3.441593.441593.441593.441593.44159
In 1943, the diverse group of fifty-three soldiers comprising a lead Platoon of the Texas Division anxiously await their upcoming Allied invasion of Italy on a beach near Salerno, Italy. A landing barge carries them to their objective during the pre-dawn hours, and the increasing danger of their situation is demonstrated when their young platoon leader, Lieutenant Rand (Robert Lowell), is wounded by a shell fragment that destroys half of his face. Platoon Sergeant Pete Halverson (Matt Willis) takes over command and orders Sgt. Eddie Porter (Herbert Rudley) to lead the men to the beach while he tries to find the company commander and confirm their orders.