Product: General Died at Dawn [VHS]
Rating: 5.0
Banality Dies In The General Died at Dawn
The great age of the Hollywood Studio system allowed gifted directors,like Lewis Milestone, to take simple, banal stories and to transform them into intelligent, involving cinema. It is more a director's film than an actor's film, in spite of the presence of Gary Cooper and Madelaine Carrol. One is never sure whether to be frightened or amused at Akim Tamirov's version of the stereotypical Chinese. Yet the whole is far greater than the sum of its creaky parts.In an amazing series of shots, a white cue ball becomes a door knob, acting as a visual bridge that flawlessly joins two disparate scenes. Milestone uses an early split screen effect to inform us seamlessly of all of the goings-on in the various thread of the plot. And one is almost thankful for the cheap Paramount sets, gauzily overlaid with dense fog from the various machines wafting across the studio interiors. There is much to be learned from this film and anyone who suggests they know film who is not aware of this gem is either a sycophant or a fool.