Editing Lewis Milestone (section)

===''The General Died at Dawn'' (1936)===
Following his two lackluster musicals, Milestone returned to form in 1936 with ''[[The General Died at Dawn]]'', which is reminiscent in theme, setting and style of director [[Josef von Sternberg]]'s ''[[Shanghai Express (film)|The Shanghai Express]]'' (1932).<ref>Baxter, 1970 p. 134: ''[[Paris in Spring]]'' (1935) and ''[[Anything Goes]]'' (1936) were innocuous, but then, late in 1936, Milestone gave a film which, for style and content, is one of the Thirties undoubted masterpieces" and "Milestone considered the film of little consequence, having adapted it from a pulp magazine story to keep himself occupied between pictures."<br />Canham, 1974 p. 85: "The General Died at Dawn displayed a marked return to form, and heralded a European revival continued by Lubitsch and [[Billy Wilder]]"</ref><ref>Millichap, 1981 p. 83-84: His three previous films "insignificant" An:{{clarify|reason=unintelligible; words and letters missing?|date=May 2023}} Josef von Sternberg "an old friend{{nbsp}}... [Milestone] might have been influenced in [his] choice of materials and{{nbsp}}... styles of handling them"<br />Canham, 1974 p. 86: "It was a stylized drama, visually as well as thematically reminiscent of [[Josef von Sternberg]]'s ''The Shanghai Express'' (1932)."</ref>

The screenplay was written by [[Left-wing politics|Leftist]] playwright [[Clifford Odets]] and is derived from an obscure [[pulp magazine|pulp]]-influenced manuscript by [[Charles G. Booth]]. It is set in the Far East, and has a sociopolitical theme: the "tension between democracy and authoritarianism".<ref>Millichap, 1981 pp. 82-83: Millichap refers to Odets as "Leftist" and the film's "pulpy background" source</ref> In the opening few minutes, Milestone establishes  the American mercenary O'Hara ([[Gary Cooper]]), who has [[Republicanism|republican]] commitments.<ref>Baxter, 1970 p. 134: Baxter provides a detailed description of the opening Cooper/O'Hara sketch.</ref> His adversary is the complex, Chinese warlord General Yang ([[Akim Tamiroff]]). [[Madeleine Carroll]] is cast as the young missionary Judy Perrie, who is "trapped between divided social forces" and struggles to overcome her diffidence, and ultimately joins O"Hara in supporting a peasant revolt against Yang.<ref>Millichap, 1981 p. 82: "the film holds up well both as entertainment and art"<br>Baxter, 1970 pp. 134&ndash;135: Carroll's Judy Perrie characterization is "perfectly realized"<br />Canham, 1974 p. 87: "the skill of the script{{nbsp}}... and the acting itself combine to lift it out of the mainstream of adventure pictures that used the inscrutable Orient as a backdrop". p. 86: "The effortless ease with which [Milestone] sketches the Gary Cooper character". p. 87: "The biggest impact is in Madeline Carroll's portrayal of Judy Perrie as a frightened lost girl"</ref>

Milestone's brings to the adventure-melodrama a "bravura" exposition of his cinematic style and technical skills; an impressive use of tracking, a five-way split screen and a widely noted use of a [[match dissolve]] that transitions from a billiard table to a white door handle leading to an adjoining room; it is "one of the most expert match shots on record" according to historian [[John Baxter (author)|John Baxter]].<ref>Higham p. 130: "&nbsp;... extraordinary use of dissolves" in the billiard ball/doorknob. And "In many ways, the film was as technically exacting as anything in the oeuvre of Orson Welles."<br>Canham, 1974 p. 87: "bravura camera techniques such as split screen images or a dissolve match cut from a billiard ball to a white door knob"<br>Millichap, 1981 p. 83: "The General Died at Dawn remains bravura effort of split screens and match dissolves, almost a compendium of things a camera could do to tell a story." p. 87: See here for description of "billiard ball" match cut.<br>Baxter, 1970 pp. 134&ndash;135: "Milestone engineers one of the most{{nbsp}}... expert match shots on record, dissolving from a billiard ball to a round white door knob, which then turns to take us into the bar next door. And "In terms of cinematic invention, ''The General Died at Dawn'' is a fascinating technical exercise [and] shows the breadth of that technique." On a 4-way split screen. And "The [film's] finale.. is a bravura piece of direction"</ref>

Though disparaged by Milestone in retrospect, ''The General Died at Dawn'' is considered one of the "masterpieces" of 1930s Hollywood cinema. Milestone was served by cinematographer [[Victor Milner]], art directors [[Hans Dreier]] and [[Ernst Fegté]], and composer [[Werner Janssen]] in, according to Baxter (1970), creating "his most exquisite and exciting if not most meaningful examination of social friction in a human context".<ref>Baxter, 1970 p. 134: "for style and content, one of the Thirties' undoubted masterpieces." p. 135: "The finale, with Victor Milner's camera tracking sinuously through the Hans Dreier and Ernst Fegte Chinese junk sets, is a bravura piece of direction, a fitting finale to this, Milestone's most exquisite and exciting if not most meaningful examination of social friction in a human context." p. 134: "Milestone considered the film of little consequence". p. 136: See here for final quote "human context."</ref><ref>Millichap, 1981 p. 82: Millichap considers Baxter's "masterpiece" designation "somewhat lavish" but he agrees that "the film holds up very well both as entertainment and art.<br />Canham, 1974 p. 87: "The first symphonic musical score composed for a film by [[Werner Janssen]]"</ref>