The Bitter Tea of General Yen is a pre-Code 1933 film, directed by Frank Capra and starring Barbara Stanwyck.

The film was the first to play at the Radio City Music Hall upon its opening in January, 1933.

General Yen was a box office failure upon its release and has since been overshadowed by Capra's later efforts. In recent years, the film has grown in critical acclaim however. In 2000, the film was chosen by British film critic Derek Malcolm as one of the hundred best films in The Century of Films.

Megan Davis, a young American, arrives in Shanghai during the Chinese Civil War in order to marry a missionary. She is separated from her fiancé and rescued by General Yen. At his palace, she defends Mah-Li, Yen's mistress, who is suspected of giving secrets to the enemy. Idealistic Megan offers to answer for Mah-Li's actions if her life is spared. Yen knows that Mah-Li will not change, but, motivated by a calm, fatalistic philosophy, and by a growing love for Megan, he agrees. Mah-Li does betray him, and he is ruined. Megan, her ideals as shattered as the world around her, offers herself willingly to Yen. Written by John Oswalt