Frank Capra (billed with his middle initial R.) directed this bizarre tale for Columbia Pictures, possibly in a bid for career prestige but instead seeming somewhat out of his element. In strife-ridden Shanghai, American girl Barbara Stanwyck arrives to work as a missionary and marry her doctor-partner, but they are separated in the midst of the political chaos and she is kidnapped by an exotic Chinese General. At the heart of this story, a nutty one by Grace Zaring Stone with a screenplay from Edward E. Paramore Jr., is the trust that develops between the powerful, apathetic war-lord and his headstrong Christian captive--a trust which eventually backfires on the General when his confidante (with unknowing assistance from the lady) double-crosses him. Stanwyck dreams of being ravished by Nils Asther (who rescues her while dressed in American garb from his Oriental 'evil' side), but we don't perceive just what the General sees in this girl. Certainly Stanwyck is lovely, grounded, and sympathetic, however her character is often exasperating and illogical. Could this high-minded woman bring down an imperious Chinese General in the middle of a brutal civil war? When the General's men are blindsided and mowed down by opposing forces, he hardly seems to care. Ah, the follies of star-crossed romance! **1/2 from ****