Trivia

The Bitter Tea of General Yen was the first film to play at Manhatten's fabled Radio City Music Hall upon its opening on January 6, 1933. It was also one of the first films to deal openly with interracial sexual attraction. It 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 opinion. In 2000, the film was chosen by film critic Derek Malcolm as one of the 100 best films in The Century of Films.

Grace Zaring Stone--who wrote the novel the film was based on--and her husband and daughter were invited to visit the set on one day of filming. She later said she was impressed by the realism of the set but that the film was miscast and Barbara Stanwyck was all wrong for the part of Megan.

Chinese embassy officials in Washington, DC, complained about the depiction of the treatment of war prisoners in this film (although many real Chinese warlords were known to torture and execute captured enemy soldiers, this treatment was toned down a bit in the film) and some dehumanizing language about the Chinese people, such as "Human life is the cheapest thing in China," (which remains in the film).

The production utilized $200,000 worth of Chinese antiques and art objects as set decorations, $7,000 of that being spent on acquiring a bronze incense burner.

The part of Mah-Li was intended for Anna May Wong before Toshia Mori was cast. Wong plays a similar role (a Chinese concubine) in Shanghai Express (1932).