On his rise to fame, Frank Capra had only one thing in mind: winning the Academy Award for Best Director. After not receiving any recognition from the academy for his film, "American Madness", he came to the conclusion that they could not appreciate good movies. Therein, he set out to make an artsy film in an attempt to appeal to what he believed the academy wanted. .
Accordingly, Frank Capra directed "The Bitter Tea of General Yen" in this artsy manner. Although it later became a classic, when "The Bitter Tea of General Yen" was released, the film received mixed reviews. Some reviewers could not understand the picture for what it was. "No picture half so strange, so bizarre, had ever before passed outward through the astonished doors of the Columbia Studio"," articulated Phillip Scheuer, a journalist for the Los Angeles Times. Another review praised the acting as the sole redeeming quality of the movie: Nils Asther is the salt on this egg, and it isn't salt enough. (Tinee) Upon hearing these reviews, Frank Capra refuted that the audience could not grasp the complexity of his film, claiming the public simply "[didn't] want to think"" (Scheuer) in order to understand his work. In the end, Frank Capra made this film specifically to win an academy award for best director, and upon failing, decided to change his approach. .
After "The Bitter Tea of General Yen" was a bust, Frank Capra decided to "try the other end of the spectrum: the warmer, red end by filming "muggy Cinderella tales"." (Capra 144) Therein, he purchased Runyon's "Madame La Gimp " for a meager fifteen hundred dollars, which he adapted into the film, "Lady for a Day". "Lady for a Day" launched Frank Capra to stardom in Hollywood. Reviews headlined "Lady for Day Excellent", "(Schallert), and "Frank Capra Film Booked".(LA Times) It seemed as though Frank Capra had struck gold, and he was positive that he was going to finally win that Academy Award he had his heart and mind set on.