Editing Hold Back the Dawn

{{Short description|1941 film by Mitchell Leisen}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox film
|name           = Hold Back the Dawn
|image          = Hold Back The Dawn - 1941 - poster.png
|caption        = Theatrical release poster
|director       = [[Mitchell Leisen]]
|producer       = [[Arthur Hornblow Jr.]]
|narrator       = Charles Boyer
|based_on       = {{based on|''Hold Back the Dawn''<br>1940 novel|[[Ketti Frings]]}}
|writer         = [[Charles Brackett]]<br>[[Billy Wilder]]<br>[[Richard Maibaum]]<br>Manuel Reachi
|starring       = [[Charles Boyer]]<br>[[Olivia de Havilland]]<br>[[Paulette Goddard]]
|music          = [[Victor Young]]
|cinematography = [[Leo Tover]]
|editing        = [[Doane Harrison]]
|studio         = [[Paramount Pictures]]
|distributor    = Paramount Pictures
|released       = {{Film date|1941|9|26}}
|runtime        = 116 minutes
|country        = United States
|language       = English
}}
'''''Hold Back the Dawn''''' is a 1941 American [[Romance film|romantic drama film]] directed by [[Mitchell Leisen]], in which a Romanian [[gigolo]] marries an American woman in Mexico in order to gain entry to the United States, but winds up falling in love with her. It stars [[Charles Boyer]], [[Olivia de Havilland]], [[Paulette Goddard]], [[Victor Francen]], [[Walter Abel]], [[Curt Bois]], [[Rosemary DeCamp]], and an uncredited [[Veronica Lake]].

The movie was adapted by [[Charles Brackett]] and [[Billy Wilder]] from the 1940 novel by [[Ketti Frings]].

It was nominated for [[Academy Awards]] for [[Academy Award for Best Picture|Best Picture]], [[Academy Award for Best Actress|Best Actress in a Leading Role]] (Olivia de Havilland), [[Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay|Best Writing, Screenplay]], [[Academy Award for Best Production Design|Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Black-and-White]], [[Academy Award for Best Cinematography|Best Cinematography, Black-and-White]], and [[Academy Award for Best Original Score|Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic Picture]].<ref name="NY Times">{{cite web|url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/95397/Hold-Back-the-Dawn/awards|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121017201912/http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/95397/Hold-Back-the-Dawn/awards|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 17, 2012|department=Movies & TV Dept.|work=[[The New York Times]]|title=NY Times: Hold Back the Dawn|access-date=December 13, 2008}}</ref>

==Plot==
The story opens with Georges Iscovescu recounting his story to a Hollywood film director at [[Paramount Pictures|Paramount]] in an effort to earn some quick cash. Georges is a Romanian-born [[gigolo]] who has arrived in a [[Mexico|Mexican]] border town seeking entry to the US. He has to endure a waiting period of up to eight years in order to obtain a [[Immigration Act of 1924|quota number]], living with other hopeful immigrants in the Esperanza Hotel. After six months he is broke and unhappy. When he runs into his former dancing partner, Anita Dixon, she explains how she quickly obtained US citizenship by marrying an American, who she then, just as quickly, divorced.

Georges resolves on the same plan. He soon targets visiting school teacher Miss Emmy Brown who is in Mexico on a day trip with her class of about fifteen young boys. Georges manages to extend the time necessary to repair her broken-down automobile. Emmy and her pupils sleep in the lobby of the full-up Esperanza Hotel. This provides Georges the opportunity to quickly and intensively woo Emmy in the early morning hours; she awakens to him sitting nearby and gazing at her lovingly. By claiming she is the exact image of the lost love of his life, his seemingly intense ardor toward a stranger is plausible, and they marry later that same day. However, Georges must wait some weeks before entering the US, and Emmy returns home with the boys.

A few days later, Emmy unexpectedly returns, complicating Georges' plans. Immigration inspector Hammock also appears, hunting for con artists such as Georges, and necessitating Georges' and an unwitting Emmy's departure. He drives all night, arriving at dawn in a small village. They participate in a festival of traditional blessings for newlyweds, an event that Emmy assumes has been Georges' destination all along. Georges had not planned on consummating the marriage, believing that he could return her to her small town essentially unchanged by the marriage, and fakes a shoulder injury. However, as the trip continues, he is surprised and increasingly enchanted by Emmy. When they stop at the seaside, Emmy bathes in the cool green water and Georges is unable to resist making love to her.

However, this jeopardizes Anita's plan for her and Georges to meet in New York and work together, to which he had agreed. Anita has long been in love with Georges, and on their return, brutally informs Emmy of the entire scheme reciting the inscription on Emmy's wedding ring, which Georges' said was his mother's. Hammock then asks Emmy to verify the legitimacy of her marriage; she does not turn him in, partially blaming her own naiveté, but nevertheless leaves him. Returning to the US, she drives distractedly, in anguish at Georges' betrayal. When a black lace veil Georges had bought her is blown into her face, she is seriously injured in a car accident.

When Georges learns of this, he immediately crosses the border, jeopardizing his visa to go to her. On hearing his voice, she awakens; seeing him, her misery is relieved and her breathing and heartbeat normalize as he sits with her for hours. However, Hammock is still on his tail, and, when Georges sees police arriving, he takes off. He heads to Paramount to try to sell his story to director Dwight Saxon, in order to get the money for Emmy's care. Hammock catches up with him and returns him to Mexico.

Some weeks later, Hammock returns to the border town. Anita has a new sugar daddy. Georges has unsurprisingly not heard from Emmy, and believes the worst, sitting dejectedly on a bench writing notes in the sand. Hammock joins him, and tells Georges that he didn't report the illegal entry – Georges' visa has been approved. Georges looks up to see Emmy, in a beautiful hat, happily waving to him in the sun from across the border. He crosses, and they depart.

==Cast==
{{castlist|
*[[Charles Boyer]] as Georges Iscovescu
*[[Olivia de Havilland]] as Emmy Brown
*[[Paulette Goddard]] as Anita Dixon
*[[Victor Francen]] as Van Den Luecken
*[[Walter Abel]] as Inspector Hammock
*[[Curt Bois]] as Bonbois
*[[Rosemary DeCamp]] as Berta Kurz
*Eric Feldary as Josef Kurz
*[[Nestor Paiva]] as Red Flores
*[[Eva Puig]] as Lupita
*[[Micheline Cheirel]] as Christine
*[[Madeleine Lebeau]] as Annie
*[[Billy Lee (actor)|Billy Lee]] as Tony
*[[Mikhail Rasumny]] as Car Mechanic
*[[Charles Arnt]] as Mr. John MacAdams
*[[Arthur Loft]] as Mr. Elvestad
*[[Mitchell Leisen]] as Mr. Saxon
*[[Veronica Lake]] Movie actress on phone at beginning of film
}}

==Adaptations to other media==
''Hold Back the Dawn'' was adapted as a radio play on the November 10, 1941 episode of ''[[Lux Radio Theater]]'' with Charles Boyer, Paulette Goddard and [[Susan Hayward]], again on the February 8, 1943 episode of ''[[The Screen Guild Theater]]'' with Charles Boyer and Susan Hayward, the July 31, 1946 episode of ''[[Academy Award Theater]]'' starring Olivia de Havilland and [[Jean Pierre Aumont]], the May 31, 1948 episode of ''Screen Guild Theater'' with Charles Boyer and [[Ida Lupino]], the May 14, 1949 episode of ''[[Screen Director's Playhouse]]'' with Boyer and [[Vanessa Brown]], the May 4, 1950 episode of ''Screen Guild Theater'' with de Havilland and Boyer and the June 15, 1952 ''Screen Guild Theater'' with [[Barbara Stanwyck]] and Jean Pierre Aumont.

It was presented on ''Broadway Playhouse'' January 14, 1953, with [[Joseph Cotten]] starring.<ref>{{cite news|last=Kirby|first=Walter|title=Better Radio Programs for the Week|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/2648547/the_decatur_daily_review/|work=[[Herald & Review|The Decatur Daily Review]]|date=January 11, 1953|page=42|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}} {{Open access}}</ref>

==Release==
''Hold Back the Dawn'' was released on [[Blu-ray]] disc in the United Kingdom through [[Arrow Films]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.arrowfilms.com/blu-ray/hold-back-the-dawn/12183110.html|title=Hold Back the Dawn|publisher=[[Arrow Films]]|accessdate=October 14, 2021}}</ref>

==Reception==
On [[review aggregator]] website [[Rotten Tomatoes]], the film has an approval rating of [[List of films with a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes|100 percent]] based on 7 critics, with an average rating of 8.40 out of 10.<ref>{{cite web|title=Hold Back the Dawn|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/hold-back-the-dawn|website=[[Rotten Tomatoes]]|publisher=[[Fandango Media]]|accessdate=October 14, 2021}}</ref>

''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' commented that "While ''Hold Back the Dawn'' is basically another European refugee yarn, scenarists [[Charles Brackett]] and [[Billy Wilder]] exercised some ingenuity and imagination and [[Ketti Frings]]' original emerges as fine celluloidia".<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://variety.com/1940/film/reviews/hold-back-the-dawn-1200413568/|title=Hold Back the Dawn|date=December 31, 1940|magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]}}</ref>

[[Bosley Crowther]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' wrote "You will enjoy it as a straight-away romance, crowded with most engaging characters and smoking with Mr. Boyer's charm".<ref>{{cite news|date=October 2, 1941|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1941/10/02/archives/hold-back-the-dawn-a-poignant-romance-at-the-paramount-harmon-of.html|last=Crowther|first=Bosley|authorlink=Bosley Crowther|title='Hold Back the Dawn', a Poignant Romance, at the Paramount -- 'Harmon of Michigan' at Criterion|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref>

==See also==
*''[[Green Card (film)|Green Card]]'' (later film with a similar theme)

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{IMDb title|0033722}}
*{{tcmdb title|id=78164}}
*{{AFI film|26741}}

'''Streaming audio'''
*[https://archive.org/download/Lux06/Lux_41-11-10_Hold_Back_the_Dawn.mp3 ''Hold Back the Dawn''] on [[Lux Radio Theater]]: November 10, 1941 
*[https://archive.org/download/ScreenGuildTheater/Sgt_43-02-08_ep130_Hold_Back_the_Dawn.mp3 ''Hold Back the Dawn''] on [[Screen Guild Theater]]: February 8, 1943 
*[https://archive.org/download/OTRR_Academy_Award_Theater_Singles/Academy_Award_46-07-31_ep19_Hold_Back_the_Dawn.mp3 ''Hold Back the Dawn''] on [[Academy Award (radio)|Academy Award Theater]]: July 31, 1946 
*[https://archive.org/download/ScreenDirectorsPlayhouse/SDP_49-05-15_ep019-Hold_Back_the_Dawn.mp3 ''Hold Back the Dawn''] on [[Screen Directors Playhouse]]: May 15, 1949

{{Mitchell Leisen}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hold Back The Dawn}}
[[Category:1941 films]]
[[Category:1941 romantic drama films]]
[[Category:1940s American films]]
[[Category:1940s English-language films]]
[[Category:American black-and-white films]]
[[Category:American romantic drama films]]
[[Category:English-language romantic drama films]]
[[Category:Films about immigration to the United States]]
[[Category:Films about sham marriage]]
[[Category:Films based on American novels]]
[[Category:Films directed by Mitchell Leisen]]
[[Category:Films scored by Victor Young]]
[[Category:Films set in Mexico]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Billy Wilder]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Charles Brackett]]
[[Category:Paramount Pictures films]]
[[Category:Works by Ketti Frings]]