Watch Hold Back the Dawn For Free

Thanks for the memories!

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

Overall I feel pretty positive about this film, although the first third or so of the film seemed a bit uneven -- some good aspects, some not so good. But the story is an interesting one -- which I'm sure our Republican friends would hate...because it's about illegal immigration from Mexico...but with a twist...apparently the immigration problem with Mexico in the mid-1900s was more of Europeans making their way to Mexico to cross the border into the United States. In this case, Charles Boyer is a bit of a shady character from eastern Europe; he is in Mexico and decides to marry an American woman only as a means to get into the United States. Along comes the somewhat prim teacher, Olivia de Havilland, who is taking some students on a field trip. Boyer seizes the opportunity, and within hours they are married. Boyer's plan is to dump de Havilland after becoming an American citizen, move east (she is from Azusa), and continue in his crooked ways with accomplice Paulette Goddard. Things take some unplanned turns, and Boyer begins to feel guilty about his plan, and eventually begins to fall in love with de Havilland (no big surprise there). Goddard rats on Boyer to de Havilland, but to an immigration official she stands up for him...and then leaves him. But on the way back to California, she is in a serious auto accident and lays apparently dying in the hospital. He comes to her side...illegally, and she pulls through and he gains his way into the country...with good intentions.I've grown to enjoy Charles Boyer more in recent years, and while he was right for this part he seems too sedate here, almost as if his heart wasn't quite in it.I recently watched another Olivia de Havilland film -- "The Heiress" -- and it occurred to me while watching it that Olivia de Havilland was the direct opposite of Bette Davis. Both were great actresses, but most of the roles that one starred in could not have been played by the other. And this film is another good example of that. Able to display a sense of nativity/innocence, but equally able to play the ability of be strong when required...and both in the same role. It's a very good performance.Paulette Goddard seems to get the short end of the stick here as the self-described "tramp" in the film. It's not an impressive role for her.Walter Abel, a very able character actor, is good here as the American immigration inspector. Rosemary DeCamp, an underrated actress, has a small, but good supporting role.Be patient. The film strengthens as it goes on and has some fine moments and touching scenes, particularly on the part of Olivia de Havilland.

Charles Boyer (Iscovescu) is a Romanian gigolo who applies to enter the US and is told that he will have to wait 8 years, so he rents a room in a Mexican border town and waits. In to the town comes Paulette Goddard (Anita) who is his ex-partner in both romance and pulling scams across Europe by preying on the wealthy. She has got herself American citizenship and points Boyer in the right direction. All he has to do is marry an American citizen and he can gain his entry in about a month. Thus begins the search for an American bride who Boyer can marry, gain access into the US, get a quick divorce and then team up with Anita once again to fleece the rich. Enter school-teacher Olivia de Havilland (Emmy). However, immigration officer Walter Abel (Hammock) is wise to the plan and does not intend to let Boyer get away with things.The film is overlong with certain scenes that stretch proceedings a little tiresomely, eg, the schoolchildren, the visit to a Mexican village and the rather painful reciting of some nonsense on a plaque that supports the Statue of Liberty.....oh for goodness sake.....get on with the film....! However, set against this, Boyer and Goddard are good in their roles and their performances elevate this film to the score I have given as the story alone isn't fast-moving enough to maintain interest. I found de Havilland a bit too soppy and so not as interesting a character, although she has her moments towards the end. Walter Abel does a good job as the immigration officer but the rest of the supporting cast at the hotel are all quite irritating. We didn't need any of them for the story.Boyer does everything with such smoothness that I'm sure he could have slept with the whole cast if he chose to. After all, it's what French people like to do. That and performing mime routines.

Put Charles Boyer, Olivia DeHaviland and Paulette Goddard together in a film and you have terrific, sparkling performances. These three stars along with Rosemary DeCamp and Walter Abel in lesser roles make this melodrama believable and one of the best for Paramount Studios in 1941.Boyer, a Mexican gigolo, in an attempt to gain access to United States by way of marraige, weds Olivia, a school teacher, visiting the Mexican border town with a group of school boys, in a quick and sudden ceremony. Paulette, once Boyer's partner on the professional dance floor, attempts to win him back once he gains entrance to good old USA. However, as in most melodramas, the hero has an attack of conscience and tells his lady fair the truth. She leaves him, as does Paulette, only to find Boyer trying to get his story made into a film. A great scene on a movie soundstage with Veronica Lake and Brian Donley as themselves being directed by none other than Mitchell Leisen, who also diected this picture.Goddard shows great flair as Anita and according to Miss DeHaviland, was very nervous during the filming that her upper lip would tremble. But she survived and did a fine job. She was to make several more flicks under the directorial hand of Leisen. Most importantly KITTY.

One of the all-time great tearjerkers, this film satisfies on many levels: it offers a truly involving and emotionally moving story, an abundance of well-drawn and complex characters, an unusual setting, and three excellent stars (Charles Boyer, Olivia de Havilland, and Paulette Goddard). Boyer's character narrates much of the film, describing how he woos and weds sweet schoolteacher de Havilland in order to gain American citizenship, and this device allows us to listen in as his jaded, mercenary persona mellows and purifies under the influence of his innocent bride. Full of wry humor and a colorful supporting cast, this film deserves to be better known.