Watch Another Dawn For Free

Absolutely brilliant

A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

A seeming marriage of convenience provides companionship for the lovely widow Kay Francis and foreign legion officer Ian Hunter, but when Hunter's dashing friend Errol Flynn comes along, it's only a matter of time before sparks fly. The threat of war seems to create constant danger, but Francis, always impeccably dressed, finds time for polite chit-chat with her husband and romance with the dashing Flynn. With a script of poetic mutterings by Flynn, how could she not? But for Flynn's sister, the noble Frieda Inescort, having been in love with Hunter for years, realizing what's going on is a crisis for her conscience, and for these four beautiful noble people, it must be as heart-wrenching for them as it is dull for much of the audience.With no key villain involved in this triangle (pretty much a sexless one), there's little sizzle between the leads and that causes this oh so nice romantic soap opera to suffer from slow pacing and unrealistic situations. The four stars are all fine, but outside of the intrigue concerning their mission, Hunter and Flynn are dull and lifeless. Flynn sounds silly with much of his lines, and when Hunter has to become commanding, he's unconvincing.That's not the case for the two ladies, putting glamour and feminine charm in what was essentially a man's film. The generic title just seems to lay there with no purpose. Herbert Mundin provides a bit of comedy and Ben Welden is amusing as a wealthy Russian letch who makes a play for Francis, prompting a great reply from her which indicates bluntly, "No dice". I had hoped for more heat between Kay and Errol, but that is lacking. The over nobility of the major characters leads to a ridiculously clichéd finale that even after multiple viewings had me rolling my eyes. As a huge Kay Francis fan, I would watch this over and over, but as a film historian, call it a second rate finale to her A list years at Warner Brothers. She scored the same year with "Confession", and to a lesser degree with "First Lady", but in spite the use of the title in the film's last scene, it's just average.

I quite disagree with the comments of several reviewers here. It's not that this is a great movie. It's not. But it is a good movie, particularly when seen from a perspective of the time.This is not prime Errol Flynn, but after all, it was filmed when he was still quite new to starring roles. So this is an opportunity to see the early Errol Flynn, and I think he does rather nicely.Kay Franics had been Warner Brother's biggest star, but regrettably they handed her a number of projects that were just plain stale. A year after this film she was labeled box office poison, but not due to this film. Here, she proved once again what an appealing actress she was when she had a good script.The third "star" of the film was the story. This was another of the the sun never sets on the British Empire films that were so often popular (after all, Flynn had starred in "The Charge of the Light Brigade" just a year earlier). Those films don't set quite so well in our era, but at the time, this was a box office success.Three supporting actors are worth mentioning here. As time goes by, I am more and more impressed by Ian Hunter, who here plays Flynn's commanding officer. I don't think I'm familiar with Frieda Inescort, but as Hunter's sister here she is quite good. And Herbert Mundin...not that impressive, but her quite likable and one feels sympathetic toward his plight.As I said, it's not a great film, but it is a good film. You could do lots worse.

I agree with comment #2. It is a story and film from another era and, as such, it was great to have on while I sewed and did wifely work! The people were gorgeous to look at, Kay Francis was excellent, and the idea that people could restrain their emotions and behave like "grown ups" was pleasant. There were a lot of things unsaid and that added to the overall story as the viewer could fill in from their own life experiences. It also means that a child watching it would not get all of the underlying meanings. And that's a good thing. Almost everyone in the cast is a familiar face if you watch old movies. Watch it when it is on and see what they meant when they said "it's a woman's picture."

On the positive side, the makers of this film did leave over a few cliches for someone else. And it is entirely possible that when this picture was made the story elements had been used only dozens, rather than hundreds, of times before. But while numerous movies more than fifty years old have held up very well, this is one that has become an unintentional parody of itself.The romantic femme fatale, mourning a lost love of her youth, and convinced she can never love again; the dashing, devil-may-care adventurer, certain that no one female could ever hold him; the middle-aged paragon of duty, service and principle, asking only to be allowed to worship that desirable woman, expecting not love, but merely loyalty, in return; the coward scorned by his mates, living for nothing but a chance to redeem himself. And much more, including British colonials, devious Arab chieftains, the burning desert, a suicide mission, memorable dying words, and of course, a young, spectacularly handsome Errol Flynn.They don't make them like this anymore.