Reviews & Ratings for
Another Dawn More at IMDbPro »

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14 out of 16 people found the following review useful:
Those thrilling days of yesteryear, 22 June 2001
Author: jaykay-10

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.

12 out of 13 people found the following review useful:
A hidden treasure love story, 19 April 2005

Author: Gregory H. (gshardaway@aol.com) from Chicago IL.

I watched this movie solely because Errol Flynn was in it. My all time favorite. However I was serendipitously introduced to Kay Francis, one of Hollywood's great female stars. She has since become one of my most adored actresses from a bygone era of great female actresses. Why movie land has not highlighted this movie and these two great film stars together is a mystery to me. Further, it would have been refreshing to see them together on other projects. This movie tugged at my heart as I watched it very late one night. My teenage children thought it was mushy. They were probably on target since they don't get a chance to see REAL acting like this, but rather a lot of sex scenes and nudity. To all E.F. or K.F. aficionado's, rent it, copy it, see it. You'll be glad you did.

13 out of 15 people found the following review useful:
Wonderful, Predictable, Hollywood "Sahara" Romance, 27 November 2001

Author: sobaok (sobaok@msn.com) from Forestville, Ca

To see a lovely Kay Francis and a beautiful Errol Flynn share the pangs of romance in the dreamy sunsets of the Sahara is what this movie is all about. A great score by Erich Korngold whisks us along through their complex affair, romantic interludes and Flynn's courageous fight with the Arabs. The charms of the film have a faded edge, but I find this gives it a nostalgic appeal. Francis is wonderful to watch -- she's wistful, stylizes her performance with her usual grace, very appealingly. Flynn is a real handsome figure and gives an earnest performance, showing the conflicts of romancing is best friend and superior officer's wife. This is a pure movie movie -- to be watched for pleasure and the smile of nostalgia.

6 out of 7 people found the following review useful:
Well done, though a tad "sticky", 27 August 2007

Author: planktonrules from Bradenton, Florida

This is not the sort of movie you'd think it would be, as the film is set abroad and is about a British outpost. Considering this AND that the film stars Errol Flynn, you would expect that it would be an adventure film like LIVES OF A BENGAL LANCER or CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE--and if so, you'd be wrong. The film is purely a romantic melodrama about a woman (Kay Francis) who marries a man he likes and respects (Ian Hunter) but eventually falls in love with suave and romantic Errol Flynn (and, in 1937, who WOULDN'T have fallen for Errol?!). The problem is exacerbated because Francis genuinely loves Hunter as a friend and Errol is loyal to Hunter because he's his commanding officer, but their glands won't be satisfied until they break the awful news to nice-guy Hunter. This is, overall, a very sappy and sticky movie. Some will no doubt like it, but the ardent and more "wussified" Flynn isn't as satisfying a character as he played in most of his other films. And, the plot itself seems very old fashioned and...well...silly. Not a bad film, but certainly a lesser film and one that is mostly of interest to those who want to see every film Flynn made--even the weaker ones.

5 out of 6 people found the following review useful:
Fun to watch to be transported to another era., 25 June 2007

Author: oldlady7 from United States

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

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."

Kay Francis and Errol Flynn Together!, 3 May 2011

Author: allaboutlana from United States

Errol Flynn and Kay Francis star in this movie about love and adventure. Ian Hunter meets Kay first and promptly falls in love with her, even though she admits she doesn't love him. But he does convince her to marry him and move to where he lives and works, a British outpost in the desert. By this means, she meets his second-in-command and right-hand man Errol Flynn. At first she doesn't take to him, even though most of the female viewers have already at first sight. (But he took to her; that's without saying.) But his hearty laugh startles her as it's similar to someone she loved very much and lost. Then, she begins to see him in a new light and spends a lot of time with him, as husband Ian has to travel to trouble-shoot, etc. Therefore, Kay and Errol, well.... Errol and Kay's good looks and chemistry and the movie's mysterious and menacing locale uplifts the material. And, their love scenes together are very exotic and romantic, with them walking hand in hand and getting caught in the moment, kissing.... Even if you don't consider the leads your favorites, I think you'll agree that Errol Flynn and the lovely Kay Francis do make a very passionate couple, and that you'll enjoy 73 minutes of them.

1 out of 3 people found the following review useful:
"Never let your life live from one dawn to another.", 20 August 2007

Author: classicsoncall from United States

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

I had the greatest trouble with two quotes from the film, the first one in my summary line above, and the other - "The hopes we have for tomorrow die today". I can't make any sense out of the first, and the second is one of the most pessimistic and depressing statements I've ever heard. The latter was actually stated twice in the story, the second time when Julia Ashton summarized her feelings on what would have been an ill fated affair with Captain Roark (Errol Flynn). Instead, the ill fate befalls Julia's husband John Wister (Ian Hunter) in a self imposed suicide mission into a desert region of the Sahara. For his part, Colonel Wister comes across as a model of nobility in stepping aside for his second officer, but it's a safe bet you won't run across somebody like him in real life any time soon.

Back to that first quote - I'm still thinking about it, but nothing's coming to me. I'm sure it was a way of making a connection with the title of the movie, but it comes across as awkward at best. Maybe I heard it incorrectly, so any help would be appreciated.

You know, I had a thought about this film I never considered before for a black and white move - I think I would have preferred to see it in color for it's exotic locations, military dress and Miss Francis' fashionable gowns by Orry-Kelly. That might have done a better job of distracting me from the troublesome dialog.

2 out of 5 people found the following review useful:
The sacrifice that comes from nobility., 25 January 2006
Author: Poseidon-3 from Cincinnati, OH

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Fans of Flynn's swashbuckling sagas or western dust-ups may be disappointed to find him here in a rather talky, restrained melodrama in which he is off-screen for a startling amount of the run time. The story is really Francis'. She plays a forlorn American whose three-year love affair with a daring pilot was cut short when he died during a flight. She is wooed and uneasily won by British Colonel Hunter while he is on a trip away from his remote desert post. Upon arriving back there with his new bride (who has sworn she will never truly love again after suffering the loss of her previous mate), he is called upon to leave on a mission, leaving Francis to get to know his second-in-command Flynn. Not only is Flynn drop-dead handsome, but his laugh reminds Francis of her deceased love and soon the pair is flirting with the possibility of an affair. In order to salvage her marriage to Hunter, Francis recommends Flynn for the next dangerous assignment, but then frets over him the entire time. When a third mission comes about, the two men (who, by now, realize the position they are in with Francis) haggle about who will end up flying off into the sunset, and quite probably not returning. Francis (showing off some fancy Orry-Kelly gowns) is lovely and charming despite her sometimes dreary, drippy character. Flynn is beautiful and dapper, but gets little or no chance to show off the roguish, impish charm that made him a superstar. He and Francis do share one very romantic embrace in a garden and he also gets to engage in one rather minor action sequence, but it's a bit of a letdown to see him trudging through this story which is more a study of honor and self-sacrifice than a powerful love story. Hunter does a good job, but is understandably less captivating than Flynn. Inescort portrays Flynn's sister and doesn't have too awful much to do. Her oncoming MS can be noted in a telephone scene in which she holds her hand in an awkward position. It's an acceptable, well-appointed, but unspectacular film (that's also thankfully brief!) that's an okay time-killer, but not likely to be ranked very highly in the canon of its stars, especially Flynn's.

4 out of 11 people found the following review useful:
these people were lucky they got to make another movie, 24 January 2006

Author: blanche-2 from United States

Well, I didn't have as violent a response as the first post I read, but "Another Dawn" is from another era and didn't survive it, trust me. It's all pip-pip, jolly good, and honor is all in this dated film starring the handsome Errol Flynn and the lovely Kay Francis. She's a widow who marries Flynn's commander, though she still mourns her late husband. When she meets Flynn, guess what, she finds she can love again. Yeah, like who couldn't. They're both too honorable to do much about it, though.

Most of the film takes place post-World War I in a Sahara outpost so there is lots of sand and some battles. Flynn is subdued in this, and Francis is radiant. Some of the dialogue is actually quite poetic - probably because they're quoting poems - and if it were in, say, The Rains Came, it would have worked very well - but it only adds to the melodrama in this film.

Films such as "Another Dawn" are interesting as artifacts of a lost time when, I suppose, people had stronger values and lived for the greater good. When it's a stronger script and production, of course, these marvelous qualities are worth revisiting, admiring, and feeling guilty about. Alas, however, nobility is not well served by "Another Dawn."

3 out of 11 people found the following review useful:
Prosaic for the most part, 2 November 2002
Author: reelguy2 from Boulder, Colorado

Offsetting the awkward and embarrassing elements of the triangular love story are Korngold's gloriously exotic (if at times obtrusive) score and some occasional poetry in the dialogue. And, for the last two minutes of the film - finally - inspired direction from William Dieterle who, as we know from his better films (Devil and Daniel Webster), was perfectly capable of such things.

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