Hold Back the Dawn (1941)

Stopped in Mexico by U.S. Immigration, Georges Iscovescu hopes to get into the country by marrying a citizen.

Director:

Mitchell Leisen

Writers:

Ketti Frings (story "Memo to a Movie Producer"), Charles Brackett

Stars:

Charles Boyer, Olivia de Havilland, Paulette Goddard

Nominated for 6 Oscars. Another 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Charles Boyer	...	Georges Iscovescu
Olivia de Havilland	...	Emmy Brown
Paulette Goddard	...	Anita Dixon
Victor Francen	...	Van Den Luecken
Walter Abel	...	Inspector Hammock
Curt Bois	...	Bonbois
Rosemary DeCamp	...	Berta Kurz
Eric Feldary	...	Josef Kurz
Nestor Paiva	...	Fred Flores
Eva Puig	...	Lupita
Micheline Cheirel	...	Christine
Madeleine Lebeau	...	Anni
Billy Lee	...	Tony
Mikhail Rasumny	...	Mechanic
Charles Arnt	...	Mr. John MacAdams

Storyline

Told in flashback from a preface in which the main character visits Paramount to sell his story! Romanian-French gigolo Georges Iscovescu wishes to enter the USA. Stopped in Mexico by the quota system, he decides to marry an American, then desert her and join his old partner Anita, who's done likewise. But after sweeping teacher Emmy Brown off her feet, he finds her so sweet that love and jealousy endanger his plans.

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Plot Keywords:

deception | mexico | usa | told in flashback | teacher | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

26 September 1941 (USA)

Also Known As:

Memo to a Movie Director

Filming Locations:

Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

116 min 125 min (copyright length)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

One of over 700 Paramount Productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by Universal ever since. Its earliest documented telecast took place in Milwaukee Wednesday 8 April 1959 on WITI (Channel 6), followed by Asheville 3 May 1959 on WLOS (Channel 13), both Chicago and Seattle 13 June 1959 on WBBM (Channel 2) and KIRO (Channel 7), Philadelphia 10 October 1959 on WCAU (Channel 10), Detroit 26 October 1959 on WJBK (Channel 2), Toledo 7 November 1959 on WTOL (Channel 11), Omaha 15 November 1959 on KETV (Channel 7), Minneapolis 26 November 1959 on WTCN (Channel 11), Lowell MA (serving the Boston area) 25 January 1960 on WBZ (Channel 4), and Los Angeles 9 January 1960 on KNXT (Channel 2). Today's cable TV viewers now have an occasional opportunity to take a look at it on Turner Classic Movies.

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Goofs

When Anita is sitting on Georges' lap at the typewriter, a moving shadow of the boom microphone can be seen in the mirror behind them.

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Quotes

Anita Dixon: Only the very rich will get a crack at Georges and Anita. We'll be very expensive, I'm afraid.
Georges Iscovescu: They can deduct us from their income tax.
Anita Dixon: You make a wonderful deduction.

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Alternate Versions

Released prints for the Latin American markets included on-screen credits for technical advisors Padre Canseco, Ernesto A. Romero and assistant director Francisco Alonso.

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Connections

Referenced in You're the One (2000)

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Soundtracks

My Boy My Boy
(1941)
Music by Fred Spielman
Written for this movie but not sung; it may have been played in the score

User Reviews

A GREAT MOVIE! DVD please.

This movie is worth watching for the performances of Olivia deHavilland--unbelievably naive but Olivia has an internal sincerity that carries it off--and Charles Boyer--jaded and conniving but wonderful and romantic, a much better actor than is remembered. And Paulette Goddard too. Just watching these 3 actors in a movie is great fun. It's also an interesting and sympathetic view of a group of immigrants fleeing the war in Europe who had made it to Mexico with the hope of getting into the US. (The film came out in 1941--probably before the US had entered the war.) Boyer is Romanian, a dancer and gigolo who is broke and feeling hopeless by the time he meets Olivia, a teacher who has brought her students on a field trip to Mexico for the 4th of July (which seems like rather an odd choice when you think about it). And, there is some really tiresome interactions between the teacher and her quite incorrigible students--but hang on, it passes. Then we get to watch Boyer's insincere seduction of her and then her authentic seduction of him, the discovery of his trick and potential paradise lost. The ending? Boy, I'd love to know the story of that ending--was it the original as written? Please Paramount, put it out on DVD with commentary. Somebody must know. Anyway, despite its flaws, the performances are wonderful and it's a viewing pleasure. (Yes, a 10 is a little high for a rating--in quality, it's probably more like an 8, but in fun- value, I still give it 10, and maybe it will help get it DVDed.)