Alternates between being touching and hokey with the former edging ahead by the end which, as previous reviewer. Snoop says, is better than the first half. I guess your opinion of this film ultimately rises or falls on whether you believe in the power of Mexican village culture to redeem a crumb bum gigolo (well played by Boyer). Let's just say that at this early stage in their writing careers, before they learned to serve their hopefulness with a liberal dose of cynicism, the writing team of Brackett and Wilder failed to convince this viewer. And Mitchell Leisen's too mushy, soft edged direction didn't help in that area either. Had it not been for a lovely (in both senses) performance by Olivia and a nicely contrasting sexy turn by Paulette Goddard I'd be rating it considerably lower. B minus. PS...The rather perfunctory look at Veronica Lake playing herself speaks volumes as to how this prima donna was perceived by the industry.
Review of Hold Back the Dawn
