Hold Back The Dawn (1941) :
Brief Review -
When melodramas used to have solid sentiments. Simply beautiful. I would have preferred a tragic end, though. Let me tell you a formula, and I think most of you have read or seen it somewhere in some film. A handsome man honey traps a girl and marries her only for his own benefit, while the girl truly loves him. Soon, he realises his mistake and finds himself deeply in love with her, but she's already known the truth by the time. I can't name all of the movies based on this formula, but I'm sure you can figure it out for yourself. Hold Back The Dawn is about Georges Iscovescu, a young, handsome, but cold-blooded guy, who is stopped in Mexico by U. S. Immigration. He hopes to get into the country by marrying a girl, Emmy, and plans to ditch her later. But he instead falls in love with her. What happens when the girl knows the truth? There is one more character named Anita, a dame with no heart for anyone but Georges. They are both dirt, so they belong together, as she says. I liked that part when she makes it all clear to Emmy. That schoolteacher and schoolgirl dialogue was lit. So meaningful, yet disturbing. I think the film should have had a tragic ending, and that would have looked better. This happy ending kept it way far from the burning climax. The other reason I felt plausible was the way Georges' character is shown from the start. I mean, he's a womaniser and all that stuff, so I think he deserved some punishment at the end. Physical, spiritual, or mental, I don't care which one, but he deserved it. That's the tragic end I'm talking about. In the same way, we saw Scarlet lose Rhett in the climax of 'Gone With The Wind' (1939), because she deserved it. Rest assured, it's a beautiful film filled with the beautiful performance of beautiful Olivia De Havilland, the legend. Overall, not a classic (it could have been), but certainly another nice drama from Mitchell Leisen. And yes, it's puissant.
RATING - 7/10*
When melodramas used to have solid sentiments. Simply beautiful. I would have preferred a tragic end, though. Let me tell you a formula, and I think most of you have read or seen it somewhere in some film. A handsome man honey traps a girl and marries her only for his own benefit, while the girl truly loves him. Soon, he realises his mistake and finds himself deeply in love with her, but she's already known the truth by the time. I can't name all of the movies based on this formula, but I'm sure you can figure it out for yourself. Hold Back The Dawn is about Georges Iscovescu, a young, handsome, but cold-blooded guy, who is stopped in Mexico by U. S. Immigration. He hopes to get into the country by marrying a girl, Emmy, and plans to ditch her later. But he instead falls in love with her. What happens when the girl knows the truth? There is one more character named Anita, a dame with no heart for anyone but Georges. They are both dirt, so they belong together, as she says. I liked that part when she makes it all clear to Emmy. That schoolteacher and schoolgirl dialogue was lit. So meaningful, yet disturbing. I think the film should have had a tragic ending, and that would have looked better. This happy ending kept it way far from the burning climax. The other reason I felt plausible was the way Georges' character is shown from the start. I mean, he's a womaniser and all that stuff, so I think he deserved some punishment at the end. Physical, spiritual, or mental, I don't care which one, but he deserved it. That's the tragic end I'm talking about. In the same way, we saw Scarlet lose Rhett in the climax of 'Gone With The Wind' (1939), because she deserved it. Rest assured, it's a beautiful film filled with the beautiful performance of beautiful Olivia De Havilland, the legend. Overall, not a classic (it could have been), but certainly another nice drama from Mitchell Leisen. And yes, it's puissant.
RATING - 7/10*