Hold Back the Dawn
Hold Back the Dawn

Watch Hold Back the Dawn Online Free

- 73/100 based on 2,690 votes

Romanian gigolo Georges Iscovescu is trying to get into the United States to become a citizen, it the land of opportunity even in his line of work. Because of the visa requirement, he instead travels to Tijuana, Mexico to cross into the States via the land border, not realizing that this situation has its own obstacles, namely the quota system per country, and Romanians have up to an eight year wait. In joining the queue in Tijuana, he ends up at the Hotel Esperanza, which ho... (Full plot summary below)

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Actors in Hold Back the Dawn:

Charles Boyer
Olivia de Havilland
Paulette Goddard
Victor Francen
Walter Abel
Curt Bois

Full Plot Details

Romanian gigolo Georges Iscovescu is trying to get into the United States to become a citizen, it the land of opportunity even in his line of work. Because of the visa requirement, he instead travels to Tijuana, Mexico to cross into the States via the land border, not realizing that this situation has its own obstacles, namely the quota system per country, and Romanians have up to an eight year wait. In joining the queue in Tijuana, he ends up at the Hotel Esperanza, which houses many of those in his similar situation, some of those others who have their own story in trying to become American citizens. In running into an old colleague he met in Europe, the former Polish-Australian Anita Dixon now divorced US citizen Mrs. Shaughnessy - she a female version of him - he decides to do what she did to become a US citizen: get married to an American, Mr. Shaughnessy whom she quickly divorced after getting her citizenship. After a few missteps in finding an American to marry, Georges sets his sights on schoolteacher Emmy Brown, a woman naive in the affairs of the heart, she in Mexico with her class on a field trip. What happens between Georges and Emmy is affected by: the presence of Mr. Hammock, a US immigration inspector who is trying to clamp down on marriages of convenience, which are illegal in terms of gaining US citizenship; the presence of Mrs. Shaughnessy, who will do whatever is required to ply her trade with him, the two of them together whom she sees as the perfect match in being the same; and Georges' own ideas of what best to with Emmy.

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Movie Reviews

Variety - 10/10 by Variety StaffWhile Hold Back the Dawn is basically another European refugee yarn, scenarists Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder exercised some ingenuity and imagination and Ketty Frings' original emerges as fine celluloidia.
New York Times - 8/10 by Bosley CrowtherAn amazingly poignant picture, rich in humor, heart and subtle ironies.
The Observer (UK) - 8/10 by Philip FrenchMitchell Leisen's polished direction serves this 1941 melodrama written by Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett.
IndieWire - 8/10 by Christian Blauvelt[Wilder] delivered one of the finest critiques of a pre-war, isolationist U.S. committed to “America First.”
EmanuelLevy.Com - 6/10 by Emanuel LevyBilly Wilder co-wrote but didn't direct this Oscar-nominated border drama, starring Charles Boyer and Olivia de Havilland.
User Review - 10/10 by Valerie GFantastic! I think this is one of Boyer's best!
User Review - 10/10 by Private UCharles Boyer plays this gigolo ancious to get to the United States and is marooned in a Mexican border town. He tries to meet other women to charm them, and here comes Olivia de Havilland, a teacher from a California town taking a bunch of school children to Mexico, and still somehow gets hooked up with Boyer, alas helping him to get into the US at last, but along the way, things kind of get a bit complicated, and de Havilland believes this marriage is on the level. Paulette Goddard plays another immigrant who plays the same scam and tries to get into partnership with him; real nice sad and sappy melodrama.
User Review - 10/10 by Nandi CCharles Boyer plays this gigolo ancious to get to the United States and is marooned in a Mexican border town. He tries to meet other women to charm them, and here comes Olivia de Havilland, a teacher from a California town taking a bunch of school children to Mexico, and still somehow gets hooked up with Boyer, alas helping him to get into the US at last, but along the way, things kind of get a bit complicated, and de Havilland believes this marriage is on the level. Paulette Goddard plays another immigrant who plays the same scam and tries to get into partnership with him; real nice sad and sappy melodrama.
User Review - 10/10 by Stina GBeautiful story with unforgettable actors
User Review - 8/10 by Stella Da superior melodrama way under the radar. charles boyer is highly effective as a gigolo hoping to enter the u.s. by marrying a citizen. enter innocent schoolteacher olivia de havilland. paulette godard is fun as boyer's partner in crime, but their cynical plans soon go awry. most of the film takes place in mexico with lots of local color

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