Hold Back the Dawn (1941) DVD-R

Starring Charles Boyer, Olivia de Havilland, Paulette Goddard, Victor Francen, Walter Abel,
Rosemary DeCamp
Directed by Mitchell Leisen

Print: black/white
Runtime:115 min.
Genre: drama

Hold Back the Dawn begins with a shabby immigrant (Charles Boyer) wandering onto a
Paramount sound stage and telling his life story to director Mitchell Leisen (who actually
directed this film). In flashback, we see that Boyer was once a conscienceless gigolo,
desperate to flee Nazi-occupied Europe. He makes it to Mexico, where he pretends to fall in
love with shy schoolteacher Olivia de Havilland. It is his plan to marry her, thus be able to
enter the United States; then he intends to dump her and pursue the woman he really loves.
Boyer's regeneration, and the price he pays for his previous callousness, brings Hold Back
the Dawn to its tearful conclusion.