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‘Hold Back the Dawn’ (1941) – ‘in motion’ MMB Film Group screening
Wednesday 17 November 2021 at 4:00 pm to 6:30 pm
Screening and discussion on a forgotten Hollywood classic about love at the border: Hold Back the Dawn (Mitchell Leisen, 1941).
Directed by underrated Hollywood director Mitchell Leisen, and co-written by Billy Wilder, Hold Back the Dawn (1941) is a melancholic romantic drama centring on Georges Iscovescu (Charles Boyer, Gaslight), a Romanian refugee stuck in a Mexican border town and facing an eight year wait for entry into the United States due to quota laws. Prodded by his former dance partner Anita (Pauline Goddard, Modern Times), Georges plots to marry an American woman in order to obtain a green card. Targeting school teacher Emmy Brown (Olivia de Havilland, Gone with the Wind), his scheme soon becomes undermined by a prying immigration officer and his own feelings for Emmy.
Eighty years on from the film’s release, we will discuss the film’s representation of border romance and reflect on its contemporary relevance to cross-border relationships. The discussion will be led by Naz Massoumi, Lecturer in Film and Television and co-ordinator of the MMB film group in motion.
Please note, social distancing is no longer required in the cinema but we encourage attendees to wear masks.
Film running time: 116 minutes.
To register, please visit the Eventbrite page.
