Blu-ray Release: Hold Back the Dawn

Blu-ray Release Date: July 16, 2019
Price: Blu-ray $22.97
Studio: Arrow/MVD

From underrated Hollywood golden era director Mitchell Leisen (Remember the Night) comes the 1941 romantic drama Hold Back the Dawn.

Charles Boyer (The Earrings of Madame de…) stars as Georges Iscovescu, a Romanian-born gigolo who arrives at a Mexican border town seeking entry to the US. Faced with a waiting period of eight years, George is encouraged by his former dancing partner Anita (Pauline Goddard, Modern Times) to marry an American girl and desert her once safely across the border. He successfully targets visiting school teacher Emmy Brown (Olivia de Havilland, Gone with the Wind), but his plan is compromised by a pursuing immigration officer, and blossoming feelings of genuine love for Emmy.

A genuinely moving and thoughtful film featuring a script co-written by Billy Wilder, Hold Back the Dawn benefits from evocative performances by Boyer and de Havilland, and an over-arching sense of romantic melancholy. An enduring classic of its era, Leisen’s film was nominated for six Academy Awards and is presented here in High Definition for the first time.

Here’s what’s included in Arrow’s new package:

• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation transferred from original film elements
• Uncompressed Mono 1.0 PCM audio soundtrack • Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• New audio commentary by film scholar Adrian Martin • Love Knows No Borders, a newly filmed video appreciation by film critic Geoff Andrew
• The Guardian Lecture: Olivia de Havilland, A career-spanning onstage audio interview with Olivia de Havilland recorded at the National Film Theatre in 1971
• Rare hour-long radio adaptation of Hold Back the Dawn from 1941 starring Charles Boyer, Paulette Goddard and Susan Haywood
• Gallery of original stills and promotional images
• Original trailer
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Jennifer Dionisio
• FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by writer and critic Farran Smith Nehme