An exquisite Mitchell Leisen melodrama with a first-rate script by Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett, Hold Back the Dawn treats the sensitive real-life subject of European refugees waiting in Mexico for their immigration visas to the U.S. during the early years of World War II. Many were stranded for years, unable to settle and unable to leave. The predicament brings out the extreme in characters like Charles Boyer's suave gigolo, who sets his sights on a naive American schoolteacher, Olivia de Havilland, as his ticket to the promised land of wealthier women. Convincing her that he is in love with her is the easiest part of the marriage arrangements. Complications come from his old partner-in-crime, the very sexy, very droll Paulette Goddard, as well as from the one source the experienced Lothario least expects. An effective “border town” atmosphere adds tension to the proceedings, and provides an ironic metaphorical setting for the ambivalent lovers that is taken up by Leo Tover's expressive cinematography.