Another Dawn (1937)

Beautiful, moving film.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

I had the greatest trouble with two quotes from the film, the first one in my summary line above, and the other - "The hopes we have for tomorrow die today". I can't make any sense out of the first, and the second is one of the most pessimistic and depressing statements I've ever heard. The latter was actually stated twice in the story, the second time when Julia Ashton summarized her feelings on what would have been an ill fated affair with Captain Roark (Errol Flynn). Instead, the ill fate befalls Julia's husband John Wister (Ian Hunter) in a self imposed suicide mission into a desert region of the Sahara. For his part, Colonel Wister comes across as a model of nobility in stepping aside for his second officer, but it's a safe bet you won't run across somebody like him in real life any time soon.Back to that first quote - I'm still thinking about it, but nothing's coming to me. I'm sure it was a way of making a connection with the title of the movie, but it comes across as awkward at best. Maybe I heard it incorrectly, so any help would be appreciated.You know, I had a thought about this film I never considered before for a black and white move - I think I would have preferred to see it in color for it's exotic locations, military dress and Miss Francis' fashionable gowns by Orry-Kelly. That might have done a better job of distracting me from the troublesome dialog.

Fans of Flynn's swashbuckling sagas or western dust-ups may be disappointed to find him here in a rather talky, restrained melodrama in which he is off-screen for a startling amount of the run time. The story is really Francis'. She plays a forlorn American whose three-year love affair with a daring pilot was cut short when he died during a flight. She is wooed and uneasily won by British Colonel Hunter while he is on a trip away from his remote desert post. Upon arriving back there with his new bride (who has sworn she will never truly love again after suffering the loss of her previous mate), he is called upon to leave on a mission, leaving Francis to get to know his second-in-command Flynn. Not only is Flynn drop-dead handsome, but his laugh reminds Francis of her deceased love and soon the pair is flirting with the possibility of an affair. In order to salvage her marriage to Hunter, Francis recommends Flynn for the next dangerous assignment, but then frets over him the entire time. When a third mission comes about, the two men (who, by now, realize the position they are in with Francis) haggle about who will end up flying off into the sunset, and quite probably not returning. Francis (showing off some fancy Orry-Kelly gowns) is lovely and charming despite her sometimes dreary, drippy character. Flynn is beautiful and dapper, but gets little or no chance to show off the roguish, impish charm that made him a superstar. He and Francis do share one very romantic embrace in a garden and he also gets to engage in one rather minor action sequence, but it's a bit of a letdown to see him trudging through this story which is more a study of honor and self-sacrifice than a powerful love story. Hunter does a good job, but is understandably less captivating than Flynn. Inescort portrays Flynn's sister and doesn't have too awful much to do. Her oncoming MS can be noted in a telephone scene in which she holds her hand in an awkward position. It's an acceptable, well-appointed, but unspectacular film (that's also thankfully brief!) that's an okay time-killer, but not likely to be ranked very highly in the canon of its stars, especially Flynn's.

I watched this movie solely because Errol Flynn was in it. My all time favorite. However I was serendipitously introduced to Kay Francis, one of Hollywood's great female stars. She has since become one of my most adored actresses from a bygone era of great female actresses. Why movie land has not highlighted this movie and these two great film stars together is a mystery to me. Further, it would have been refreshing to see them together on other projects. This movie tugged at my heart as I watched it very late one night. My teenage children thought it was mushy. They were probably on target since they don't get a chance to see REAL acting like this, but rather a lot of sex scenes and nudity. To all E.F. or K.F. aficionado's, rent it, copy it, see it. You'll be glad you did.

Stodgy and over talky movie that falls between two stools--being neither satisfying as a romantic tale or an action movie.It largely unfolds in a British army outpost in Mesopotamia commanded by Ian Hunter who ,while holidaying in England ,falls in love with and marries a vivacious American widow,played by Kay Francis.On returning to the outpost a relationship develops between her and the second in command-a dashing Errol Flynn.This being the age of the stiff upper lip nobility and self sacrifice rule the day. There is one brisk desert fight between the British and the rebel Arabs but otherwise this is a picture that unfolds in drawing room chat and trembling lower lips are the order of the day.Flynn was always at his best in action rather than dialogue and while looking suitably dashing is simply dull, a state Francis is not good enough to attain being largely inert. The strong point of the movie,and the reason for my heading of this review is the striking score by Erich Wolfgang Korngold who used its themes in his majestic and still unduly neglected Violin Concerto When a score carries its main emotional weight then you have a movie which is sadly lacking in other departments Ignore the movie--track down the Concerto instead