MovieChat Forums > Hold Back the Dawn (1941) Discussion > Meaning of the Title?

Meaning of the Title?

posted 19 years ago by calvanij
10 replies | jump to latest

I missed the first part of the movie, which was shown last week, so I assume that the title was tied to the plot then. Can anyone explain? Thanks.

[–] ksequoia 19 years ago

I think it's a mataphor for holding back the light, happiness or the sunshine. The dawn typifies the end of a dark period or storm. It's my best guess. The title is not involved in the movie plot or mentioned in the film, as far as I remember.

[–] calvanij 19 years ago

Thanks, I think that is a really good possibility. Also thanks for confirming that there was no direct reference to the title during the whole movie.
I wonder if the book, from which this was taken, had a more pointed message RE 'hold back the dawn' than the movie, or that message that got lost in the movie's screenplay? I am going to try to get a copy of the book to find out.

[–] Doylenf 19 years ago

calvanij: In an early scene where Boyer wakens Olivia and then begins his proposal to her, he uses the phrase "no more than we can hold back the dawn" while making up some fancy lines and slips the wedding ring on her finger, the one he borrows from Anita (Paulette Goddard). So, if you're wondering where the phrase came from, it came from Boyer himself who uses it in that first love scene.

[–] 19 years ago

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[–] The_Dying_Flutchman 16 years ago

The original title of this was "The Golden Door". Why do you think it was changed?

Nothing is more beautiful than nothing.

[–] jojo-acapulco 16 years ago

"Hold Back the Dawn" is something Boyer says, meaning that we cannot avoid destiny. The Spanish title is "La Puerta de Oro", taken from the Emma Lazarus poem on the Statue of Liberty, "I hold my lamp beside the golden door."

[–] Kalamata 15 years ago

jojo - thanks for deciphering this. I had no idea that it came from Lazarus's poem.

[–] treeline1 8 years ago

The man whose wife is about to give birth quoted the poem. He wasn't sure if it ended with "golden door" or "shining door."

[–] marhefka 8 years ago

Most of the explanations are good. I can only add that she was telling him to not come near her. He explained that there was no need to be afraid, that they were like two trains meeting at the station. One is going in one direction while the other one is going in the opposite direction. And there's no way this can be changed - just like the dawn, you can't hold it back. This happened at about five a.m., just before the dawn would appear.

[–] rmax304823 8 years ago

The title is generic. They were probably listed ahead of time and slapped on any movie that needed a title. The practice is still going on but, at the time, there was "Another Dawn," "Guns of Darkness," "Raw Deal," etc. Unless they were adaptations of a popular best seller or a classic, then they retained their original titles, like "Gone With the Wind" or "Little Women."