It stars Charles Boyer, Olivia de Havilland, Paulette Goddard, Victor Francen, Walter Abel, Curt Bois, Rosemary DeCamp, and an uncredited Veronica Lake.

He has to endure a waiting period of up to eight years in order to obtain a quota number, living with other hopeful immigrants in the Esperanza Hotel.

He soon targets visiting school teacher Miss Emmy Brown who is in Mexico on a day trip with her class of about fifteen young boys.

This provides Georges the opportunity to quickly and intensively woo Emmy in the early morning hours; she awakens to him sitting nearby and gazing at her lovingly.

By claiming she is the exact image of the lost love of his life, his seemingly intense ardor toward a stranger is plausible, and they marry later that same day.

When they stop at the seaside, Emmy bathes in the cool green water and Georges is unable to resist making love to her.

Georges has unsurprisingly not heard from Emmy, and believes the worst, sitting dejectedly on a bench writing notes in the sand.

[4] Variety commented that "While Hold Back the Dawn is basically another European refugee yarn, scenarists Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder exercised some ingenuity and imagination and Ketti Frings' original emerges as fine celluloidia".

[5] Bosley Crowther of The New York Times wrote "You will enjoy it as a straight-away romance, crowded with most engaging characters and smoking with Mr. Boyer's charm".