Dawn (1928 film)
| Dawn | |
|---|---|
 Movie poster | |
| Directed by | Herbert Wilcox |
| Written by | Reginald Berkeley (play) Robert Cullen Herbert Wilcox |
| Produced by | Herbert Wilcox |
| Starring | Sybil Thorndike Ada Bodart Gordon Craig Marie Ault |
| Cinematography | Bernard Knowles |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Woolf & Freedman Film Service |
Release date | 1 March 1928 |
Running time | 90 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
Dawn is a 1928 British silent war film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Sybil Thorndike, Gordon Craig and Marie Ault. It was produced by Wilcox for his British & Dominions Film Corporation. The film was made at Cricklewood Studios with sets designed by Clifford Pember.
Based on a play by Reginald Berkeley, this film tells the story of World War I martyr Edith Cavell. Sybil Thorndike stars as Cavell, a nurse who risked her own life by rescuing British Prisoners of War from the Germans. When Cavell was captured and sentenced to be executed, it sparked international outrage, even from neutral nations.
One of the most controversial British films of the 1920s, Dawn was censored because of what objectors considered its brutal depiction of warfare and anti-German sentiments. Pressure was exerted by both the German Ambassador and the British Foreign Secretary Austen Chamberlain to prevent the film being passed for exhibition.[1]
Wilcox returned to the subject in 1939 with Nurse Edith Cavell starring Anna Neagle.
Cast
- Sybil Thorndike – Nurse Edith Cavell
- Ada Bodart – Herself
- Gordon Craig – Philippe Bodart
- Marie Ault – Mme. Rappard
- Mickey Brantford – Jacques Rappard
- Mary Brough – Mme. Pitou
- Richard Worth – Jean Pitou – Bargekeeper
- Colin Bell – Widow Deveaux
- Dacia Deane – Mme. Deveaux's Daughter
- Cecil Barry – Col. Schultz
- Frank Perfitt – Gen. von Zauberzweig
- Haddon Mason – German A.P.M.
- Maurice Braddell – British Airman
- Edward O'Neill – Lutheran Priest
- Griffith Humphreys – President of the Court Martial
- Edward Sorley – German Soldier
References
- ^ Low p.66-68
External links
Bibliography
- Low, Rachael. History of the British Film, 1918-1929. George Allen & Unwin, 1971.
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- 1928 films
- 1920s drama films
- British films
- British war drama films
- British silent films
- British black-and-white films
- Films directed by Herbert Wilcox
- World War I films based on actual events
- Films set in the 1910s
- Films set in Belgium
- Cricklewood Studios films
- Films about capital punishment
- 1920s British film stubs
- War drama film stubs