Promise at Dawn (1970)

Drama

Nina (Melina Mercouri) is a former silent-film star from Russia who abandons her career to care for her son. She is a single mother -- the boy's father is a famous actor who wants nothing to do with either Nina or her child. She joins an acting troupe where she impersonates a famous French fashion designer, but she leaves the group in Krakow, Poland, when her true identity is discovered. She travels to France, taking several odd jobs in Nice to support her son. When the boy grows to young adulthood, he is recruited to fight during World War II for the French and later the British. He is decorated for valor and returns to locate his estranged mother after two years have passed. Upon arriving home, he finds that his mother had died several years earlier but that she meticulously wrote over 250 letters to give her son moral support and encouragement in the years to come.

Updated May 31 2020

Releases:

US -

1971-01-21

MoreLess Releases

Keywords:

based on novel or book

FACTS

Runtime: 102 mins Rating: 4.4

Cast

Jules Dassin

dire

Didier Haudepin

Romain Kacew age 15

Melina Mercouri

Nina Kacewa

Fernand Gravey

Jean-Michel Serusier

Jean Martin

Igor Igorevitch

Assi Dayan

Romain Kacew age 25

Despo Diamantidou

Aniela (as Despo)

Crew

Georges Delerue

Original Music Composer

Alexandre Trauner

Production Design

Samuel A. Taylor

Theatre Play

Theoni V. Aldredge

Costume Design