Another Dawn

This early entry in the Mexican noir cycle is an overtly political thriller that takes place over the course of one night in the city. Octavio (Pedro Armendáriz) is a union organizer carrying document that incriminates a corrupt governor — but there are murderers on his tail. Hiding out in a movie theatre, he bumps into an old college flame (Andrea Palma), and returns to the apartment she shares with her husband, but the net is closing in…

No less an artist than Diego Rivera called cinematographer Gabriel Figueroa “Mexico’s greatest muralist”. A master of chiaroscuro, he worked with both John Ford and John Huston, and on many of Bunuel’s Mexican films. His work here is brooding and atmospheric, evoking the seedy underbelly of the city and a noirish atmosphere of disillusionment and despair. Meanwhile director Julio Bracho — who would go on to direct over 50 films — crafts several striking set pieces worthy of Alfred Hitchcock, including an attempted axe murder by a utilities inspector (!) and the aforementioned scene in the movie theatre. Bracho’s sister, Andrea Palma, is the female lead. (Dolores del Rio was a cousin.)

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One of the highest accomplishments of the Golden Age of Mexican cinema, Distinto amanacer (Another Dawn) revealed a filmmaker of emotional resonance, formal mastery, and social insight.

Dave Kehr, MOMA

An antifascist thriller comparable and in some ways superior to Casablanca [this is] a socially committed policier with intimations of French poetic realism. Tense and hyperbolic…

J Hoberman, Artforum