This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

The greatest movie ever made..!

It is a performances centric movie

One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

The acting in this film noir is mostly wooden - Ann Todd apart. The best parts were probably left on the cutting room floor,courtesy of the censor. What's left is just the husk of a compelling story from Monckton Hoffe. The fight scene was atrocious and unconvincing, but the film is saved from itself because of the eeriness of the rain-soaked scenes, presumably shot at Hammersmith near the Riverside Studios. Shots of the Palais De Danse and the Rialto seem to give credence to this assertion. Bill Owen is his usual matter-of-fact self, and ends this sad story. The sound quality has suffered over the years - the opening music especially. All the criticism apart, the life on-board a barge and views of Gravesend riverfront before demolition to make way for soulless housing development are good reasons to buy the DVD (if you can find one)- and keep a strong drink handy for the ending. You have been warned.

This film is compelling for about the first third. British films could do naturalism so effortlessly then. I love the interiors - shabby rooms that still have (50-year-old) Victorian wallpaper, or fireplaces badly converted to ineffective gas fires. And the barber's shop with clients popping in and out and exchanging banter (the street it's in, though, is obviously a set with an omnipresent barrel-organ and someone always cycling carefully by). But then Ann and Eric go and live an idyllic, free, gypsy-like outdoor life on a Thames barge... There are some lovely shots of the riverbank with warehouses and cranes (now dull yuppie flats). The "living on a boat" fantasy was common in the late 40s/50s. Ann Todd as a happy wife seems to regress to childhood, skipping about wearing dungarees and flat shoes and being abominably cute. And the plot starts to roll... I rather like Maxwell Reed as a rule, even though he is wooden and 10 feet tall. But really, his Danish accent!

If you prefer films that are upbeat, positive and have a feel good air, then best to avoid this at all costs. However, for anyone who looks for a good storyline, with excellent casting and production values, then "Daybreak" is a rare gem. The story is both simple, and yet convoluted, but does break away from a lot of run of the mill stuff from that era of the late-40's. The only glaring problem, which detracts from making this film something of a minor classic, is the fact that it is obviously quite heavily censored. This simply results in some scenes becoming disjointed, and the flow of the film disrupted. However, this does not serve to spoil the film, but is a definite irritant. The ensemble playing by the cast is uniformly excellent. Eric Portman was always well worth watching, and Ann Todd probably produces her finest performance on screen. Edward Rigby and Bill Owen provide fine support, and that master of suppressed menace, Maxwell Reed, gives a typically dark and brooding performance, despite the dodgy Scandinavian accent! The film is not always easy to find, but is a rewarding experience for those that do find it. Just don't expect a joyous outcome!

Daybreak is totally fascinating - the kind of movie you can stare at, open mouthed, for the full hour and a half. Ann Todd as always is wonderful, but this has to be one of her best performances by far. Apparently a lot of the movie was cut by the censors upon its release leaving gaps in the story, and you do get this sense at least with Todd's character - there's a slight hint that she may have been a prostitute but this isn't followed through and is just forgotten.Without spoiling the ending - and don't read the plot summary before you see the film! - this is one of the most heartbreaking shows of misunderstanding ever. Todd lives with husband Eric Portman on a barge and his business sends him away for long periods of time, leaving her along with the very seedy Norwegian "Olaf", and leaving it up to the audience to guess what he does to her. One night she begs her husband to stay, or take her with him, but he can't, and yet she won't tell him why. He comes home and finds Olaf present, but unfortunately gets the wrong idea about why he is there.It's a shame so much was cut from this fine film, but what is left is sufficient to garner it a 10/10. The scene especially where Todd and Portman meet is an utter delight!