Egyptian film classics engaged with modernity in often contradictory – or at best vague – ways, projecting a new social ethos of modern gender equality while, in their resolutions, favoring male subjects as active nation builders. Thus, the worlds that they created charted divergent paths that, despite attempts to include women as equal partners, ultimately sent them back to the home via a detour. This paper looks at two Egyptian classics released eleven years apart: Ana hurra (I am Free, 1959) and Ghurub wa shuruq (Sunset, Sunrise, 1970). I argue that these two movies utilize the bildungsroman, or coming of age, narrative to outline a gendered matrix for nation-building. Under this pattern irresponsible, deviant males are rehabilitated and re-integrated in the nation, while women, whether deviant or not, are either disposed of or integrated through domesticity. Ana hurra is a forward-looking picture depicting the journey of growth of a defiant young woman, whose rebelliousness reflects the Nasser era state feminism. Insisting on freedom, autonomy as a full-fledged individual, and participation in the nation as an active subject Amina, the protagonist, undergoes a journey of exploration. With her father’s support, she breaks many barriers as she turns down marriage, goes to college, graduates, and works in a petrol company. Her search for freedom continues as she reconnects with ‘Abbas, a former male neighbor, who serves as her guide. Amina joins a political group fighting for Egypt’s independence, an affiliation which lands them both in prison where she finally recognizes that her true freedom lies in the domestic sphere. The last scenes see her getting married to ‘Abbas exactly three days before the revolution, implying that Amina will now recede to the background and contribute to the fight through rearing the nation’s children. Ghurub wa shuruq revisits the pre-revolution era in order to celebrate its contemporary moment. The film follows the growth and rehabilitation of two playboys who, after losing their friend, perform important political services to the nation and eventually mature into responsible men. Both films depict the redemptive powers of the nation. However, this redemptive path is only available to men whose past life is forgiven once they channel their efforts towards nation building. Women figure either as temporary aids for whom the political struggle is only a detour, or as threats to the wellbeing of the nation such as Madiha the idle rich woman in the second film.