Decision Before Dawn
Decision Before Dawn is a 1951 American war film directed by Anatole Litvak, starring Richard Basehart, Oskar Werner, and Hans Christian Blech. It tells the story of the U.S. Army using potentially unreliable German prisoners of war to gather intelligence as clandestine "line-crossers" in the closing days of World War II. The film was adapted by Peter Viertel and Jack Rollens (uncredited) from the novel Call It Treason by George Howe.
Plot
By late 1944, as the Allies march toward the Rhine, it is obvious Germany will lose the war. American Colonel Devlin (Gary Merrill) leads a military intelligence unit that enlists German POWs to cross back over and spy on their former comrades. "Tiger" (Hans Christian Blech), a cynical mercenary, is one such recruit. There is also "Happy" (Oskar Werner), a young idealist who envisions an optimistic post-war Germany. Monique (Dominique Blanchar), a former resistance operative, trains Happy and others in espionage techniques. Later, Devlin learns a Wehrmacht general wants to negotiate surrender of his entire command. Thus, a mission is organized. Devlin selects Lieutenant Rennick (Richard Basehart) to lead. He is a man who hates turncoats on both sides of the war. Tiger is chosen; he knows the area well. Happy is given a related task of locating the 11th Panzer Corps, which might oppose the mass surrender. All three parachute into Germany, then split up.
Awards
Cast
More details
| author | Carl Zuckmayer Peter Viertel |
|---|---|
| award | National Board of Review: Top Ten Films |
| contentLocation | Germany |
| director | Anatole Litvak |
| editor | Dorothy Spencer |
| events | World War II |
| genre | western |
| keywords | allied advance from paris to the rhine french resistance german officer gestapo hide out injured knock out mannheim military intelligence military intelligence corps o.e. hasse pow prisoner of war resistance rhine rhine river safe house their way toward the rhine waffen-ss war widow wehrmacht |
| musicBy | Franz Waxman |
| nomination | Academy Award for Best Film Editing Academy Award for Best Picture |
| producer | Anatole Litvak Frank McCarthy |
| publisher | 20th Century Fox |
| recordedAt | Nuremberg |
| theme | spy war |