Movie
Decision Before Dawn
Overview
WWII is entering its last phase: Germany is in ruins, but does not yield. The US army lacks crucial knowledge about the German units operating on the opposite side of the Rhine, and decides to send two German prisoners to gather information. The scheme is risky: the Gestapo retains a terribly efficient network to identify and capture spies and deserters. Moreover, it is not clear that "Tiger", who does not mind any dirty work as long as the price is right, and war-weary "Happy", who might be easily betrayed by his feelings, are dependable agents. After Tiger and another American agent are successfully infiltrated, Happy is parachuted in Bavaria. His duty: find out the whereabouts of a powerful German armored unit moving towards the western front.
Details
- Release date
- 1951-12-21
- Runtime
- 119 min
- Genres
- War, Action, Thriller
- Status
- Released
- Production
- 20th Century Fox, Bavaria Film
- Country
- United States of America, Germany
- Original language
- EN
Cast
- Richard Basehart as Lt. Dick Rennick
- Gary Merrill as Col. Devlin
- Oskar Werner as Cpl. Karl Maurer - aka Happy
- Hildegard Knef as Hilde
- Dominique Blanchar as Monique
- O.E. Hasse as Col. Oberst von Ecker
- Wilfried Seyferth as Heinz Scholtz, SS-Mann
- Hans Christian Blech as Sgt. Rudolf Barth - aka Tiger
- Helene Thimig as Fräulein Schneide
- George Tyne as Sgt. Griffin
- Robert Freitag as Sgt. Paul Richter
- Harold Benedict as Lt. Pete Gevers
Crew
- Anatole Litvak - Director
- Peter Viertel - Screenplay
More like this
Wolf Hound
Inspired by the real-life German special operations unit KG 200 that shot down, repaired, and flew Allied aircraft as Trojan horses, "Wolf Hound" takes place in 1944 German-occupied France and follows the daring exploits of Jewish-American fighter pilot Captain David Holden. Ambushed behind enemy lines, Holden must rescue a captured B-17 Flying Fortress crew, evade a ruthless enemy stalking him at every turn, and foil a plot that could completely alter the outcome of World War II.
Kandahar
After his mission is exposed, an undercover CIA operative stuck deep in hostile territory in Afghanistan must fight his way out, alongside his Afghan translator, to an extraction point in Kandahar, all whilst avoiding elite enemy forces and foreign spies tasked with hunting them down.
Shining Through
Spirited New Yorker Linda Voss goes to work for international lawyer and secret Office of Strategic Services operative Ed Leland just before World War II. As they fall in love, the United States enters the fight against Hitler, and Linda volunteers to work for Ed spying undercover behind Nazi lines. Assigned to uncover information about a German bomb, Linda also has personal motives to fulfill: discovering the fate of her Jewish family members in Berlin.
Triple Cross
Safecracker Eddie Chapman is languishing in prison on the island of Jersey when the Nazis arrive. An adept manipulator of situations, Chapman convinces the Germans to use him to spy on the British. And when the would-be traitor arrives home, he convinces the English to use him as a double agent -- in exchange for a full pardon.
Sniper: No Nation
Brandon Beckett and Agent Zero lead a rescue mission in Costa Verde when their friends are taken hostage.
The Dirty Dozen
12 American military prisoners in World War II are ordered to infiltrate a well-guarded enemy château and kill the Nazi officers vacationing there. The soldiers, most of whom are facing death sentences for a variety of violent crimes, agree to the mission and the possible commuting of their sentences.
The Passage
During WW 2, a Basque shepherd is approached by the underground, who wants him to lead a scientist and his family across the Pyrenees. While being pursued by a sadistic German.
The Great Raid
As World War II rages, the elite Sixth Ranger Battalion is given a mission of heroic proportions: push 30 miles behind enemy lines and liberate over 500 American prisoners of war.
We Go In at Dawn
When a high-ranking war planner is captured and held in a German prisoner of war camp, a team of specialists take on the dangerous mission of trying to break him out. Trouble is, he doesn't want to be rescued.
The Good German
An American journalist arrives in Berlin just after the end of World War Two. He becomes involved in a murder mystery surrounding a dead GI who washes up at a lakeside mansion during the Potsdam negotiations between the Allied powers. Soon his investigation connects with his search for his married pre-war German lover.