Film
Decision Before Dawn
United States · Germany- Age rating
- 15
- Director
- Anatole Litvak
- Year
- 1951
A woman's kiss . . . A lighted cigarette - Each had Its meaning! An exciting and realistic story of war . . . of German Prisoners Sent Back Behind Their Own Lines as Agents of the Allies!
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.
Top cast
Richard Basehart
Lt. Dick Rennick
Gary Merrill
Col. Devlin
Oskar Werner
Cpl. Karl Maurer - aka Happy
Hildegard Knef
Hilde
Dominique Blanchar
Monique
O.E. Hasse
Col. Oberst von Ecker
Wilfried Seyferth
Heinz Scholtz, SS-Mann
Hans Christian Blech
Sgt. Rudolf Barth - aka Tiger
Helene Thimig
Fräulein Schneide
George Tyne
Sgt. Griffin
Robert Freitag
Sgt. Paul Richter
Harold Benedict
Lt. Pete Gevers
Arno Assmann
Ernst Brandenbacher (uncredited)
Heinrich Berg
(uncredited)
Bert Brandt
German NCO (uncredited)
Jochen Diestelmann
(uncredited)
Ulrich Folkmar
Prisoner (uncredited)
Otto Friebel
Clerk (uncredited)
Directed by
Anatole Litvak
Written by
Peter Viertel
Produced by
Anatole Litvak, Frank McCarthy
