Decision Before Dawn

Decision Before Dawn (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.

Date of release
1951-12-21
TMDB
6.8 / 10 (50)
Runtime
1h 59m
Genres
War, Action, Thriller
Director
Anatole Litvak

Casting

  • 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

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