Decision Before Dawn (1951)

100% of critics liked it
(5 reviews)
61% of users liked it
(263 ratings)

With the Third Reich disintegrating, several members of the German army are defecting to the Americans and offering their services as spies. US officer Gary Merrill trusts none of these last-minute "converts", but German prisoner Oskar Werner seems to be sincere. Werner insists that by helping the… More With the Third Reich disintegrating, several members of the German army are defecting to the Americans and offering their services as spies. US officer Gary Merrill trusts none of these last-minute "converts", but German prisoner Oskar Werner seems to be sincere. Werner insists that by helping the Americans, he is saving Germany from destruction. Merrill sends Werner behind enemy lines for counter-espionage with an American officer (Richard Basehart), who still isn't convinced that the German expatriate means what he says. At several critical junctures, it seems as though Werner had been lying about his mission, but at the last moment he saves Basehart's life at the cost of his own...but was this act of bravery intentional? A thoughtful World War II drama, Decision Before Dawn was filmed on location in Europe. Watch for a young and sickly-looking Klaus Kinski as an overeager defector. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 59 min.
Directed By: Anatole Litvak
Genres: Drama, Action & Adventure, Mystery & Suspense, Classics

In Theaters: Dec 21, 1951 Wide
On DVD: May 23, 2006

Critic Reviews

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader
Werner, who served in the Axis forces during the war, gives a magnetic performance.
, TV Guide's Movie Guide
An outstanding production in all aspects.
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
It's most noted for being more sympathetic to peace loving German soldiers than are most American war films.
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com
Litvak's intriguing account of U.S. Intelligence operation during the last year of WWII was nominated for the Best Picture Oscar, boasting a good performance from the young Oskar Werner as a sensitive and naive German soldier-traitor.
Michael W. Phillips, Jr., Goatdog's Movies
The film manages to be suitably hard on the Nazi regime while providing one of the first sympathetic treatments of the German people.

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

Randy T

WWII drama about a group of German P.O.W.'s who were persuaded to spy for the allied war effort. Part docu-drama, part Hollywood propaganda. Entertaining but less than substantial.
MJS M

A World War 2 spy movie that was nominated for Best Picture and forgotten immediately thereafter, and for mostly good reasons. In the name of full disclosure I'll admit that I was mostly distracted by other things when I was watching this. Similar to Rio Grande, I found that this… More
A World War 2 spy movie that was nominated for Best Picture and forgotten immediately thereafter, and for mostly good reasons. In the name of full disclosure I'll admit that I was mostly distracted by other things when I was watching this. Similar to Rio Grande, I found that this had a very long build up and by the time they got to their actual mission I had sort of lost interest and started screwing around on my laptop while watching it.

Cast

            Richard Basehart as Lt. Rennick

            Gary Merrill as Col. Devlin

            Oskar Werner as Happy

            Hildegarde Neff as Hilde

            O.E. Hasse as Oberst Von Ecker

            Dominique Blanchar as Monique

            Hans Christian Blech as Tiger

            Wilfried Seyferth as S.S. Man Scholtz

            Helene Thimig as Fraulein Schneider

            George Tyne as Sgt. Griffin

            Eva Marie Andres as Flak Girl

            Arno Assmann as Ernst

            Harold Benedict as Lieutenant Gevers

            Ruth Brandt as Woman Driver

            Erich Ebert as Freddy

            Loni Heuser as Fritzi

            Walter Janssen as Fiedl

            Klaus Kinski as Whining Soldier

            Liselotte Kirschbaum as Flak Girl

            Walter Ladengast as Deserter

            Adolph Lodel as Kurt

            Karl Malden
            
            Arnulf Schroeder as Old PW

            Harald Wolff as Hartmann

            Jochen Diestelmann
            
            Peter Lühr as V. Schirmeck

            Otto Friebel as Clerk

            Werner Fuetterer as von Bulow

            Erik Jelde
            
            Robert Freitag as Paul

            Helen Thimig
            
            Hildegard Knef
            
See full cast

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Decision Before Dawn (1951)

Critic Reviews

Featured Audience Ratings

Randy T

MJS M

Cast

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