{{Short description|1951 film by Anatole Litvak}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2026}} {{Use American English|date=January 2025}} {{Infobox film | name = Decision Before Dawn | image = Original movie poster for the film Decision Before Dawn.jpg | caption = Theatrical release poster | director = [[Anatole Litvak]] | producer = {{ubl|Anatole Litvak|[[Frank McCarthy (producer)|Frank McCarthy]]}} | based_on = {{based on|''[[Call It Treason]]''<br>1949 novel|[[George Howe (novelist)|George Howe]]}} | screenplay = [[Peter Viertel]] | narrator = Richard Basehart | starring = {{ubl|[[Richard Basehart]]|[[Gary Merrill]]|[[Oskar Werner]]|[[Hildegard Knef]]}} | music = [[Franz Waxman]] | cinematography = [[Franz Planer]] | editing = [[Dorothy Spencer]] | distributor = [[20th Century-Fox]] | released = {{Film date|1951|8|30|London|1951|11|1|U.S.|1951|12|21|New York/Los Angeles|ref1=<ref name="london"/>|ref2=<ref name="premiere"/>|ref3=<ref name="latreview"/>|}} | runtime = 119 minutes | country = United States | language = English | gross = $1.55 million (US rentals)<ref>"Top Box-Office Hits of 1952", ''Variety'', January 7, 1953</ref> }} '''''Decision Before Dawn''''' is a 1951 American [[war film]] directed by [[Anatole Litvak]] and starring [[Richard Basehart]], [[Oskar Werner]] and [[Hans Christian Blech]]. It tells the story of the [[United States Army|U.S. Army]] using potentially unreliable German [[Prisoner of war|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 L. Howe]]. ''Decision Before Dawn'' was a critical success and was nominated for the [[Academy Award for Best Picture]].
==Plot== By late 1944, as the Allies march [[Allied advance from Paris to the Rhine|toward the Rhine]], it is obvious that Germany will lose the war. American Colonel Devlin leads a [[Military Intelligence Corps (United States Army)|military intelligence]] unit that enlists German [[Prisoner of war|POWs]] to cross into German territory and spy on their former comrades. The recruits includes "Tiger", a cynical mercenary, and "Happy", a young, idealistic medical student. Monique, a former [[French Resistance|resistance]] operative, trains Happy and others in espionage techniques.
Devlin learns that a [[Wehrmacht]] general wants to negotiate the surrender of his entire command, and a mission is organized. Devlin selects Lieutenant Rennick to lead it, but Rennick hates turncoats on both sides of the war. Tiger is chosen for the mission. as he knows the area well. Happy is given the task of locating the 11th [[Panzer corps]], which might oppose the mass surrender. The three men parachute into Germany and then separate.
During his search for the 11th Panzer unit, Happy encounters Germans with differing attitudes about the war. On buses and trains, in guest houses and taverns, he meets those who are still defiant, such as [[Waffen-SS|SS]] courier Scholtz and those who are now resigned to defeat, such as Hilde, a war widow turned prostitute. Eventually, Happy locates the 11th Panzer corps, posing as a medic. He is selected to treat its commander, Oberst von Ecker, at his castle headquarters. Happy narrowly escapes capture by the [[Gestapo]]. He finds a [[safe house]] in the ruins of heavily bombed [[Mannheim]], where Rennick and Tiger hide as well. They have learned that the German commander whom they were to contact has been injured and hospitalized under SS guard. Without him, the other German officers cannot and will not surrender to the Allies.
Happy, Tiger and Rennick reach the banks of the [[Rhine River|Rhine]], where they plan to swim across to American lines. At the last moment, Tiger loses his nerve and flees, forcing Rennick to kill him to preserve the mission. As Rennick and Happy are about to swim for the opposite shore, they are spotted. Facing torture and execution, Happy draws the Germans' attention away from Rennick by surrendering. His sacrifice enables the lieutenant to reach safety. Rennick survives, with his previous ideas about treason now challenged.
==Cast== * [[Oskar Werner]] as [[Obergefreiter|Corporal]] Karl Maurer ("Happy") * [[Richard Basehart]] as Lieutenant Dick Rennick * [[Hans Christian Blech]] as [[Feldwebel|Sergeant]] Rudolf Barth ("Tiger") * [[Gary Merrill]] as Colonel Devlin * [[Hildegard Knef]] as Hilde * [[Wilfried Seyferth]] as Heinz Scholtz * [[Dominique Blanchar]] as Monique * [[O.E. Hasse]] as Oberst (Colonel) von Ecker * [[Helene Thimig]] as Paula Schneider
==Production== The film was adapted from the novel ''[[Call It Treason]]'', which was based on the wartime experiences of author [[George L. Howe]], who served with the [[Office of Strategic Services]] unit attached to the [[Seventh United States Army|Seventh Army]] during World War II.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Driscoll Jr. |first1=Edgar J. |title=George L. Howe, 79, Was Architect, Author, OSS Officer in World War II |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-boston-globe-george-howe-obituary/142363944/ |access-date=29 February 2024 |work=The Boston Globe |date=21 June 1977 |pages=36|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>
The citizens of [[Würzburg]], [[Nuremberg]] and [[Mannheim]], where some of the picture's battle scenes were shot, were forewarned of the filming by newspaper and radio announcements. Some were under the control by the American military, as Germany was still under [[Allied-occupied Germany|military occupation]] at the time when the film was shot.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/72701/decision-before-dawn#articles-reviews |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120129032401/http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/72701/Decision-Before-Dawn/#articles-reviews |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 29, 2012 |title=Decision Before Dawn (1951) - Articles |publisher=Turner Classic Movies |access-date=2018-01-21}}</ref>
== Release == ''Decision Before Dawn'' premiered at the [[Odeon Marble Arch]] in [[London]] on August 30, 1951.<ref name="london">{{Cite news |last=Tynan |first=Kenneth |date=1951-08-30 |title=Mr. Litvak claims to explain the traitors |work=[[The Evening Standard]] |location=[[London, England]] |page=9}}</ref> It opened in select American markets on November 1, 1951.<ref name="premiere">{{Cite news |date=1951-11-01 |title=Crumbling Reich Theme of Film |work=[[The Patriot-News|The Evening News]] |location=[[Harrisburg, Pennsylvania]] |page=20}}</ref>
A press preview of the film was held at the [[Ritz Theatre (Los Angeles, California)|Fox Ritz Theatre]] in Los Angeles on December 19, 1951, with many Hollywood stars in attendance. The film began its general release in the area two days later.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1951-12-19 |title=Preview Set for Tonight |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |pages=8, Part III}}</ref>
==Reception== In a contemporary review for ''[[The New York Times]]'', critic [[Bosley Crowther]] called the film "as stirring a drama as any you'll want to see, as well as a fair approximation of a nation's moral collapse" and wrote:<blockquote>Within the inflexible framework of a straight undercover spy film, which in this case goes by the title of "Decision Before Dawn," Twentieth Century-Fox and Anatole Litvak have packed not only lots of thrills but a clear and cold look at Western Germany in the last year of World War II. They have also worked into this thriller ... a persuasive amount of compassion for . a German soldier who turns traitor on his own. ... True, there's nothing morally elaborate or conclusive about "Decision Before Dawn." But it packs some impulsive excitement and it plants a seed of understanding in the mind."<ref name="nytreview">{{cite news |last=Crowther |first=Bosley |date=1951-12-22 |title=The Screen: Spy Drama Has Debut |work=[[The New York Times]] |page=12}}</ref></blockquote>Critic [[Philip K. Scheuer]] of the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' wrote:<blockquote>Although it is unconscionably long—two hours—the picture, once it begins to make any kind of sustained narrative sense, tightens its hold steadily on the spectator and adds up at last to tiptop melodrama. The most impressive thing about it is the way Litvak seems to have got what he wanted in divided Germany. He has practically restaged the mass bombings and relighted the ruins. It is as a possible social document that "Decision Before Dawn" falls down. "Why does a spy risk his life—for what possible reason?" the narrator asks portentously at the beginning. He never answers it; Litvak and his actors don't either, except superficially.<ref name="latreview">{{Cite news |last=Scheuer |first=Philip K. |date=1951-12-22 |title=Espionage Movie Fine Melodrama |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |page=6}}</ref></blockquote>Upon viewing the film, [[General Douglas MacArthur]] said: "This is the finest picture I have seen this year, and I nominate it for an Academy Award."<ref name="LAT">''Los Angeles Times'', January 12, 1952, p. 12</ref>
At the [[24th Academy Awards]], ''Decision Before Dawn'' was nominated for the [[Academy Award for Best Picture|Best Picture Oscar]], with [[Dorothy Spencer]] nominated for [[Academy Award for Best Film Editing|Best Film Editing]].
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{IMDb title|id=0043459}} * {{TCMDb title|id=72701}} * {{AFI film|id=50075|title=Decision Before Dawn}} * {{rotten-tomatoes|decision_before_dawn/reviews|Decision Before Dawn}}
{{Anatole Litvak}}
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[[Category:1951 films]] [[Category:1951 war films]] [[Category:American spy films]] [[Category:American war films]] [[Category:American black-and-white films]] [[Category:Films about the German Resistance]] [[Category:Films based on military novels]] [[Category:Films scored by Franz Waxman]] [[Category:Films directed by Anatole Litvak]] [[Category:20th Century Fox films]] [[Category:Films about the Western Front (World War II)]] [[Category:World War II spy films]] [[Category:1951 English-language films]] [[Category:1951 American films]] [[Category:Films set in Germany]] [[Category:Films set in 1944]] [[Category:Films shot in Munich]] [[Category:Films shot in Bavaria]] [[Category:Films shot in Germany]] [[Category:English-language war films]] [[Category:Films produced by Anatole Litvak]]