I had heard of this film over the years, and finally got to see it today. This is a clever use of film for training American flyers to clam up if they are captured. Our flyboys end up in the clutches of the clever Germans, who use all kinds non-violent means to soften up the unsuspecting GI's to give up info on an upcoming raid.Others have commented on the Germans using torture to get information, but it is known now that Herman Goering, who made sure the Luftwaffe kept shot down flyers, would not allow that. Lloyd Nolan's opening and closing lines are terrific. He gives the lesson it's exclamation point very well. I give it an 8 out of 10. Look for it to come on again and record it if you have to, just to get a glimpse of WWII film-making.
13 Reviews
Good training film
waha9927 May 2003
This film was originally produced and released as a training film for the Army Air Force during WWII. It covers the various (supposed) tactics that the Nazis would use to gather information from American (and other Allied Forces members) pilots and soldiers who are captured. Rather than being a dull, *by the numbers* lesson, however, the filmmakers present a solidly told little story in which the air crew of the mythical B-99 gradually...and presumably unintentionally...give up information that foils the success of a near-future air raid. If you see this, do tolerate a little preaching that occurs at the very end of the film (by an uncredited Lloyd Nolan) since this film WAS intended to teach a lesson; the ending is perfectly suitable for this kind of film. Certainly not on a par with Citizen Kane, but a solid enough piece of film making that deserves to be seen by a wider audience. 7* out of ten.
A really wild time capsule into the past!
planktonrules24 May 2008
Because this film doesn't appear to have been made for viewing by the public at large, it's very hard to rate it. Instead, I assume that it was a Hollywood film meant as a training aid to show flight crews the importance of keeping quiet and recognizing various means the enemy might use to interrogate them. I am not sure how true all the scenarios are, though they seemed way too subtle and nice for Nazis. I assume in reality, if the Germans really wanted to get these secrets they would probably just torture it out of them. However, soldiers needed to be aware of the mind games that might be played and the consequences to America fliers if they gabbed to their captors.
When seen today, the movie is quite fascinating for historical reasons. Plus, it's neat to see some stars in various roles (such as Kent Smith as a Nazi as well as Arthur Kennedy and Don Porter as American fliers). Considering I am an old movie fan AND a history teacher, it's natural I'd enjoy it. However, even for NORMAL folks, it's pretty entertaining and worth a look.
When seen today, the movie is quite fascinating for historical reasons. Plus, it's neat to see some stars in various roles (such as Kent Smith as a Nazi as well as Arthur Kennedy and Don Porter as American fliers). Considering I am an old movie fan AND a history teacher, it's natural I'd enjoy it. However, even for NORMAL folks, it's pretty entertaining and worth a look.
Well-done drama masquerading as "training film"
coltrane67926 May 2003
Thanks to TCM for giving us an opportunity to see this gem. Made by the Army Air Force's famous First Movie Unit well into the war (1944), this is one of their most polished efforts. It has a simple, but effective narrative: a US air crew of 5 is downed by the Nazis, who use every trick in the book (short of torture) to pump information out of them: ingratiation, intimidation, deceit and psychological welfare. None of the downed fliers means to co-operate with the enemy, but each in his own way contributes some information to their clever Nazis captors, which is then pieced together by the Nazi commanding officer, somewhat flamboyantly portrayed by Carl Esmond. The consequences are disaster.
The point of the film as a training device (forcefully driven home by Lloyd Nolan in the closing sequence) was that ANY information, no matter how innocent or trivial seeming on its face, could complete the jigsaw puzzle for Nazi intelligence services. All that should EVER be revealed to ANYONE outside your own crew once you were captured was name, rank and serial number. A simple lesson, you would suppose, but for 70 minutes (rather lengthy by the genre's standards, I think) the point is expertly honed by a fairly effective little drama.
In addition to Nolan, the other "big name" actor here is a young Arthur Kennedy, who appeared in many excellent films over the following quarter century.
The point of the film as a training device (forcefully driven home by Lloyd Nolan in the closing sequence) was that ANY information, no matter how innocent or trivial seeming on its face, could complete the jigsaw puzzle for Nazi intelligence services. All that should EVER be revealed to ANYONE outside your own crew once you were captured was name, rank and serial number. A simple lesson, you would suppose, but for 70 minutes (rather lengthy by the genre's standards, I think) the point is expertly honed by a fairly effective little drama.
In addition to Nolan, the other "big name" actor here is a young Arthur Kennedy, who appeared in many excellent films over the following quarter century.
Don't speak! Don't speak!
mark.waltz3 April 2019
Warning: Spoilers
This is a piece of history that deserves to be seen by those who study the causes, timeline, politics and aftermath of World War II. It is a documentary feature which managed to receive an Academy Award nomination and have a New York City released, so perhaps somehow it did get a public audience in addition to the obvious military showings tha it would have to warn troops of the dangers of the tongue. Obvious amateurs are mixed in with Hollywood professionals like Arthur Kennedy, Lloyd Nolan and Steve Geray in playing both Germans and Americans, thrust together in conflict yet with civility that had an underlying manipulation behind it.
Subtle? Certainly not. But for the values of the Allies in World War II, subtlety was not going to work under any circumstance in expressing the goals of this documentary. This shows almost immediately what happens when American soldiers and officers are captured by Germans and brought in for questioning. Name, rank, serial number. You only three things required to be given. But pleasantries among members of warring nations, threats and even alleged things in common could lead to someone saying far too much. Even back in the 1940's, it was easy to get people to talk, and this shows several different methods in which an innocent conversation can lead to information being spilt that can cause hundreds and thousands of deaths.
How does this hold up today? Obviously, things have changed in the past 75 years, so this is a time capsule into a world many wars ago. It shows how flattering by members of the opposite sex could get soldiers to talk, and just even saying where they were stationed could open up a whole can of worms. The Germans are not all presented as monsters, and in fact, that is where the danger lies. gentle manipulation into getting information is presented here as are several more severe methods, and even though it is all dramatized as many propaganda films were at the time, the way it is presented is obviously in documentary format. Lloyd Nolan's speech at the end is filled with cliches, some of which work and some of which seem corny. So I would say that this does stand the test of time, but much of it must be taken with a grain of salt and applied to modern sensibilities which if necessary could lead to this being remade.
Subtle? Certainly not. But for the values of the Allies in World War II, subtlety was not going to work under any circumstance in expressing the goals of this documentary. This shows almost immediately what happens when American soldiers and officers are captured by Germans and brought in for questioning. Name, rank, serial number. You only three things required to be given. But pleasantries among members of warring nations, threats and even alleged things in common could lead to someone saying far too much. Even back in the 1940's, it was easy to get people to talk, and this shows several different methods in which an innocent conversation can lead to information being spilt that can cause hundreds and thousands of deaths.
How does this hold up today? Obviously, things have changed in the past 75 years, so this is a time capsule into a world many wars ago. It shows how flattering by members of the opposite sex could get soldiers to talk, and just even saying where they were stationed could open up a whole can of worms. The Germans are not all presented as monsters, and in fact, that is where the danger lies. gentle manipulation into getting information is presented here as are several more severe methods, and even though it is all dramatized as many propaganda films were at the time, the way it is presented is obviously in documentary format. Lloyd Nolan's speech at the end is filled with cliches, some of which work and some of which seem corny. So I would say that this does stand the test of time, but much of it must be taken with a grain of salt and applied to modern sensibilities which if necessary could lead to this being remade.
Military docu-drama from the U.S. Army Air Force...
AlsExGal20 December 2022
...and director Bernard Vorhaus. An American bomber crew, shot down over enemy territory, is captured and brought to a villa for interrogation. There are no torture or other hardcase tactics used. Instead, the Germans use subtle psychological manipulation, electronic surveillance, and other techniques to amass intelligence on future bombing missions. Featuring Lloyd Nolan, Carl Esmond, Arthur Kennedy, Steven Geray, Craig Stevens, Don Porter, James Seay, Peter Van Eyck, and Kent Smith.
This is a military training film that uses fictionalized events to illustrate real-world problems and solutions for air combat crews. It was meant for military use only, but got a screening in New York City that made it eligible for a Best Documentary Feature Oscar. That seems like a stretch, as this is a scripted movie with actors playing parts, and not at all what I would consider a documentary.
It's entertaining in its depictions of the various sneaky techniques used to ferret out info. I liked one scene where the American being subtly questioned catches on and "reveals" info about the US's brand new Flash Gordon fighter jets equipped with disintegrator rays and "magnetic arcs". This was remade as a mainstream feature in 1951 titled Target Unknown, which also featured Steven Geray.
This is a military training film that uses fictionalized events to illustrate real-world problems and solutions for air combat crews. It was meant for military use only, but got a screening in New York City that made it eligible for a Best Documentary Feature Oscar. That seems like a stretch, as this is a scripted movie with actors playing parts, and not at all what I would consider a documentary.
It's entertaining in its depictions of the various sneaky techniques used to ferret out info. I liked one scene where the American being subtly questioned catches on and "reveals" info about the US's brand new Flash Gordon fighter jets equipped with disintegrator rays and "magnetic arcs". This was remade as a mainstream feature in 1951 titled Target Unknown, which also featured Steven Geray.
don't speak when you're told
lee_eisenberg20 July 2021
The Academy Award-nominated "Resisting Enemy Interrogation" is one of the WWII-era shorts telling troops how to avoid falling victim to the Nazis. In this case, it's about how to refrain from giving away secret information. After all, knowledge is power. It's got a lot of the stuff that we expect from these shorts from the era, although it depicts the Nazis as intelligent - but nonetheless evil - individuals (contrast that with the common portrayal of them as total buffoons).
Anyway, it's interesting to watch as a historical reference. One thing that caught my eye was the cast. The main cast member is Lloyd Nolan, a noted actor. The rest of the cast includes Rand Brooks (who was married to Stan Laurel's daughter for several years), Mel Tormé (later famous as a jazz artist), George O'Hanlon (later known as the voice of George Jetson) and George Dolenz (father of Mickey Dolenz of The Monkees).
Worth seeing.
Anyway, it's interesting to watch as a historical reference. One thing that caught my eye was the cast. The main cast member is Lloyd Nolan, a noted actor. The rest of the cast includes Rand Brooks (who was married to Stan Laurel's daughter for several years), Mel Tormé (later famous as a jazz artist), George O'Hanlon (later known as the voice of George Jetson) and George Dolenz (father of Mickey Dolenz of The Monkees).
Worth seeing.
Nice use of archetypes.
L_Miller6 January 2005
Other comments cover the quality; the interesting part is how the Germans identify the weaknesses of each man and play to them. I don't know if the Nazis were always as subtle as this (I imagine a lit cigarette to the groin or pulling out a few fingernails to a subject or his friends would encourage a frank and open discussion).
Good film, relatively propaganda free. It's interesting to watch the way American WWII propaganda treats the Germans as opposed to the Japanese. The Germans are usually portrayed as sophisticated and slimy while the Japanese are shown as little more than cunning animals. Compare "Identification of the Japanese Zero" with this film.
Watchable on its own terms, interesting to watch the Germans working on each guy in their own way and piecing together the scraps they get from each man to finding the whole story. I imagine the black-bag boys at Gitmo are doing much the same thing.
Good film, relatively propaganda free. It's interesting to watch the way American WWII propaganda treats the Germans as opposed to the Japanese. The Germans are usually portrayed as sophisticated and slimy while the Japanese are shown as little more than cunning animals. Compare "Identification of the Japanese Zero" with this film.
Watchable on its own terms, interesting to watch the Germans working on each guy in their own way and piecing together the scraps they get from each man to finding the whole story. I imagine the black-bag boys at Gitmo are doing much the same thing.
We have (other) ways of making you talk
Goingbegging5 April 2021
Low-budget army training films seldom get nominated for an Oscar. But that is what happened with this longer-than-usual 1944 effort by the Army Air Force, instructing American aircrews in how to resist interrogation when captured.
It starts with quite a good joke. While being driven to the prison camp, the crew are chatting in the back of the van, when the German sergeant turns round and barks at them "You will not talk!" Their leader answers quietly and significantly "No, we will not talk." That is, of course, their brief - just to give their name, rank and number, as decreed under the Geneva Convention. Anything more, however trivial, could be added to the enemy's intelligence jigsaw, perhaps revealingly.
The main theme is that the interrogators will probably be trying methods more subtle than whips or knuckle-dusters. Such as innocent small-talk to relieve the boredom of camp life. What could be wrong with that? And for the officers, perhaps a little drink in the mess? Hmm...
Bit by bit, through careless revelations (even the trees have ears), their mission is revealed, almost in its entirety, though the enemy are still having to guess at the key question - which big city is the bombers' target? How they figure this out is a triumph of ingenuity, which we cannot reveal here.
In black-& white, the uniforms all look the same colour, so we aren't always able to distinguish between captives and captors. (I had always assumed that prisoners could not wear headgear, but it seems they did.) Also it sounded at first as though there was a musical code to indicate penalty-points for an indiscreet statement, but this turned out to be an illusion, rather disappointingly. Meanwhile we are left wondering how the Americans would have known so much about enemy interrogation techniques, unless they were simply replicating their own. And noting that Oscar nomination, this must have played to a large civilian audience, for whom it would have been doubling as a propaganda film. As such, it doesn't leave you hating the enemy as much as it should. But even after 77 years of vast changes in warfare, the message remains just as valid as ever: silence is golden.
It starts with quite a good joke. While being driven to the prison camp, the crew are chatting in the back of the van, when the German sergeant turns round and barks at them "You will not talk!" Their leader answers quietly and significantly "No, we will not talk." That is, of course, their brief - just to give their name, rank and number, as decreed under the Geneva Convention. Anything more, however trivial, could be added to the enemy's intelligence jigsaw, perhaps revealingly.
The main theme is that the interrogators will probably be trying methods more subtle than whips or knuckle-dusters. Such as innocent small-talk to relieve the boredom of camp life. What could be wrong with that? And for the officers, perhaps a little drink in the mess? Hmm...
Bit by bit, through careless revelations (even the trees have ears), their mission is revealed, almost in its entirety, though the enemy are still having to guess at the key question - which big city is the bombers' target? How they figure this out is a triumph of ingenuity, which we cannot reveal here.
In black-& white, the uniforms all look the same colour, so we aren't always able to distinguish between captives and captors. (I had always assumed that prisoners could not wear headgear, but it seems they did.) Also it sounded at first as though there was a musical code to indicate penalty-points for an indiscreet statement, but this turned out to be an illusion, rather disappointingly. Meanwhile we are left wondering how the Americans would have known so much about enemy interrogation techniques, unless they were simply replicating their own. And noting that Oscar nomination, this must have played to a large civilian audience, for whom it would have been doubling as a propaganda film. As such, it doesn't leave you hating the enemy as much as it should. But even after 77 years of vast changes in warfare, the message remains just as valid as ever: silence is golden.
Despite being made as a training film, stands on its own as a dramatic movie
mpolans21 October 2017
Warning: Spoilers
Interesting to see some of the comments here, questioning how realistic the movie is. The movie is an excellent depiction of the very techniques used by the very real-life WWII German interrogator, Hanns-Joachim Scharff. Scharff, who originally wasn't even supposed to be an interrogator, found the traditional ideas of using brutality distasteful and ineffective. The methods shown in the movie, such as making small talk, pretending to know all the details, a change of scenery, etc are all very well-documented, and are still recognized interrogation approaches taught to this day. Incidentally, Scharff (who's notoriety I can only suspect inspired this training film) emigrated to the U.S. after the war and became a big time mosaic artist; some of his artwork can be seen on Disney properties.
Don't Talk! Don't Talk! Even your lies have value!
sol12187 June 2013
Not made for US movie audiences consumption in that the film is far too disturbing as well as accurate in how successful interrogations tactics by the Germans in WWII worked. The film or documentary "Resisting Enemy Interrogation" is the exact opposite of the Hollywood made film "The Purple Heart" in how US airmen bravely resist and make their captors, in this case Japanese, look ridicules as well as stupid that was released the very same, 1944, year.
Here we see the Germans use psychology and trickery to get the results that they want. That without those being interrogated not even knowing it. Not through torture and humiliation but through letting their captive US Airmen try to outsmart them and make them look like fools by instead tripping themselves up in them doing that. If the US and its allies used the same sound and tried tactics on captured suspected Al-Qeada and Taliban fighters after the attacks on 9/11 they would have gotten a lot more information and prevented, by putting their leaders out of commission, terror attacks then they had by instead getting false information out of them. That resulting in having sent the US military on a number of fruitless wild goose chases all over the globe.
In the movie the Germans suspect a major low level attack on one of their oil installations in Southern occupied Europe and have captured a new B-99 US bomber's crew that was to take part of that attack. With the German intelligence officer Major Franz Kohmen knowing that the plane crew really knows nothing about where the attack is to take place he and his fellow interrogators make the US airmen feel or pretend that they in fact do know but are keeping the information from him. This has them unconsciously blurt out things that they feel will fool Major Khomen that he and his second in common Captain Volbricht skillfully figure out where he raid will actually be, Munich Germany, and when it would take place; May 17, 1944!
The Germans way of getting information is just by letting the captured US fliers say wherever they want for what seemed like hours at a time with Major Kohmen an his men filtering out the little truths from the vast distortions and lies. This has them put together a blueprint of where the big US raid in Southern Europe will be and when it will take place. What was so amazing about all that is that Captain Kohmen got all that vital information without the captured US airmen, who unknowingly gave him that information, knowing it! That ended up costing the USAAF 21 bombers being shot down together with their 105 man crews as they were ambushed by squads of German fighter planes over the skies of Munich Germany.
Very disturbing to watch movie released at the time when the US was in a life and death struggle with Nazi Germany which was in fact not released to general American public but only at US military bases. It was those men who watched it that had to get the real and hard cold facts in how to act if captured by the enemy. Not the general American public who were to be both propagandized and entertained, in lifting civilian moral at home, in watching the highly gong-ho inaccurate and feel good war movies that Hollywood was cranking out back in those days.
Here we see the Germans use psychology and trickery to get the results that they want. That without those being interrogated not even knowing it. Not through torture and humiliation but through letting their captive US Airmen try to outsmart them and make them look like fools by instead tripping themselves up in them doing that. If the US and its allies used the same sound and tried tactics on captured suspected Al-Qeada and Taliban fighters after the attacks on 9/11 they would have gotten a lot more information and prevented, by putting their leaders out of commission, terror attacks then they had by instead getting false information out of them. That resulting in having sent the US military on a number of fruitless wild goose chases all over the globe.
In the movie the Germans suspect a major low level attack on one of their oil installations in Southern occupied Europe and have captured a new B-99 US bomber's crew that was to take part of that attack. With the German intelligence officer Major Franz Kohmen knowing that the plane crew really knows nothing about where the attack is to take place he and his fellow interrogators make the US airmen feel or pretend that they in fact do know but are keeping the information from him. This has them unconsciously blurt out things that they feel will fool Major Khomen that he and his second in common Captain Volbricht skillfully figure out where he raid will actually be, Munich Germany, and when it would take place; May 17, 1944!
The Germans way of getting information is just by letting the captured US fliers say wherever they want for what seemed like hours at a time with Major Kohmen an his men filtering out the little truths from the vast distortions and lies. This has them put together a blueprint of where the big US raid in Southern Europe will be and when it will take place. What was so amazing about all that is that Captain Kohmen got all that vital information without the captured US airmen, who unknowingly gave him that information, knowing it! That ended up costing the USAAF 21 bombers being shot down together with their 105 man crews as they were ambushed by squads of German fighter planes over the skies of Munich Germany.
Very disturbing to watch movie released at the time when the US was in a life and death struggle with Nazi Germany which was in fact not released to general American public but only at US military bases. It was those men who watched it that had to get the real and hard cold facts in how to act if captured by the enemy. Not the general American public who were to be both propagandized and entertained, in lifting civilian moral at home, in watching the highly gong-ho inaccurate and feel good war movies that Hollywood was cranking out back in those days.
Compare This Picture with book "The Interrogator," by Raymond F. Toliver
gordon-12523 May 2008
Dear All,
Please read "The Interrogator," by Raymond F. Toliver. Toliver tells the true story of Hanns Joachim Scharff, one of the Luftwaffe's best P.O.W. interrogators. Sheer psychological tricks let him extract loads of information from his "guests." He tortured nobody because he did not need to do so. Years after the war, in the United States, some of these same men threw a party for him, despite the fact that several had felt severe remorse over having inadvertently disclosed so much.
How successfully a viewer of "Resisting Enemy Interrogation" could have withheld information from Scharff, I cannot say.
Sincerely,
Gordon F. Corbett
Please read "The Interrogator," by Raymond F. Toliver. Toliver tells the true story of Hanns Joachim Scharff, one of the Luftwaffe's best P.O.W. interrogators. Sheer psychological tricks let him extract loads of information from his "guests." He tortured nobody because he did not need to do so. Years after the war, in the United States, some of these same men threw a party for him, despite the fact that several had felt severe remorse over having inadvertently disclosed so much.
How successfully a viewer of "Resisting Enemy Interrogation" could have withheld information from Scharff, I cannot say.
Sincerely,
Gordon F. Corbett
Worth Seeing
Michael_Elliott16 June 2008
Resisting Enemy Interrogation (1944)
*** 1/2 (out of 4)
WW2 drama got an Oscar nomination as Best Feature Documentary. The film tells the story of a group of American soldiers who are taken prisoner by German's and must keep their mouths shut so that they won't tip off the enemy. The German's, however, have their own form of interrogation to try and break through and learn of a future attack. This film was made to teach soldiers the type of tricks they might come across if taken hostage and on that level the film works just fine the real bonus here is the fact that the movie is told through the eyes and minds of the German's. I've seen a lot of these WW2 documentaries and for the most part they always look at things from the American point of view so it was great seeing it from the other way. I'm not sure how true the film is because all of the German officials promise not to torture the soldiers and they don't but it seems like they would have crossed the line if they really needed information on an upcoming attack. The performances are also very good with Arthur Kennedy leading the way as the main American soldier. I'm really not sure how this film got into the documentary department as it really plays out like a feature film, running 66=minutes and the only documentary type film-making is some opening and closing narration, which is aimed at American soldiers. As with a lot of these WW2 shorts, the film is pretty graphic at times, which the production code at the time seemed to overlook in this type of a film.
*** 1/2 (out of 4)
WW2 drama got an Oscar nomination as Best Feature Documentary. The film tells the story of a group of American soldiers who are taken prisoner by German's and must keep their mouths shut so that they won't tip off the enemy. The German's, however, have their own form of interrogation to try and break through and learn of a future attack. This film was made to teach soldiers the type of tricks they might come across if taken hostage and on that level the film works just fine the real bonus here is the fact that the movie is told through the eyes and minds of the German's. I've seen a lot of these WW2 documentaries and for the most part they always look at things from the American point of view so it was great seeing it from the other way. I'm not sure how true the film is because all of the German officials promise not to torture the soldiers and they don't but it seems like they would have crossed the line if they really needed information on an upcoming attack. The performances are also very good with Arthur Kennedy leading the way as the main American soldier. I'm really not sure how this film got into the documentary department as it really plays out like a feature film, running 66=minutes and the only documentary type film-making is some opening and closing narration, which is aimed at American soldiers. As with a lot of these WW2 shorts, the film is pretty graphic at times, which the production code at the time seemed to overlook in this type of a film.
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