Decision Before Dawn (1951)

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Not Rated
1h 59min
Drama, War
25 Feb 1952 (Norway)
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7.2 (2,997)

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As the US Army approaches Nazi Germany, they recruit German prisoners to spy behind German lines.

Director:

Anatole Litvak

Writers:

Stars:

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 1 win & 2 nominations.
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Reviews:

Photos and Videos

Trailer for this story of a man who spied on his own country

Still of Oskar Werner in Decision Before Dawn (1951)

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68 photos | 1 video

Complete, Cast awaiting verification

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	Richard Basehart	...	Lt. Dick Rennick
	Gary Merrill	...	Col. Devlin
	Oskar Werner	...	Cpl. Karl Maurer - aka Happy
	Hildegard Knef	...	Hilde (as Hildegarde Neff)
	Dominique Blanchar	...	Monique
	O.E. Hasse	...	Col. Oberst von Ecker
	Wilfried Seyferth	...	Heinz Scholtz - SS Man (as Wilfried Seyfert)
	Hans Christian Blech	...	Sgt. Rudolf Barth - aka Tiger
	Helene Thimig	...	Fräulein Paula Schneider
	Robert Freitag	...	Sgt. Paul Richter (as Robert Freytag)
	George Tyne	...	Sgt. Griffin
	C.A. Amos	...	Self (as C.A. Amos 1st Lt. USAF)
	Harold Benedict	...	Lt. Pete Gevers (as H.L. Benedict S/Sgt. USAF)
	H.W. Briggs	...	Self (as H.W. Briggs Sgt. USA)
	D.G. Devine	...	Lt. Rennick's Driver (as D.G. Devine Cpl. USAF)
	L.E. Dixon	...	Self (as L.E. Dixon Maj. USA)
	B.L. Hendrickson	...	Self (as B.L. Hendrickson T/Sgt. USA)
	D. Kogel	...	Self (as D. Kogel Pvt. USA)
	S.I. Rice	...	Self (as S.I. Rice Pfc. USA)
	F. Slaman	...	Self (as F. Slaman Pfc. USA)
	J.E. Stratton	...	Self (as J.E. Stratton Sgt. USA)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
	Eva Marie Andres	...	Flak Girl (uncredited)
	Arno Assmann	...	Ernst Brandenbacher (uncredited)
	Almut Bachmann	...	Streetcar Conductor (uncredited)
	Kemp Batchelor	...	Martin (uncredited)
	Harald Benesch	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
	Heinrich Berg	...	Bit Part (uncredited)
	Ulla Best	...	Wehrmacht Girl (uncredited)
	Bert Brandt	...	German NCO (uncredited)
	Heinz Bruening	...	Piano Player (uncredited)
	Don Devine	...	GI Driver (uncredited)
	Jochen Diestelmann	...	Bit Part (uncredited)
	Erich Ebert	...	Freddy (uncredited)
	Geza Esterhazy	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
	Ulrich Folkmar	...	Prisoner (uncredited)
	Otto Friebel	...	Clerk (uncredited)
	Gert Fröbe	...	German Corporal - Nuremberg Control Point (uncredited)
	Werner Fuetterer	...	von Bülow (uncredited)
	Rainer Geldern	...	Panzer NCO (uncredited)
	Elfe Gerhart	...	Barmaid (uncredited)
	Auguste Hansen-Kleinmichel	...	Newspaper Woman (uncredited)
	Rudolf Heimann	...	Leschke - Truck Driver (uncredited)
	Max Herbst	...	German NCO (uncredited)
	Loni Heuser	...	Fritzi Kollwitz (uncredited)
	Anselm Heyer	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
	Alex Hohenlohe	...	German NCO (uncredited)
	Werner J.A. Holzhey	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
	Eva Maria Hoppe	...	Wehrmacht Girl (uncredited)
	Ernst Höchstätter	...	Office Receptionist (uncredited)
	Charles Jacquemar	...	Volkssturmmann (uncredited)
	Walter Janssen	...	Fiedl (uncredited)
	Erik Jelde	...	German NCO (uncredited)
	Katja Jobs	...	Wehrmacht Girl (uncredited)
	Klaus Kinski	...	Whining Soldier (uncredited)
	Liselotte Kirschbaum	...	Flak Girl (uncredited)
	Gerhard Kittler	...	German Lieutenant (uncredited)
	Til Kiwe	...	Adjutant (uncredited)
	Nils Klott	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
	Sonja Kosta	...	Wehrmacht Girl (uncredited)
	Klaus W. Krause	...	German NCO (uncredited)
	Wolfgang Kuhnemann	...	Clerk in Schleissheim (uncredited)
	Luitpold Kummer	...	Bit Part (uncredited)
	Walter Ladengast	...	German Deserter (uncredited)
	Maria Landrock	...	Wehrmacht Girl (uncredited)
	Herbert Lehnert	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
	Reinhard Lentz	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
	Egon Lippert	...	German Lieutenant (uncredited)
	Peter Lombard	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
	Ingeborg Luther	...	Woman (uncredited)
	Adi Lödel	...	Kurt (uncredited)
	Peter Lühr	...	von Schirmeck (uncredited)
	Kurt Marquardt	...	Prisoner (uncredited)
	Emil Matousek	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
	Elisabeth Millberg	...	Wehrmacht Girl (uncredited)
	Johannes Mühlstedt	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
	Reinhardt Neudörffer	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
	Willy Niklaus	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
	Wolf Petersen	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
	Charles Regnier	...	German Prisoner (uncredited)
	Ralph Romberg	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
	Roland Rösler	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
	Jürgen Scheller	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
	Von Schmiedel	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
	Arnulf Schröder	...	Old Prisoner of War (uncredited)
	Paul Schwed	...	Man on Wehrmacht Bus (uncredited)
	Kai-Siegfried Seefeld	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
	Fritz Sellwig	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
	Henriette Speidel	...	Woman (uncredited)
	Uli Steigberg	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
	Gerhard Steinberg	...	Sgt. Klinger (uncredited)
	Liselotte Steinweg	...	Wehrmacht Girl (uncredited)
	Peter Struwel-Bruck	...	Volkssturmmann (uncredited)
	Ruth Trumpp	...	Woman Attendant (uncredited)
	Bert Ude	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
	Peter Martin Urtel	...	German Soldier (uncredited)
	Rudolf Vogel	...	Volkssturmmann (uncredited)
	Ulrich Volkmar	...	Prisoner of War (uncredited)
	Cornel von Gossow	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
	Hans von Morhart	...	Prisoner of War (uncredited)
	Jaspar von Oertzen	...	Prisoner of War (uncredited)
	Harald von Troschke-Tronye	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
	Ursula Voss	...	Streetcar Conductor (uncredited)
	Meta Weber	...	Woman (uncredited)
	Clemens Wilmenrod	...	German NCO (uncredited)
	Dieter Wilsing	...	Bit Part (uncredited)
	Maria Wimmer	...	Woman in the Street (uncredited)
	Harald Wolff	...	Hartmann (uncredited)

Directed by

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Anatole Litvak

Written by

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Peter Viertel	...	(screenplay)

George Howe	...	(novel "Call It Treason")

Jack Rollens	...	() (uncredited)

Carl Zuckmayer	...	(dialogue) (uncredited)

Produced by

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Anatole Litvak	...	producer
Frank McCarthy	...	producer

Music by

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Franz Waxman

Cinematography by

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Franz Planer

...

director of photography (as Frank Planer)

Editing by

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Dorothy Spencer

Production Design by

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Noël Howard

...

(uncredited)

Art Direction by

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Ludwig Reiber

Production Management

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Gene Bryant	...	location production manager (uncredited)
Walter Fabry	...	assistant unit manager (uncredited)
John Pommer	...	assistant production manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director

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Gerd Oswald

...

second unit director / assistant director (uncredited)

Sound Department

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Alfred Bruzlin	...	sound
Harry M. Leonard	...	sound

Stunts

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Hans W. Hendel

...

stunt double: Oskar Werner (uncredited)

Music Department

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Leonid Raab

...

orchestrator

Additional Crew

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Robert Eby	...	technical advisor (as Major Robert Eby U.S.A.F.)
Werner T. Michau	...	technical advisor (as Captain Werner T. Michau U.S.A.)
O.E. Hasse	...	voice dubbing: O.E. Hasse (uncredited)
Curd Jürgens	...	voice dubbing: Richard Basehart (uncredited)
Gene Reynolds	...	dialogue coach (uncredited)
Ruth Roberts	...	dialogue coach (uncredited)
George Tyne	...	dialogue coach (uncredited)

Crew believed to be complete

Production Companies

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Distributors

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Twentieth Century Fox (1951) (United States) (theatrical)
Twentieth Century Fox Film Company (1951) (United Kingdom) (theatrical)
20th Century Fox (1952) (West Germany) (theatrical)
Fox Films (1952) (Argentina) (theatrical)
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (1952) (Austria) (theatrical)
Twentieth Century Fox (1952) (Belgium) (theatrical)
Twentieth Century Fox (1952) (France) (theatrical)
Twentieth Century-Fox (1952) (Mexico) (theatrical)
National Broadcasting Company (NBC) (1963) (United States) (tv)
France 3 (1994) (France) (tv) (French subtitles)
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2006) (United States) (DVD)
Winkler Film (2010) (Germany) (DVD)
YouTube (2011) (United States) (video) (streaming)

Special Effects

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Other Companies

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U.S. Army (appreciation)
United States Navy (appreciation)
United States Air Force (appreciation)
Armée Francaise (appreciation)

Storyline

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Plot Summary	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. It is not clear that "Tiger", who does not mind 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. Written by Eduardo Casais Plot Summary
Plot Keywords	1940s bavaria american-military-and-local-prostitute western-front winter See All (100) »
Taglines	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! See more »
Genres	Drama War
Parents Guide	Add content advisory for parents »
Certification	Argentina:16 Canada:PG (video rating) Finland:K-16 France:Tous publics Italy:T Japan:G Norway:16 Sweden:15 United Kingdom:A United Kingdom:PG (video) United States:Not Rated (DVD Rating) United States:Not Rated (Digital Rating) United States:Approved United States:TV-PG (TV Rating) United States:Approved West Germany:12 (f)

Additional Details

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Also Known As	Call It Treason (United States) Legion of the Damned (United States) Entscheidung vor Morgengrauen (West Germany) Behind Enemy Lines (United Kingdom) Le traître (France) See more »
Runtime	119 min
Country	United States West Germany
Language	English French German
Color	Black and White
Aspect Ratio	1.37 : 1 See more »
Sound Mix	Mono (Western Electric Recording)
Filming Locations	Bavaria Studios, Bavariafilmplatz 7, Geiselgasteig, Grünwald, Bavaria, Germany See more »

Did You Know?

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Trivia	One of the first films after World War II to portray the German people--outside of the Nazi regime--in a sympathetic light. See more »
Goofs	Karl is mistakenly called a corporal. The Luftwaffe uniform that he wears both in the US POW cage and while back in Germany has the rank insignia of an "Obergefreiter", specifically three winged emblems on the collar patches, plain shoulder straps and two chevrons on his left sleeve. Also when the list is checked for his name at the bridge the rank is written down as 'Gfr' (gefreiter) The ranks of Gefreiter, Obergefreiter and Stabsgefreiter (all which were partially identified by chevrons on the sleeve) were not NCOs and had no command authority over other soldiers. They were simply grades of seniority and would be more equivalent to Private First Class (PFC) in the US military. The German rank that is the closest equivalent to Corporal is Unteroffizer. Also, Karl is wearing the medical badge on his right sleeve; Luftwaffe enlisted medical personnel wore the badge on the left sleeve, while Wehrmacht (army) wore it on the right. See more »
Movie Connections	Referenced in Decision Before Dawn (1968). See more »
Soundtracks	Ach, wie ist' möglich dann (Treue Liebe) See more »
Quotes	Lt. Dick Rennick: [Intro narration] Of all the questions left unanswered by the last war, and probably any war, one comes back constantly to my mind. Why does a spy risk his life... for what possible reason? If the spy wins, he's ignored. If he loses, he's shot. See more »

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