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Decision Before Dawn

66.98 %|Dec 21, 1951|War, Action, Thriller

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.

Featured Crew

Anatole Litvak
Director
George Howe
Novel
Peter Viertel
Screenplay
Franz Waxman
Original Music Composer
Dorothy Spencer
Editor
Anatole Litvak
Producer
Frank McCarthy
Producer
Franz Planer
Director of Photography

Cast

actor
Richard Basehart
Lt. Dick Rennick
actor
Gary Merrill
Col. Devlin
actor
Oskar Werner
Cpl. Karl Maurer - aka Happy
actor
O.E. Hasse
Col. Oberst von Ecker
actor
Wilfried Seyferth
Heinz Scholtz, SS-Mann
actor
Hans Christian Blech
Sgt. Rudolf Barth - aka Tiger
actor
Helene Thimig
Fräulein Schneide
actor
George Tyne
Sgt. Griffin
actor
Robert Freitag
Sgt. Paul Richter
actor
Harold Benedict
Lt. Pete Gevers
actor
Arno Assmann
Ernst Brandenbacher (uncredited)
actor
Heinrich Berg
(uncredited)
actor
Bert Brandt
German NCO (uncredited)
actor
Jochen Diestelmann
(uncredited)
actor
Ulrich Folkmar
Prisoner (uncredited)
actor
Otto Friebel
Clerk (uncredited)
actor
Gert Fröbe
German Corporal - Nuremberg Control Point (uncredited)
actor
Werner Fuetterer
von Bülow (uncredited)
actor
Elfe Gerhart
Barmaid (uncredited)
actor
Loni Heuser
Fritzi Kollwitz (uncredited)
actor
Alexander Kraft-Hohenlohe
German NCO (uncredited)
actor
Charles Jacquemar
Volkssturmmann (uncredited)
actor
Walter Janssen
Fiedl (uncredited)
actor
Erik Jelde
German NCO (uncredited)
actor
Klaus Kinski
Whining Soldier (uncredited)
actor
Gerhard Kittler
German Lieutenant (uncredited)
actor
Til Kiwe
Adjutant (uncredited)
actor
Klaus W. Krause
German NCO (uncredited)
actor
Walter Ladengast
German Deserter (uncredited)
actor
Maria Landrock
Wehrmacht Girl (uncredited)
actor
Herbert Lehnert
(uncredited)
actor
Adi Lödel
Kurt (uncredited)
actor
Peter Lühr
von Schirmeck (uncredited)
actor
Emil Matousek
(uncredited)
actor
Wolf Petersen
(uncredited)
actor
Charles Regnier
German Prisoner (uncredited)
actor
Arnulf Schröder
Old Prisoner of War (uncredited)
actor
Paul Schwed
Man on Wehrmacht Bus (uncredited)
actor
Uli Steigberg
(uncredited)
actor
Peter Martin Urtel
German Soldier (uncredited)
actor
Rudolf Vogel
Volkssturmmann (uncredited)
actor
Hans von Morhart
Prisoner of War (uncredited)
actor
Jaspar von Oertzen
Prisoner of War (uncredited)
actor
Maria Wimmer
Woman in the Street (uncredited)
actor
Harald Wolff
Hartmann (uncredited)