Decision Before Dawn

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.

6.7

119 min

Cast

Richard Basehart

as Lt. Dick Rennick

Gary Merrill

as Col. Devlin

Oskar Werner

as Cpl. Karl Maurer - aka Happy

Hildegard Knef

as Hilde

Dominique Blanchar

as Monique

O.E. Hasse

as Col. Oberst von Ecker

Wilfried Seyferth

as Heinz Scholtz, SS-Mann

Hans Christian Blech

as Sgt. Rudolf Barth - aka Tiger

Helene Thimig

as Fräulein Schneide

George Tyne

as Sgt. Griffin

Robert Freitag

as Sgt. Paul Richter

Harold Benedict

as Lt. Pete Gevers

Arno Assmann

as Ernst Brandenbacher (uncredited)

Heinrich Berg

as (uncredited)

Bert Brandt

as German NCO (uncredited)

Jochen Diestelmann

as (uncredited)

Ulrich Folkmar

as Prisoner (uncredited)

Otto Friebel

as Clerk (uncredited)

Gert Fröbe

as German Corporal - Nuremberg Control Point (uncredited)

Werner Fuetterer

as von Bülow (uncredited)

Elfe Gerhart

as Barmaid (uncredited)

Loni Heuser

as Fritzi Kollwitz (uncredited)

Alexander Kraft-Hohenlohe

as German NCO (uncredited)

Charles Jacquemar

as Volkssturmmann (uncredited)

Walter Janssen

as Fiedl (uncredited)

Erik Jelde

as German NCO (uncredited)

Klaus Kinski

as Whining Soldier (uncredited)

Gerhard Kittler

as German Lieutenant (uncredited)

Til Kiwe

as Adjutant (uncredited)

Klaus W. Krause

as German NCO (uncredited)

Walter Ladengast

as German Deserter (uncredited)

Maria Landrock

as Wehrmacht Girl (uncredited)

Herbert Lehnert

as (uncredited)

Adi Lödel

as Kurt (uncredited)

Peter Lühr

as von Schirmeck (uncredited)

Emil Matousek

as (uncredited)

Wolf Petersen

as (uncredited)

Charles Regnier

as German Prisoner (uncredited)

Arnulf Schröder

as Old Prisoner of War (uncredited)

Paul Schwed

as Man on Wehrmacht Bus (uncredited)

Kai-Siegfried Seefeld

as (uncredited)

Uli Steigberg

as (uncredited)

Peter Martin Urtel

as German Soldier (uncredited)

Rudolf Vogel

as Volkssturmmann (uncredited)

Hans von Morhart

as Prisoner of War (uncredited)

Jaspar von Oertzen

as Prisoner of War (uncredited)

Maria Wimmer

as Woman in the Street (uncredited)

Harald Wolff

as Hartmann (uncredited)

Director

Anatole Litvak