Decision Before Dawn is notable as one of the first American film to show what life was like for the Germans during WWII. Barney Kelley experiences a film that captures the sorrow of war.
Made just six years after the end of the Second World War, Decision Before Dawn is notable as perhaps the first American film to show what life was like for the Germans during the war.
As the fighting grinds on and allied troops push the enemy back to their homeland, the American military recruit German POWs to go back and spy on their own side. One such is Corporal Karl Maurer (Oskar Werner), a young medic who is now thoroughly disgusted by the Nazi regime. As he gathers information for his masters, he sees the damage done to his countrymen and women by the war – at increasing risk to himself.
Shot amidst the rubble of occupied Germany, Decision Before Dawn never celebrates combat, as most war films of the period do. With its concentration on the suffering of ordinary Germans, it anticipates Douglas Sirk’s A Time To Love and A Time To Die, although this is an altogether less romantic story.
While modern war films are more brutal, few capture the sadness of war as accurately as this.
A 1951 war film, Decision Before Dawn tells the story of the US Army using potentially unreliable German PoWs to gather intelligence in the closing days of World War II.
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 an efficient network to identify and capture spies and deserters. Moreover, it is not clear that 'Tiger' (Hans Christian Blech), who does not mind any dirty work as long as the price is right, and war-weary 'Happy' (Oskar Werner), 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 armoured unit moving towards the western front.
