Decision before dawn
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Decision before dawn |
| Original title | Decision Before Dawn |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1951 |
| length | 111 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Anatole Litvak |
| script |
Peter Quarter Carl Zuckmayer |
| production | Anatole Litvak Frank McCarthy |
| music | Franz Waxman |
| camera | Franz Planner |
| cut | Dorothy Spencer |
| occupation | |
| |
Decision Before Dawn is an American war film directed by Anatole Litvak from 1951 and is based on the novel Decision Before Dawn (original title: Call It Treason ) by George Howe . The premiere in Germany took place on November 14, 1952.
action
The film begins with the shooting of a spy by German soldiers - this is obviously the protagonist. Then the plot is told in flashback. At the end of 1944 it is obvious that the German Reich will lose the war . US Colonel Devlin is the commander of a military intelligence unit. Devlin searches for German prisoners of war who are ready to spy on their former comrades. Rudolf Barth, called "Tiger", is a cynical old pickpocket who wants to work for the winning side. Karl Maurer, known as "Happy", a young medical soldier, volunteers after his friend was pushed out of a window by a Nazi prisoner-of-war court because he questioned the successful outcome of the war for the Germans. The two and other prisoners are trained in espionage techniques by a French agent, Monique, in a monastery .
When Devlin learns that a German general wants to negotiate his surrender , he instructs Lieutenant Rennick to find suitable people for the mission. Rennick selects Barth, who is not in the best light, after coming back on the last mission without his partner. Maurer, the second man, is supposed to locate the 11th Panzer Division . The three men parachute over southern Germany, Maurer goes looking for the Panzer Division with forged documents, Rennick and Barth are looking for the general.
Maurer meets some Germans with different views on the war. B. the resigned Hilde or the rebellious and cynical courier of the Waffen SS , Schultz. Schultz exclaims in a drunken stupor that the world has been given 12 years that it will not forget. He had previously tried to sell Maurer gold that he had apparently stolen from murdered Jews. Maurer pretends to be a medic, makes his way from Munich to Crailsheim and happens to be assigned to commander of the 11th Panzer Division, Colonel von Ecker, whose life he saves from a seizure . When a Gestapo agent, who was made aware of Maurer by Schultz, tries to shoot him, he kills him in self-defense. Maurer, whose existence has become known as a spy, flees to a safe house in Mannheim, where he meets the other two again.
In the meantime, Rennick and Barth have found out that the general willing to surrender lies wounded in the hospital, but is guarded by SS men. Other German officers would not act without this general. As the radio was damaged in a bombing raid, Rennick, Maurer and Barth are forced to swim across a hard-fought river. Barth loses his nerve, Rennick has to shoot the fugitive. Rennick and Maurer arrive at an island in the middle of the river. When they want to continue swimming, they are discovered by the Germans. Maurer distracts the enemy, is captured by them and faces an uncertain future. Rennick reaches the other bank and can deliver the information to his superiors. Rennick's image of Germans has changed through the sacrifice of his comrade. Rennick's comrade says it's just another dead German.
Reviews
"Oppressive spy film with a political commitment, in the lead role of which Oskar Werner impresses."
“An all-round successful, exciting contribution of the genre, which of course owes much of its fascination to the backdrop of the sinking Third Reich. Litvak and his team toured the war-torn cities of southern Germany, the gloomy ruins of which were captured by cameraman Franz Planer in atmospheric black and white pictures. "
"Even if the view of the situation in Germany shortly before the end of the war from the American point of view does not always match reality and the film cannot do without colportage, it is still an impressive work."
Awards
- 1952: Oscar nominations in the categories of Best Film and Best Editing
- 1952: Golden Globe nomination in the category Best Black and White Camera
- 1952: National Board of Review , Top Ten Films
- 1952: Directors Guild of America nomination for Outstanding Director Anatole Litvak
background
- The film's locations were Mannheim , Munich , Nuremberg , Rothenburg ob der Tauber , Eberbach Monastery and Würzburg .
- The art director of the film was Ludwig Reiber , the father of the TV presenter Carolin Reiber .
- The director of the second unit was Gerd Oswald , who worked in the USA as a director for American television.
- Major Robert Eby of the US Air Force and Captain Werner T. Michau worked as military advisers.
- The song parodied in the film is the hit It's all over, it all goes over by Lale Andersen
- Even the shooting was met with opposition on the German locations, as local authorities in the post-war period accused the film of being "strongly anti-German"
literature
- George Howe : Decision before dawn. Roman (original title: Call It Treason ). German by Eduard Thorsch . German house library, Hamburg and Berlin 1954, 270 pp.
- George Howe: Call it Treason - English edition - Dodo Press, 2007 - ISBN 1-4067-5671-7 .
- Un film de Anatole Litvak: "Le Traître", in Roland Mager, Ed .: Documents. Revue mensuelle des questions allemandes. Rottweiler Verlagsdruckerei, Rottweil. Issue 4, April 1953, pp. 289-416 (French).
DVD
- 2010: Wikler Film 115 min, English, German, subtitles, extras
Web links
- Decision Before Dawn at the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Short review of the Variety (English)
- DER SPIEGEL 41/1950 on the shooting
Individual evidence
- ↑ cf. Lexicon of International Films 2000/2001 (CD-ROM)
- ↑ http://www.cinema.de/film_aktuell/filmdetail/film/?typ=inhalt&film_id=17623
- ↑ Ev. Munich Press Association, Review No. 609/1952
- ^ Cultural Notes . In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung . November 17, 1950, p. 6 .
- ↑ FAZ of January 5, 2011, page 39: It will all pass, it will all pass