Decision Before Dawn is yet another World War II drama in a sea of war movies nominated for the Best Picture Academy Award. It needed to do something to stand out amongst the others, especially because of its timing. For the last decade or more, filmmakers had preyed on the fertile ground of war propaganda films in the name of rallying support, raising awareness, and selling war bonds. The American people needed a boost of morale as the war with Germany and Japan ran on and on over the years, killing millions of people and permanently destroying the once beautiful cities of Europe.
We have seen countless films that dramatize the heroism of soldiers, generals, and even the average citizens called to assist in the war effort. What we haven’t seen much of, though, is the stories of the German soldiers who were recruited by the American military to return back to their home country and spy against their own citizens. These men were branded traitors by their own people who still supported the Third Reich, but they believed that Germany was in the wrong and sought for a brighter future, one where their acts could be seen for exactly what they were. It takes a brave man to stand up against his enemies. It takes an even braver man to stand up to his friends and countrymen.
This film originated as a novel by George L. Howe entitled Call it Treason. In 1951, when the movie adaptation was being made and released, this title was shelved because director Anatole Litvak felt, rightfully so, that that title could be interpreted adversely by the German people, many of whom were still hurting in the aftermath of the war. It had the desired effect, but it also comes across as generic and doesn’t really give a good impression of what this film is all about. A title like Call it Treason is shocking and cuts to the quick of the story’s themes.
Because production for this movie was so soon after the war, it was able to utilize many European locations that still bore the physical scars of the allied bombings. This gives a great deal of realism to the scenes that took advantage of these locations. In contrast, though, many of the early scenes in the film look staged, like they were shot on the cheap in a television studio. This can be distracting when first watching it. Mercifully, the film shifts to location shooting soon afterwards, where it really shines.
Richard Basehart is top-billed, but this is really Oskar Werner’s film. The story will follow him almost exclusively, and Basehart will be largely absent for most of the middle portion of the film. Werner is playing Corporal Karl “Happy” Maurer, a young, idealistic medical student who has been captured by the Allied Forces. This is 1944, and the war is coming close to an ending, with it becoming obvious that Germany has lost. American Colonel Devlin (Gary Merrill) is leading a military intelligence unit that is enlisting German POWs to cross back over and spy on their former comrades.
Happy is one of those recruits. So is “Tiger” (Hans Christian Blech), a cynical mercenary who accepts the mission primarily to avoid dying in a POW camp. These two men are under the direct command of Lieutenant Rennick (Richard Basehart), a man who hates turncoats, no matter what side they are currently working for. Tiger is chosen specifically because of his knowledge of the area they will be parachuting into, whereas Happy’s job will be to locate the 11th Panzer Corp, which is expected to heavily oppose the mass surrender of the Germans. After some espionage training, all three men parachute into Germany and split up.
The middle third of the film follows Happy almost exclusively as he encounters Germans with a wide array of views towards the war. There are plenty of people who are defiant in the face of defeat, while others are resigned to the loss. Eventually, he finds his way to the 11th Panzer Corp, where he is selected to treat its commander, Oberst von Ecker (O. E. Hasse), at his castle headquarters. Afterwards, he escapes the Gestapo and makes his way to a safe house in the ruins of the heavily bombed Mannheim, where Rennick and Tiger are hiding out. The German commander they were to contact has been heavily injured, and without him, the other German officers will not surrender to the Allies. In a desperate attempt to escape back across the Rhine to the American-controlled side, Tiger flees in panic, and Happy chooses to sacrifice himself to allow Rennick to escape. Rennick reflects that his previous assumptions of treason and disloyalty may have been wrong.
It is easy to demonize a group of people over the acts of their leaders. This was rampant during World War II as people naturally equated all Germans with the Nazis. But many German citizens did not support the Nazi Party, even the soldiers who were forced into battle lest they be executed by their own government. It was a dark period of time for anyone who didn’t tow the Party line, facing a moral dilemma such as that. There were, of course, many others who were fully bought into the Nazi propaganda, too. A person of good conscience couldn’t speak up about what they believed in their heart lest they voice their feelings to the wrong person and find themselves disappearing in the night. A person on the outside of all this would naturally think all Germans, especially those in uniform, were Nazis and deserving to die, yet many were simply fighting because their government forced them to, much like we did when drafting soldiers on our end.
But there are two types of patriotism. People tend to forget that. Patriotism isn’t necessarily blindly following the orders of your government. Patriotism could be having your country’s best interest at heart, even if the government doesn’t. This, from the point of view of the blind followers, can be seen as treason. Happy represents that point of view. He is loyal to Germany, but not to its current government, which he sees as destructive to the land and the people. He knows Germany has lost the war and that it’s important to end the war quickly before even more destruction occurs. This will allow Germany a chance to rebuild before it is too late. This belief is his primary motivation for accepting a mission that would put him in opposition to his fellow countrymen.
This immediately puts him at risk as another POW “traitor” is attacked one evening in the prison and thrown out a window to his death. Later, while back in Germany, he will encounter people who defiantly do not see things the way he does. One of these men is SS courier Scholtz (Wilfried Seyferth), a defiant man who takes offense at the very notion that Germany is losing the war. On the other side of the coin is Hilde (Hildegard Knef), a war widow who has resorted to prostitution to stay alive. Hildegard Knef actually fought in World War II disguised as a soldier to stay near her lover. She was captured by the Soviets and spent time in a prison camp before being rescued and returned to Berlin. Her true life experiences in the war fueled her performance here, and when you see the pain on her face, you can see the realities she is dredging up behind it. This is more than a performance for her; it’s reliving the nightmare.
This film reminds us that even in war-hungry countries, not everyone is the enemy. There were plenty of Japanese civilians that didn’t want to fight in World War II, also. Not everyone in Afghanistan is a member of Al-Qaeda. This came out at a time when Germany was still under military occupation and well before it would be a free country again. We needed this reminder, especially for those soldiers who had just recently returned from Europe, many of whom had strong opinions about who the enemy was. This film can be preachy at times; that comes with the message it is trying to convey. It’s also not the most action-packed war/spy movie out there, but it is a great film nevertheless. It takes the time to examine its messages and makes sure that we do not miss it.
Academy Award Nominations:
Best Picture: Anatole Litvak and Frank McCarthy
Best Film Editing: Dorothy Spencer
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Release Date: December 21, 1951
Running Time: 119 Minutes
Not Rated
Starring: Richard Basehart, Gary Merrill, Oskar Werner, and Hildegard Knef
Directed by: Anatole Litvak
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