Decision Before Dawn
21/12/1951
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.
Movie Information
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)
