Entscheidung vor Morgengrauen

A taut story, first-rate acting, and a compelling subject make this film worth seeing.

Espionage/spying is a tricky subject, but "Decision Before Dawn" handles it brilliantly. No flash, no Mata Haris, no absurd coincidences. Weaving human drama and the grim realism of war, this film is that rare gem that manages to teach without preaching.

Among the superb performances is our hero Happy, played with just the right blend of suspense and humanity by Oskar Werner. Happy (an ironic name given to him by his American overseers) is torn between love of his native land and his duty to what is right. Werner walks this tightrope better than most I've seen.

In the end, however, it's the script that is the true gem of the film. Peter Viertel is a master story teller, with such great screenplays as "Saboteur" and "The Hard Way" to his credit. Viertel, with a story by author George Howe, weaves an intricate, but not confusing, narrative of war and devotion and duty. He's one of the few _writers_ I look for when I check out "On TV This Week" on IMDB.

Those were the outcasts of WW2.German war prisoners who decided to rebel against their country.

Karl-aka "Happy" - agrees to become a spy in the "pay" of Americans at the end of WW2 in his country .A country in ruins.The "Third Reich " which should have lasted one thousand years was collapsing.Oskar Werner gives a restrained moving performance.If "underacting" has a meaning (not meant pejoratively) ,that's exactly what it is.He watches his country fall as if he does not belong there anymore.He meets people he used to know ,a girl (Knef) he could love (but he won't),but he knows from the start that wherever he goes,he is an outcast.His new "Friends" use him as a pawn in their game,and " his motherland will not cradle him anymore" .

Anatole Litvak,an European who used to work in France -where the first scenes take place- in the thirties (and later would in the fifties/sixties)knows what he is talking about.He joined the army during WW2;and "decision before dawn" was one of his finest achievements .

Like this? try this...

Vent d' Est Robert Enrico 1993

Occasionally I rate a film high for personal and sentimental reasons. In this case I am compelled by objective facts to add in the light of greater perspective that I consider this one of the best war movies of all time.

In the first place, the acting is superb. The casting is flawless. The direction is taut, as is the editing. It is filmed in black and white, as it would have to be even today if someone wanted to try a remake. The locations and sets are authentic to a "T." The story itself follows faithfully the text of a book I read as a child (before I saw the film, in fact).

Moreover, I consider it an act of bravery on the part of the film's producers even to begin a project like this so soon after the end of World War II, when passions against the Germans were still running high and mere caricatures of that nation's common people remained the standard for the day (and for years to come).

Oskar Werner in the main role was a brilliant choice, and veterans Richard Basehart and Gary Merrill provide ample evidence that casting proceeded on a basis of resolute excellence and authenticity. I am still blown away by revisiting the "Romantic Road" in Germany and thinking how this movie defined and continued to define for me how recent and ancient history converged along that path.

I cannot praise it enough.

Having served in the US Army-Europe in Germany it was easy to see that this work was an accurate depiction of the world as Germans saw it in those years. Going to the IMDb database confirmed that it was filmed in Wurzberg, a city I visited many times. One can not help but wonder what memories and nightmares came back to life for the German people in this movie, or the ones who viewed it, or even witnessed the movie being made. The film is so very realistic in script, acting, and setting that some must have almost thought WWII was alive again. For those that lived through WWII in that country it must have seemed as if those days were repeating themselves. Every detail of this movie is accurate as far as I could tell. It does not employ overused stereotypes, no action heroes, no earth shaking grand and glorious finale, it simply depicts a period of time in all its' tragedy and irony in a most realistic manner. This work deserves more praise and exposure than it has received. A must see for every WWII researcher and historian.

Surprisingly good war film unknown to me before I saw it on American Movie Classics. Cast is excellent. Characters are well-drawn. The film is the best portrayal I have yet seen on celluloid of Germany in its stages of final collapse as the end of WWII nears. Some very impressive interiors are beautifully shot - the cathedral that serves as intelligence hq, and the castle or chateau that is the German command hq. Engrossing story of conflicted loyalties, and good action and suspense as well. I can only add my agreement with the positive comments already entered.