Review of Decision Before Dawn (1951) by Robert S — 18 Jun 2006

[b]***spoilers***[/b].

I was pleasantly surprised when I saw that Decision Before Dawn was made available on DVD. I've only been able to watch it on the rare occasions its been shown on television.

Decision Before Dawn was released in 1951 and directed by Anatole Litvak. It stars as Oskar Werner as 'Happy'. At the '52 Adacemy Awards it was nominated for editing and best picture. The movie was filmeds in Germany and Europe. The destruction a viewer sees in it is the real thing. Remants of the 'Big One'.

This movie is a must see in my humble opinion. I will go out on a limb and say you'll never find another WWII picture that is told from this particular point of view. At the same time it is a war and espionage picture. The catch is that the spies are German traitors recruited from prisoner of war camps.

Focus is placed on two of these turncoats and they represent different ends of the spectrum. One, Werner's, is codenamed 'Happy'. Happy is a person who decides to help the Allies because he truly does love his country and feels that this is the best way to help Germany. The other, 'Tiger' played by Hans Christian Blech, is a murkier figure. One thing I love about this picture is a viewer is never quite sure if Tiger is working for the Allies or is a double agent. The one thing you are sure about Tiger is, he's all about himself. What's in it for Tiger? That's his credo.

Out of the two, Happy is the main character. We are introduced to him at the very beginning of Decision when he is captured by one of his soon to be teamates, Lt. Rennick played by Richard Basehart. We see his experiences in the P.O.W. camp, his recruitment and mission training. These parts of the movie are all interesting especially when he witnesses his fellow German POWs kill a suspected traitor but the movie really kicks into gear when Happy is parachuted back into Germany to gather intelligence for the Allies. Happy is tasked with finding the headquarters of the 11 Panzer Corps. Unfortunately for Happy things start going awry the moment he hits the ground.

On the ground, Happy not only has to deal with his mission but with the people he encounters. In every encounter he has to face the myriad ways the war has devastated his countrymen and know that he is betraying them. It is these encounters that give the movie its power. He deals with friends who unknowningly could expose him. He sees people killed simply because they are looking out for their families. Children turn in people to the authorities. Everywhere the irrationality of war consumes the screen.

Although he isn't aware of it at first, the Gestapo and [i]SS[/i] are on to him almost from the get go. The movie presents great drama from this. One scene in particular always stood out to me. Happy and a [i]SS[/i] man, Scholtz played by Wilfried Seyferth get into an argument because Happy makes the mistake of calling Alsace part of France.

Decision Before Dawn is extremely well done. It is suspenseful and dramatic. At the beginning we hear Rennick in say, "Why would anyone become a spy? If they win no one remembers them, if they fail, they are killed." This sentiment is made all the more poignant at the end of the film when he find out everything was unnecessary.