Best movie of this year hands down!

You won't be disappointed!

Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

This film primarily hopes to provide remembrance for one German soldier(name changed) who, as a POW, accepted the challenge of going on spy missions requested by the Americans. The story supposedly is largely based on fact. He was dubbed Happy, and said his motivation was to help a little to bring the war to an end a little quicker. We follow him on one mission, in which he was supposed to find out where the 11th panzer division was located. He dressed as a German airman, with a red cross on his arm, to indicate he was a medic. Simultaneously, another POW: dubbed Tiger, went on another mission with American Lt. Rennick, who had picked the men to go on these missions. I would have liked to go into more depth in how the successful candidates were picked. Happy was picked partly because he seemed honest. Another(Tiger) was picked because he was reckoned to be a good liar and because he was familiar with the area. He would prove to be cowardly when it came to swimming the Rhine, to get back to the American position with the info they had learned(Their radio had been damaged, hence they couldn't relay the info that way.) Hence, Rennick shot him in the back to make sure he didn't divulge their info.......The movie was made while there were still some bombed out structures remaining, and still a good amount of German war machines around. Thus, it was made more authentic than it could have been at a later date. Often, fires were burning in rubble and still standing buildings, although they mostly looked artificial. Most film footage evidently was shot in Wurzburg, with some in Munich.....Some German soldiers, including some POWs, were sensitive to the suggestion that the war was lost. Thus, the soldier who was brought by Rennick in his jeep, along with the future Happy, was pushed out a second story building by some POWs, for voicing this opinion. Also, SS transporter Schultz, in conversation with Happy, got very angry when Happy voiced this opinion. But young widow Hilde just wanted the war over with, pouring out her heart to Happy, after coming to his room with some things he had left. ..... The most exciting part is the last part, where Happy is running for his life, from German soldiers who detected something phony in his check in . He subsequently managed to find Rennick and Tiger in a mostly bombed out building. I'm not clear how he was given their location. A another moment of terror occurred on the small island in the Rhine, where they swam to, which was crawling with German military. See it at YouTube

Gary Merrill and Richard Basehart are the Americans who head the cast of Decision Before Dawn, an outstanding film about the final days of World War II and the Third Reich. The film shows the scene of both the Americans who want a quick way to the heart of Germany to end the war and the Germans trying to stay alive in a situation with not many options.This film was the first introduction for American audiences to Oskar Werner who plays a young German soldier who is now a POW. An option is offered to Werner along with some other selected prisoners to now spy for the Americans as the war even from their point of view after the Battle Of The Bulge is lost. Too bad the same option couldn't be offered by the Russians on the Eastern front. A little too much personal history there.Werner's mission is to find the 11th Panzer Division and assess their strength and he's got five days to do it. He proves adept, but not quite adept enough as he eventually gets the Nazis on his trail. How he makes out is for you to see Decision Before Dawn.Werner's performance might have been something that Marlon Brando saw and made mental notes of before taking on his German role in The Young Lions. In the Brando film we see the gradual deterioration of his beliefs until he's killed a little bit after the events of this film. Werner's character is like Brando's, except he lives long enough to redeem himself in his own eyes by the work he does now.20th Century Fox spent a little money on this one with location shooting and casting of various German players who like Werner were no doubt deemed to be non-Nazi in their beliefs. Check the credits of the cast and you'll see many had long careers post World War II careers in the German cinema. As for the location shooting, a lot of that area of the Rhine border on both sides was still showing the effects of the devastation of the war. In fact besides the performances, you'll also see some of the most realistic cinematography around of World War II battle sequences, not to mention the effects of bombing of civilians.Decision Before Dawn is an outstanding war film, receiving two Oscar nominations in technical categories. It's that third Oskar you should see this film for though.

Close to the end of WW2, the US military recruits Nazi defectors from the ranks of German POW's to return to Germany as spies. Klaus Kinski makes a brief appearance during the interview process, but his character is rejected. Who is accepted to participate in this mission is incomparable Oskar Werner as Corporal Karl Maurer who is given the code name Happy. It's an ironic name for such a serious actor. He's perfect for the part in this heavy film set largely in the destruction of bombed out cities. Such a setting makes it difficult for the Germans to actually capture him, as when they are on to his trail, the aerial Allied bombings begin again. There are lots of places to hide amidst the treacherous ruins of the near collapsing buildings.Yet the Germans try to maintain discipline to the very end, as a deserter is hanged and his body is left for all to see. The film uses the destruction in which it is set and reminds us of how things change when the peace time environment becomes lost amidst the destruction. Werner goes through several meetings with Germans, the best being the Colonel who orders the deserter to be hanged, and another with the tragic character played by Hildegard Knef, whom he meets in a bar. Amidst the desperation still lurks a couple of true Nazi believers, one played quite well by Wilfred Seyferth as Heinz Scholtz, a dangerous SS man who befriends the traitor Werner. The film is overwhelmingly stark and lacks any sense of humor whatsoever, but in my book that just adds to the overall effect, much like some of the Cold War era spy films, such as The Spy Who Came In From The Cold.

"Decision before Dawn," a 1951 20th Century Fox film, is one that possibly baby-boomers will remember from its TV premiere on "Saturday Night at the Movies." "Saturday Night at the Movies" was a Fox '60s television show that debuted many of the studio's films on the air. "The Desert Fox," "Diplomatic Courier," "There's No Business Like Show Business," "Halls of Montezuma" and dozens of others all were shown in prime time. The show had guest hosts, but the only one I can remember at the moment is Linda Darnell. It was the kind of show that got young people like myself interested in film. Today, with dedicated channels, it's a little harder for young kids to get exposure to old movies. I'm glad I was young when I was.Oskar Werner, Richard Basehart, Gary Merrill and Hildegarde Neff star in this fact-based World War II drama about the recruitment of German POWs to gather information on the German army toward the end of the war. One such volunteer is the solemn-faced "Happy" who believes that the war needs to end and peace restored. Though he and the others are viewed as traitors who have their own agendas, Happy proves that he's not "just another kraut" - which is one of the last phrases spoken in the film. As he attempts to perform his mission, he meets different people and has some experiences that demonstrate what the war was like for the common man who experienced it on their own soil. And he demonstrates his own humanity in the process.Filmed on location in the rubble of German cities and using Germans as extras, "Decision before Dawn" is one of the most realistic, atmospheric and accurate movies about World War II, with many suspenseful scenes that will have your nails bitten down to the quick. The casting is perfection. This was Werner's star-making role (though it didn't lead to anything in Hollywood right away), and he gives a very internalized, restrained performance, his solemn baby face giving very little away. The rest of the performances are excellent, with two ruggedly handsome men, Basehart and Merrill, very effective in their roles. Hans Christian Blech is a standout as another German prisoner who becomes a spy.As someone on IMDb pointed out, the anti-German sentiment was certainly still prevalent in America at the time of this film, and to show a German in a positive light, as well as what the Germans went through, was a brave decision. The fact is, Hitler didn't care a hoot about the people of Germany. He took their pots and pans, their food, and when they ran out of men, he took their 14-year-old sons. In the end, he blamed them for the war being lost. "Decision Before Dawn" is a great film that shows that not all Germans were Nazis. Some of them were just human beings.