This is one of Fox's semi-documentaries, complete with the usual Foreword informing us about real people (only their names have been changed) caught up in real events. Aside from the German players – Hans Christian Blech is excellent as usual and so is O.E. Hasse – speaking English to each other, the movie is grimly realistic. Although no expense has been spared, tension does tend to be dissipated by the movie's long running time and thus lose some of its initial promise and impetus. The movie is more a picaresque study of Oskar Werner's adventures through war-torn Germany in 1944 than the suspenseful spy yarn initially promised, although it still carries plenty of excitement. Perhaps Werner's hero is too youthfully deferential to excite full audience identification. We usually like our main character to be made of stronger stuff like Richard Basehart and Gary Merrill. In fact, although first-billed, Basehart disappears from the action for far too long, It's too lengthy a hiatus before he finally reappears in time for the chase climax. Nevertheless, there are scenes that jolt the eye and ear along the way, along with thousands of extras. And it's all brought to life unobtrusively yet masterfully by director by Anatole Litvak, and superbly photographed by Franz Planer.

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.

Near the end of WWII, the US Army gets German POWs to spy against their own country. Filmed on location in Europe, this is a solidly made drama under the capable direction of Litvak, his follow-up to "The Snake Pit." It features fine acting by Werner as a German prisoner and Basehart and Merrill as American officers. However, the script is a letdown. After an extended exposition where the Americans hatch the plan to use the German POWs for espionage, much of the middle part of the film is devoted to Werner carrying out his mission in Germany. None of it is very interesting, although it has an exciting finish. Given the lackluster script, the film becomes a drag.

A WWII yarn about a German prisoner (Oskar Werner) who volunteers himself for spy work in the front lines during the waning days of the European conflict. He's sent off on a mission that also involves another German spy and an American radio man (Richard Basehart). While carrying it out, he suffers a crisis of conscience, torn between his allegiance to his home country and his belief that the best way to help his people is to help the Americans wipe out Hitler's regime."Decision Before Dawn" is an entertaining spy thriller that benefits from its authentic, on location shooting amid bombed out European villages. But it could have been a much more interesting film had its moral conflicts been given more air time. It then would have been like something from Graham Greene. Unfortunately, Werner's crisis isn't shown to us as much as it's told to us in a few moments of voice over. Werner himself gives a good performance with the material he's given to work with, but it's tough to shake off the feeling of missed opportunity that surrounds the role. Speaking of Graham Greene, the film's finale is a chase through the rubble of a German town, and it's reminiscent of "The Third Man," but this one feels slightly dogged when compared to that other film's sense of funhouse excitement.Also starring Gary Merrill as the leader of the American mission, and Hildegard Knef in a brief but memorable role as a possible romantic complication for Werner.Grade: B+