MovieChat Forums > The Big Lift (1950) Discussion > Companion Movie: 'Decision Before Dawn'

Companion Movie: 'Decision Before Dawn'

posted 19 years ago by CmdrCody
1 reply | jump to latest

If you liked the gritty feel and authentic nature of "The Big Lift," then check out "Decision Before Dawn" with Gary Merril and Richard Basehart. Also shot in black and white, it explores the operations of an actual secret intellegence unit in the European theater during WWII called "G-2 SSS, Seventh Army."

This unit is attached to our forces standing on the Rhine, during the winter-early spring of 1945. It's tasked with finding out tactical information about German forces on the other side of the river. To do this, it is decided to use captured German prisoners, train them to work for us and then parachute them back into Germany to gather information.

Very cool movie, shot amongst the ruins of Germany. Director Anatole Litvak used actual US Army personnel in this movie, too.

Look for German actor O.E. Hasse in both movies. In "The Big Lift," he is Stieber, the scrounger and unofficial "spy' (airplane counter) for the Russians. A bit of comic relief. In "Decision Before Dawn," he is Col. Von Ecker, the conflicted but resolute German tank commander in the XI Panzer Corps. He's great in both movies.

I hope you enjoy both pictures as much as I do.

Thank you for reading my comments.

[–] hobnob53 13 years ago

Decision Before Dawn is a much better film, more suspenseful, heart-stopping and even tragic than anything in The Big Lift. Of course, the two plots are entirely different, so perhaps such critcism is a bit unfair. But DFD is a much more dynamic, well-written and -directed movie. It's also available in a quality DVD from Fox, one of the last classic films they released before pretty much stopping such releases in 2008.

The Big Lift has too much "good citizen" propaganda masquerading as improbable dialogue that gets in the way of the story and makes the direction rather clunky and slow. Still, I enjoy it, mainly for the stars and its historical aspects. Both would make an interesting double bill.

Curiously, Decision Before Dawn received an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture of 1951 -- but not a single other nomination! It's pretty odd for a film thought eligible for the top award not to get any others.