Two German Actors
Obviously, "Decision Before Dawn" is one of my favorite pictures. Two of the main actors have had interesting careers.
Ms. Hildegarde Neff: She was "Hilde" in the movie, the conflicted German dancehall girl who ultimately befriends young Karl Maurer. Neff was very popular in Europe, appearing in 57 films and was working when she died in February, 2002. She is great in the movie she made the following year after "Decision Before Dawn"...she was the haughty "Countess Liz" opposite Gregory Peck in "The Snows of Kilimanjaro."
Mr. Oskar Werner: The main star, "Karl Maurer" codenamed "Happy." Wasn't he great in this picture? He didn't work as much in film as Neff but showed up later in a few great roles...as "Fiedler," the East German master interogator opposite Richard Burton in "The Spy Who Came In From The Cold." And he shows up as the killer in a "Columbo" TV detective episode. He was in "Farenheit 451."
"Decision Before Dawn", to me, is like looking thru a time tunnel into the past. The story is based on a real American intel operation in 1945. There is a lot of basic spy tradecraft shown in the picture. It's one of those "hidden jewels" that many people when asked about their favorite movies about WWII have never heard of when you mention it.
I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
Thanks for reading my remarks.