{"product_id":"decision-before-dawn-dvd","title":"Decision Before Dawn [DVD]","description":"Amazon.com\n\nRooting for a German soldier was a daring choice for a movie made in 1951, but Decision Before Dawn justifies the risk; this is a crackling good war movie. In late 1944, the Allies are pushing through Europe but need intelligence behind German lines. Two Americans (Richard Basehart, Gary Merrill) recruit German POWs and enlist them to spy on their former Fatherland. We follow the adventures of one such agent, arrestingly played by the young Oskar Werner, who parachutes into Bavaria and gathers information. (Oddly, the film abandons Basehart and another recruit, marvelously played by Hans Christian Blech, who have also gone under cover.) The well-deployed suspense is accompanied by a constant examination of what it means to be German, and what loyalty to one's country really entails--dutiful devotion or skeptical rebellion? This question doesn't go deep (there's a sense that the movie is a make-nice effort toward a new economic ally), but the film is on solid ground whenever the clockwork suspense takes over. Hildegarde Knef (here billed under her Hollywood spelling, Neff) turns up as a conflicted fraulein. Director Anatole Litvak, shooting on location, gets some amazing shots of bombed-out buildings and ruined towns; in that sense, the film is almost like a documentary record of the postwar landscape. Decision Before Dawn was nominated for the best picture Oscar, but became a lesser-known film in the decades that followed. It deserves a higher profile. --Robert Horton\n\nProduct Description\n\nDuring World War II, as the American army approaches Nazi Germany, the US recruits german prisoners to serve as a spy for the Allies. Starring Richard Basehart, Gary Merrill, and Oskar Werner.\u003cbr\u003eASIN: B000EHSVV4\u003cbr\u003eVSKU: DBV.B000EHSVV4.G\u003cbr\u003eCondition: Good\u003cbr\u003eBinding: DVD\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eNote:\u003c\/b\u003e Any images shown are stock photographs and product may differ from what is shown.  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eCondition Notes\u003c\/b\u003e: Individually inspected: Guaranteed to play perfectly or your money back. Case may show wear and may be in library packaging. Ships Fast!  \u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Dream Books Co.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41447105560634,"sku":"DBV.B000EHSVV4.G","price":5.19,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0555\/6011\/0138\/files\/B000EHSVV4-0.jpg?v=1780723504","url":"https:\/\/shop.dreambooksco.com\/products\/decision-before-dawn-dvd","provider":"Dream Books Co.","version":"1.0","type":"link"}