ID

FBW001088      Fiction

Country / Year

USA, 1944

Original Title

The Hour Before the Dawn

Directed by

Frank Tuttle

Produced by

Paramount Pictures, Inc., Los Angeles, CA / New York, NY

Staff

Producer: William Dozier; Script: Michael Hogan, Samuels Lesser; Based on: W. Somerset Maugham (Novel); Camera: John F. Seitz; Editing: Stuart Gilmore; Artistic consultant: Hans Dreier, Earl Hedrick; Special Effects: Gordon Jennings; Music: Miklós Rózsa

Cast

Franchot Tone (Jim Hetherton); Veronica Lake (Dora Bruckmann); John Sutton (Roger Hetherton); Binnie Barnes (May Hetherton); Henry Stephenson (Gen. Hetherton); Philip Merivale (Sir Leslie Buchannan); Nils Asther (Kurt van der Breughel); Edmund Breon (Freddy Merritt); David Leland (Tommy Hetherton); Aminta Dyne (Hertha Parkins); Morton Lowry (Jackson); Ivan F. Simpson (Magistrate); Donald Stuart (Farmer Searle); Harry Allen (Mr. Saunders); Mary Gordon (Annie); Ernest Severn (Willie); Raymond Severn (Jim as a Boy); Leslie Denison (Capt. Atterley); Harry Cording (Sam); Hilda Plowright (Mrs. Merritt); Viola Moore (Maid); David Clyde (Farmer); Tempe Pigott (Mrs. Saunders); Marjean Neville (Evie); Marie de Becker (Amelia); Thomas Louden (Wilmington); Deidre Gale (Emma); Nigel Morton (Observer Pilot); Otto Reichow (German Pilot); Charles H. Faber (German Pilot)

Length

74'

Format

35mm/sw/1:1,37

Abstract

This film takes place in England during the early part of WWII. The story concerns Jim Hetherton, a young man with a strong aversion to killing, who becomes a conscientious objector. Dora Bruckmann is governess in his mansion and a German spy. At the outbreak of war, she marries Jim Hetherton for protection. Because of his beliefs, he is deferred for farmwork, while Dora Bruckmann does her work for the enemy. After an air blitz, in which the Germans try to knock out a secret air strip in the vicinity of Hetherton's mansion, Dora is uncovered as a spy. Hetherton kills her in the end and joins the Royal Air Force.

Subject Terms

Anti-Nazi films (US); Germans, the; England; Foreign agents; World War II

Bibliography

- Nash, Ray R. / Ross, Stanley R. / Conelly, Robert B. (Ed.): Motion Picture Guide. Chicago, IL: Cinebooks, 1987