Resisting Enemy Interrogation (1944)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Writers:

Release Date:

January 1945 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | War

Plot:

A downed American bomber crew quickly falls prey to the clever interrogation techniques of the Germans in this dramatic training film.

Plot Keywords:

Interrogation | Intelligence | Nazi | Threat | Prison Camp

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

Cast

Louis Adlon	...	Major Franz Kohmer (uncredited)
Rand Brooks	...	Pilot (uncredited)
Frederic Brunn	...	German Yard Guard (uncredited)
George Dolenz	...	Major Franz Komer (uncredited)
Poldi Dur	...	Nazi Nurse (uncredited)
Carl Esmond	...	Major von Behn - Nazi Commandant (uncredited)
Steven Geray	...	Dr. Victor Münz - Camp Doctor (uncredited)
Arthur Kennedy	...	Sergeant Alfred Mason (uncredited)
Sam Locke	...	Nazi (uncredited)
Lloyd Nolan	...	USAF Debriefing Officer (uncredited)
George O'Hanlon	...	American Pilot at Headquarters (uncredited)
Don Porter	...	Lieutenant Frank L. Williams, Jr. - American Co-pilot (uncredited)
Otto Reichow	...	German Prison Guard (uncredited)
Henry Rowland	...	German Sergeant Renser (uncredited)
Hans Schumm	...	German Guard (uncredited)
James Seay	...	Captain James Spencer (uncredited)
Kent Smith	...	Captain Reining - American Working for the Nazis (uncredited)
Craig Stevens	...	B-26 Pilot (uncredited)
Charles Tannen	...	Sergeant Freulich - German Prison Plant (uncredited)
Mel Tormé	...	American Pilot (uncredited)
Peter van Eyck	...	Captain Granach - Young Nazi Officer (uncredited)
Hans Heinrich von Twardowski	...	Herr Mahler - German Red Cross Representative (uncredited)
Max Wilk	...	Nazi (uncredited)

Runtime:

70 min | USA:66 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | German

Color:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Not Rated | USA:TV-14 (TV rating) | USA:TV-PG

Company:

First Motion Picture Unit, United States Army Air Forces

Quotes:

Major von Behn - Nazi Commandant: Just as there is no such thing as an innocent question, there is no such thing as a valueless statement.

Well-done drama masquerading as "training film"

Thanks to TCM for giving us an opportunity to see this gem. Made by the Army Air Force's famous First Movie Unit well into the war (1944), this is one of their most polished efforts. It has a simple, but effective narrative: a US air crew of 5 is downed by the Nazis, who use every trick in the book (short of torture) to pump information out of them: ingratiation, intimidation, deceit and psychological welfare. None of the downed fliers means to co-operate with the enemy, but each in his own way contributes some information to their clever Nazis captors, which is then pieced together by the Nazi commanding officer, somewhat flamboyantly portrayed by Carl Esmond. The consequences are disaster.

The point of the film as a training device (forcefully driven home by Lloyd Nolan in the closing sequence) was that ANY information, no matter how innocent or trivial seeming on its face, could complete the jigsaw puzzle for Nazi intelligence services. All that should EVER be revealed to ANYONE outside your own crew once you were captured was name, rank and serial number. A simple lesson, you would suppose, but for 70 minutes (rather lengthy by the genre's standards, I think) the point is expertly honed by a fairly effective little drama.

In addition to Nolan, the other "big name" actor here is a young Arthur Kennedy, who appeared in many excellent films over the following quarter century.