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Based on the novel by W. Somerset Maugham (Of Human Bondage) and made at the height of the Second World War, The Hour Before the Dawn stars Franchot Tone (Five Graves to Cairo) as Jim Hetherton, a pacifist Englishman who becomes a conscientious objector at the onset of WWII. The sultry Veronica Lake (So Proudly We Hail) plays Dora Bruckmann, the beautiful Austrian refugee whom Jim marries. But what neither he nor anyone else suspects is that Dora is actually an agent planted by the Nazis, and her main concern is finding the location of a secret airfield in the vicinity of the Hetherton estate in order to help Hitler’s planned invasion. By preying on his beliefs, Dora manages to manipulate Jim into potentially betraying his country. Billed as “a story of turbulent emotions, exciting times, impassioned love…and a sinister, deadly secret.”
Original Release
05/10/1944
US Release
05/10/1944
Cast
Name | Character |
---|
Veronica Lake | Dora Bruckmann |
Franchot Tone | Jim Hetherton |
John Sutton | Roger Hetherton |
Binnie Barnes | May Heatherton / May Hetherton |
Henry Stephenson | Gen. Hetherton |
Philip Merivale | Sir Leslie Buchanon |
Nils Asther | Kurt van der Breughel |
Edmund Breon | Freddy Merritt |
David Leland | Tommy Hetherton |
Aminta Dyne | Hertha Parkins / Mrs. Muller |
Directors
Writers
W. Somerset Maugham, Lesser Samuels, Michael Hogan, Michael Hogan
Cast
Name | Character |
---|
Veronica Lake | Dora Bruckmann |
Franchot Tone | Jim Hetherton |
John Sutton | Roger Hetherton |
Binnie Barnes | May Heatherton / May Hetherton |
Henry Stephenson | Gen. Hetherton |
Philip Merivale | Sir Leslie Buchanon |
Nils Asther | Kurt van der Breughel |
Edmund Breon | Freddy Merritt |
David Leland | Tommy Hetherton |
Aminta Dyne | Hertha Parkins / Mrs. Muller |
Harry Allen | Mr. Saunders |
David Clyde | Farmer |
Harry Cording | Sam |
Marie De Becker | Amelia |
Leslie Denison | Capt. Atterley |
Charles H. Faber | German Pilot |
Deidre Gale | Emma |
Karen X. Gaylord | Maid |
Mary Gordon | Annie |
Boyd Irwin | Magistrate #3 |
Producers
Name | Role |
---|
William Dozier | Producer |