The Hour Before the Dawn [Blu-ray]

Director: Frank Tuttle Frank Tuttle

Overview

Jim Hetherton (Franchot Tone), the scion of an aristocratic rural English family, was traumatized from boyhood by a shooting accident and reaches adulthood as a sincere and dedicated pacifist -- like many of his generation in England. He makes his way through life as a schoolteacher with a promising future, and even ponders the possibility of marriage with Dora Bruckmann (Veronica Lake), the governess of his young nephew. But then the Second World War breaks out, which creates a crisis for Jim and his family and household. He decides that he can't a won't fight if it means killing another human being, and is accepted as a conscientious objector by the authorities. But in doing so, he is forced to give up his teaching position and take a job in farming, to contribute to the economic good at home. He soon finds himself being shunned by much of the village for his beliefs, and discovers that even amid a manpower shortage, securing a job to fulfill his service requirement is no easy matter. Meanwhile, his brother (John Sutton) is called up by the RAF, and his father (Henry Stephenson) joins the home guard. And Dora seems headed to an internment camp, until Jim marries her. But what neither he nor anyone else suspects is that Dora is actually an agent planted by the Germans, part of a team of fifth columnists working to undermine the British war effort. And her main concern is finding the location of a secret British airfield in the vicinity of the Hetherton estate. She manages to manipulate Jim by preying on his beliefs, and maneuvers him into potentially betraying his country.

Product Details

Release Date:	05/28/2024
UPC:	0738329266615
Original Release:	1944
Rating:	NR
Source:	Kl Studio Classics
Language:	English
Time:	1:14:00
Sales rank:	39,347

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Franchot Tone	Jim Hetherton
Veronica Lake	Dora Bruckmann
Binnie Barnes	May Hetherton
John Sutton	Roger 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 Simpson	Magistrate
Donald Stuart	Farmer Searle
Harry Allen	Mr. Saunders
Mary Gordon	Annie
Ernest Severn	Willie,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
Tempe Piggott	Mrs. Saunders
Nigel Morton	Observer Pilot
Otto Reichow	German Pilot
Thomas Lockyear	Wilmington
Charles H. Faber	German Pilot

Technical Credits

Michael Hogan

William Dozier	Producer
Gordon Jennings	Special Effects
Frank Tuttle	Director
Michael Hogan	Screenwriter