''Freedom Radio'' (a.k.a. ''A Voice in the Night'') is a 1941

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

propaganda film directed by

Anthony Asquith Anthony Asquith (; 9 November 1902 – 20 February 1968) was an English film director. He collaborated successfully with playwright Terence Rattigan on ''The Winslow Boy'' (1948) and '' The Browning Version'' (1951), among other adaptations ...

and starring

Clive Brook Clifford Hardman "Clive" Brook (1 June 1887 – 17 November 1974) was an English stage and film actor. After making his first screen appearance in 1920, Brook emerged as a leading British actor in the early 1920s. After moving to the Unit ...

Diana Wynyard Diana Wynyard (born Dorothy Isobel Cox; 16 January 1906 – 13 May 1964) was an English stage and film actress. Life and career Born in Lewisham, South London, Wynyard began her career on the stage. After performing in Liverpool and London wi ...

Raymond Huntley Horace Raymond Huntley (23 April 1904 – 15 June 1990) was an English actor who appeared in dozens of British films from the 1930s to the 1970s. He also appeared in the ITV period drama '' Upstairs, Downstairs'' as the pragmatic family soli ...

and Derek Farr. It is set in

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and concerns an underground German resistance group who run a radio station broadcasting against the totalitarian Third Reich. It was shot at

Shepperton Studios Shepperton Studios is a film studio located in Shepperton, Surrey, England, with a history dating back to 1931. It is now part of Pinewood Group, the Pinewood Studios Group. During its early existence, the studio was branded as Sound City (not ...

. The film's sets were designed by the

art director Art director is a title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, live-action and animated film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supe ...

Paul Sheriff.

Plot

The story begins in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

just before the beginning of the

. Dr Roder is physician to some important members of the Nazi party but prefers being at his luxurious house with his wife, Irena, and servants. Irena's brother Otto returns from Italy and they throw a party with many interesting and high-ranking attendees. During the party the

Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...

call, requiring his immediate attendance. At his club, the main servitor, Sebastian, announces the club is closing and they will not see him again. Some of Dr Roder's friends have already been taken away for 'questioning' and Dr Roder is horrified and afraid of the direction in which his country is going. His wife Irena is an actress, and after her performance it is related that Adolf Hitler very much admired her performance. She is offered a post in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

as Reich Director of Popular Pageantry. At church the priest decries the deposition of a fellow priest, inciting an attack by a group of SS officers including Otto who glares at the shocked doctor. The priest is killed but the press release blames the congregation. Hans Glaser is trying to get a radio sales licence and the doctor says he will try to help. He tells his fiancee Elly, who runs a newspaper stall despite various papers regularly being confiscated by the authorities. Frau Schmidt is pestered by her neighbour, who frequently scrounges from her, but never pays anything back. This time she asks for lard, but Frau Schmidt refuses, as she has little enough herself. The neighbour is furious at being turned down for once; she eavesdrops and hears Frau Schmidt listening to French broadcasts, then maliciously reports her to the SS, who smash her radio and arrest her just as her granddaughter Elly arrives. An SS officer assaults the girl. She is interrogated, but after Irena learns what happened to her, she intervenes and demands that Elly's attacker be punished, and Elly cared for, and they are told that Elly will go to a "rest home". Dr Roder and his wife start drifting apart especially when he says the Nazi party is like a cancer. She leaves him and goes to stay in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

. Things get worse, with beatings, interrogations and book burning. The doctor asks Hans to build a secret radio. Hans first suspects a trick. The doctor explains he wants to create a "Freedom Station"... both knowing they face death if caught. They use a basement under a toy shop and smuggle parts in through toys brought for repair; they grow a network of helpers, including Fenner, an actor friend of Dr. Roder's. Dr Roder creates a secret radio station transmitting on 26.9, from which he broadcasts condemnations of Hitler and prays for a "better" Germany to arise from the ashes of his ruined country. The unauthorised broadcast is intercepted and a public announcement made saying "do not listen to 26.9" accidentally promoting the station. They broadcast each evening at 10.30pm. The birth of "Freedom Radio" sees the creation of an underground group of anti-Nazis who regard Karl as their leader. Multiple people ring the doctor to wish him happy birthday... but it is not his birthday. Captain Muller explains to his superiors how triangulation can be used to calculate where the signal is coming from. He blames Goebels for jamming the signal which then cannot be traced. Otto visits Irena when the radio is on, they both think they recognise Dr Roder's voice. Otto is asked to join Muller's detection unit. Fenner starts doing more of the live broadcasts and the doctor's voice is put onto a gramophone record for broadcast, whilst he appears in public to prove that he is not the Voice. His friend Rudolf has friends on each side. It is intimated to Rudolph in a coded message that Germany will invade Poland on the following Friday. It is discovered that Hitler will be making a major broadcast from a stadium and Hans goes to rig up a bypass to allow their own message to be broadcast instead. Ironically Irena is in charge of organising the pageantry of the huge rally. She has a special seat with Rabenau. Hitler starts to speak then it jumps to Roder... he speaks for under a minute before the power is switched off. Hans is almost caught, but, with the aid of a secret supporter, gets away, dressed as an SS officer. However, he and Fenner are pursued, and Fenner sacrifices his life to ensure Hans' liberty. They suspect Dr Roder and burst into his clinic. They find nothing. Meanwhile Hans gets home and finds Elly in his room; she looks broken, like an old woman. Unknown to Hans and the Roders, she had been sent not to a care home, but to a concentration camp. Dr Roder's wife returns and accuses him of being a traitor. He vows to make one last broadcast. Otto appears and chats with Mrs Roder; he overheard them talking and believes she knows where her husband is going to make the broadcast from. She is taken to Ranenau's office, but tells them the wrong place. However, they work out that Dr Roder had indicated a photo in a frame as the site of the broadcast. The SS identify it as Spiedler's cottage. As Ranenau tells Irena that there will indeed be war she goes to Dr Roder to warn him that the Gestapo are coming to the cottage. But the doctor sets up the transmitter in the back of a van. Irena joins him, for the first time understanding that things are not as she had thought. The Gestapo close in and locate the van. They fire a machine gun into the van killing the doctor but not before he broadcasts their country's plan to invade Poland. As he is killed, first Irena takes over the broadcast, then, when she is killed, others in the group broadcast from elsewhere that good people were murdered that day, but that they will continue to broadcast the truth.

Cast

as Dr. Karl Roder *

as Irena Roder *

as Rabenau * Derek Farr as Hans Glaser * Joyce Howard as Elly Schmidt *

Howard Marion-Crawford Howard Marion-Crawford (17 January 1914 – 24 November 1969), was an English People, English character actor, best known for his portrayal of Dr. Watson in the Sherlock Holmes (1954 TV series), 1954 television adaptation of Sherlock Holmes ...

as Kummer *

John Penrose John David Penrose (born 22 June 1964) is a British politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Weston-super-Mare from 2005 until 2024. A member of the Conservative Party, he was the United Kingdom Anti-Corruption Champion at th ...

as Otto *

Morland Graham Morland Graham (8 August 1891 – 8 April 1949) was a British film actor. Graham had a career on the stage spanning over 35 years. He was known as a character actor, but also wrote a one act comedy, ''C'est la Guerre'', which was first perf ...

as Father Landbach *

Ronald Squire Ronald Launcelot Squire (25 March 1886 – 16 November 1958) was an English character actor. Biography Born in Tiverton, Devon, England, the son of an army officer, Lt.-Col. Frederick Squirl and his Irish-born wife Mary (Ronald's surname 'Squ ...

as Rudolf Spiedler *

Reginald Beckwith William Reginald Beckwith (2 November 190826 June 1965) was an English film and television actor, who made over one hundred film and television appearances in his career. He died of a heart attack aged 56. Beckwith was also a film critic and ...

as Fenner * Clifford Evans as Dressler *

Bernard Miles Bernard James Miles, Baron Miles (27 September 190714 June 1991) was an English character actor, writer and director. He opened the Mermaid Theatre in 1959, the first new theatre that opened in the City of London since the 17th century. He was ...

as Captain Müller S *

Gibb McLaughlin George McLoughlin (19 July 1879 – 30 June 1961), known professionally as Gibb McLaughlin, was an English film and stage actor. Early days McLaughlin was born in Sunderland, County Durham, England in 1879. For about 10 years he was a sales ...

as Dr Weiner *

Muriel George Muriel George (29 August 1883 – 22 October 1965)''England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995''. Principal Probate Registry. ''Calendar of the Grants of Probate and Letters of Administration ma ...

as Hanna *

Martita Hunt Martita Edith Hunt (30 January 190013 June 1969) was an Argentine-born British theatre and film actress. She had a dominant stage presence and played a wide range of powerful characters. She is best remembered for her performance as Miss Havis ...

as Frau Lehmann, concierge *

Hay Petrie David Hay Petrie (16 July 1895 – 30 July 1948) was a Scottish actor noted for playing eccentric characters, among them Quilp in ''The Old Curiosity Shop'' (1934), the McLaggen in '' The Ghost Goes West'' (1935) and Uncle Pumblechook in ''Grea ...

as Sebastian *

Manning Whiley Manning Hedges Whiley (23 January 191529 January 1975) was a British actor. Partial filmography * '' Trunk Crime'' (1939) - Bentley * '' The Four Just Men'' (1939) - (uncredited) * '' Pack Up Your Troubles'' (1940) - Muller * ''Contraband'' (19 ...

as SS trooper * Katie Johnson as Granny Schmidt * George Hayes as policeman *

Everley Gregg Everley Gregg (26 October 1903, in Bishopstoke, Hampshire – 9 June 1959, in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire) was an English actress. Early in her career, she became associated especially with plays of Noël Coward. She began making films in the ...

as Maria Tattenheim * Marie Ault as old woman customer *

Abraham Sofaer Abraham Isaac Sofaer (1 October 1896 – 21 January 1988) was a Burmese-born British actor who began his career on stage and became a familiar supporting player in film and on television in his later years. Life and career Sofaer was born in R ...

as Heini *

Joan Hickson Joan Bogle Hickson (5 August 1906 – 17 October 1998) was an English actress of theatre, film and television. She was known for her role as Agatha Christie's Miss Marple in the television series '' Miss Marple''. She also narrated a number of ...

as Katie * Pat McGrath as Kurt * Wyndham Milligan as SS guard * Bunty Payne as Ema *

William Hartnell William Henry Hartnell (; 8 January 1908 – 23 April 1975) was an English actor, who is best known for portraying the first incarnation of the Doctor, in the long-running British science-fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' from 1963 t ...

as radio operator

Critical reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin The ''Monthly Film Bulletin'' was a periodical of the British Film Institute published monthly from February 1934 until April 1991, when it merged with '' Sight & Sound''. It reviewed all films on release in the United Kingdom, including those wi ...

'' wrote: "An excellent, well-directed film of good propaganda value. The sound recording is specially praiseworthy. In a magnificent cast, Clive Brook and Diana Wynyard give of their best as Karl and Irene and there are some cameos of acting worth remembering, for example Morland Graham as Father Landbach and Katie Johnson as Granny Schmidt." ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' critic wrote that "this is a frankly propagandistic drama...The admirable emotional restraint which went into the making of several of the better British war films seen here in the past year is sadly lacking."

Sky Movies Sky Cinema is a British subscription film service owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). In the United Kingdom, Sky Cinema channels currently broadcast on the Sky satellite and Virgin Media cable platforms, and in addition Sky Cinema on ...

called the film, "gripping, strongly cast and more subtle than most propaganda thrillers of its time...And film buffs may spot Katie Johnson, later to win fame in '' The Ladykillers'' but here, 13 years earlier, already in granny roles!"

Wolfgang Gans zu Putlitz Wolfgang Gans Edler Herr zu Putlitz (; 16 July 1899 – 3 September 1975) was a German diplomat. He resisted the Nazis and provided information to the British Secret Service. After the war, he became a communist and settled in the German Democra ...

, German diplomat operating for British intelligence, recalls in his autobiography working on the film as a consultant at Shepperton in the winter of 1939–40.''Unterwegs nach Deutschland'', Berlin 1956, p. 284-285 (English translation: ''The Putlitz Dossier'', London 1957).

External links

*
Freedom Calling! The Story Of The Secret German Radio

German Peoples Radio - Wikipedia

References

{{Anthony Asquith 1941 films British World War II propaganda films Two Cities Films films Films directed by Anthony Asquith Films with screenplays by Anatole de Grunwald Columbia Pictures films Films shot at Shepperton Studios Films set in Berlin British war drama films 1941 war films 1941 drama films 1940s English-language films English-language war drama films Films scored by Nicholas Brodszky