''Resisting Enemy Interrogation'' is a 1944

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

docudrama Docudrama (or documentary drama) is a genre of television show, television and feature film, film, which features Drama (film and television), dramatized Historical reenactment, re-enactments of actual events. It is described as a hybrid of docu ...

training film, directed by Robert B. Sinclair and written by Harold Medford and Owen Crump. The cast includes Arthur Kennedy,

Mel Tormé Melvin Howard Tormé (September 13, 1925 – June 5, 1999), nicknamed "the Velvet Fog", was an American musician, singer, composer, arrangement, arranger, drummer, actor, and author. He composed the music for "The Christmas Song" ("Chestnuts Roa ...

, Lloyd Nolan, Craig Stevens and Peter Van Eyck. ''Resisting Enemy Interrogation'' was intended to train

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

(USAAF) crews to resist interrogation by the Germans. ''Resisting Enemy Interrogation'' received an Academy Award nomination in 1944 for best feature-length documentary.

Plot

In 1944, German intelligence strives to find the target of an upcoming raid by the reputed "B-99 bomber". To achieve this end, they interrogate a recently shot-down

aircrew Aircrew are personnel who operate an aircraft while in flight. The composition of a flight's crew depends on the type of aircraft, plus the flight's duration and purpose. Commercial aviation Flight deck positions In commercial aviatio ...

from a B-99 reconnaissance mission that was shot down over Italy. The aircrew is sent to Dulag Luft POW camp. The German officers, commanded by Major von Behn ( Carl Esmond) use various methods to discover this information, some of them quite subtle. While interviewing Lieutenant Frank L. Williams, Jr. ( Don Porter) and Captain James Spencer ( James Seay), the two airmen at first resist any probing for information. Other members of the crew include Sergeant Alfred Mason ( Arthur Kennedy) and Sgt. Cooper. Though no physical brutality is used, the Germans at one point stage a mock execution to scare a prisoner. Another prisoner is subjected to isolation to heighten his fear.

Red Cross The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...

officers and a nurse ( Poldi Dur) use their positions to extract information from the prisoners. Each airman eventually provides useful information because of their arrogance, fear or

naivety Naivety (also spelled naïvety), naiveness, or naïveté is the state of being naive. It refers to an apparent or actual lack of experience and sophistication, often describing a neglect of pragmatism in favor of moral idealism. A ''naïve'' may ...

. Some of what they say, which the enemy finds useful, seems innocuous but is used by the Germans as pieces to solve the larger puzzle. In the end, the Germans are able to determine the target of the raid and the B-99 bombing mission is intercepted. The intended target is spared heavy damage with 21 B-99s shot down and the loss of 105 aircrew. The U.S. intelligence officer ( Lloyd Nolan), in his briefing to the surviving members of the raid, stresses not talking under any circumstances because of the danger of talking too much; even innocuous conversation can help the enemy. He also says not to let down one's guard, that everything in a prison camp is suspect, and not to try to outwit the enemy.

Cast

All uncredited * Lloyd Nolan as USAAF Debriefing Officer / Narrator * Carl Esmond as Major von Behn - Nazi Commandant * Peter van Eyck as Captain Granach - Young Nazi Officer * Don Porter as Lieutenant Frank L. Williams, Jr. - American Co-pilot *

Kent Smith Frank Kent SmithGordon, Dr. Roger L. (2018). Supporting Actors in Motion Pictures: Volume II'. Pittsburgh, PA: Dorrance Publishing. pp. 130, 131. . "Kent Smith: Frank Kent Smith was born on March 19, 1907, in New York City. ..He was marrie ...

as Captain Reining - American working for the Nazis * Arthur Kennedy as Sergeant Alfred Mason * James Seay as Captain James N. Spencer * George Dolenz as Captain Volbricht * All above confirmed by AFI. *

as Ralph Cole * Craig Stevens as B-26 Pilot *

Hans Heinrich von Twardowski Hans Heinrich von Twardowski (5 May 1898 – 19 November 1958) was a German film actor. Career In Germany Twardowski was born in Stettin, Germany (now Szczecin in Poland). He made his first film appearance in the 1920 Robert Wiene-directed hor ...

as Herr Mahler - German Red Cross Representative * Poldi Dur as Nazi Nurse * Steven Geray as Dr. Victor Münz - Camp Doctor * Louis Adlon as Major Franz Kohmer * Charles Tannen as Sergeant Freulich - German Prison Plant * Henry Rowland as German Sergeant Renser * Rand Brooks as Pilot *

George O'Hanlon George O'Hanlon (November 23, 1912 – February 11, 1989) was an American actor, comedian and writer. He was best known for his role as Joe McDoakes in the Warner Bros.' live-action ''Joe McDoakes'' short subjects from 1942 to 1956 and as the voic ...

as American pilot at Headquarters * Sam Locke as Nazi * Otto Reichow as German Prison Guard * Hans Schumm as German Guard * Frederic Brunn as German Yard Guard * Max Wilk as Nazi * An actor whose identity seems to be unknown plays Sgt. Cooper, the fifth member of the crew

Production

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as the ...

for ''Resisting Enemy Interrogation'' took place at the Hal Roach Studios. Lloyd Nolan provides the opening narration, and appears at the end of the film as a debriefing officer, after which he speaks directly to the camera, telling airmen to not talk to their captors. Owen Crump, one of the screenwriters, said that the Bavarian chateau that appears in the film was a process shot based on a picture post card. He also reported that twp American fliers visiting the

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

studios after the war said that when they were captured during the war, recognized the building from the film when they were brought in for questioning. This amused them, and they began to laugh, confusing their interrogators. Stock footage of

Douglas A-20 Havoc The Douglas A-20 Havoc (company designation DB-7) is an American light bomber, attack aircraft, Intruder (air combat), night intruder, night fighter, and reconnaissance aircraft of World War II. Designed to meet an Army Air Corps requirement for ...

Lockheed Hudson The Lockheed Hudson is a light bomber and coastal reconnaissance aircraft built by the American Lockheed Aircraft Corporation. It was initially put into service by the Royal Air Force shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War and ...

Martin B-26 Marauder The Martin B-26 Marauder is an American twin-engined medium bomber that saw extensive service during World War II. The B-26 was built at two locations: Baltimore, Maryland, and Omaha, Nebraska, by the Glenn L. Martin Company. First used in ...

and

North American B-25 Mitchell The North American B-25 Mitchell is an American medium bomber that was introduced in 1941 and named in honor of Brigadier General Billy Mitchell, William "Billy" Mitchell, a pioneer of U.S. military aviation. Used by many Allies of World War ...

bombers were featured in the aerial combat sequence. The German aircraft were a combination of stock footage and models of the

Messerschmitt Bf 109 The Messerschmitt Bf 109 is a monoplane fighter aircraft that was designed and initially produced by the Nazi Germany, German aircraft manufacturer Messerschmitt#History, Bayerische Flugzeugwerke (BFW). Together with the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, the ...

fighters that made the interception.

Reception

''Resisting Enemy Interrogation'' was typical of the military training films of the period produced under the auspices of the

Office of War Information The United States Office of War Information (OWI) was a United States government agency created during World War II. The OWI operated from June 1942 until September 1945. Through radio broadcasts, newspapers, posters, photographs, films and other ...

. The film was distributed and exhibited by the USAAF primarily to Army Air Force personnel but was later released as a theatrical feature in New York in August 1944.

Remake

In 1950, the film story of ''Resisting Enemy Interrogation'' was purchased from Harold Medford to be made into a Universal-International motion picture with a working title of "Prisoner of War."Staff (April 30, 1954) "Hollywood Dossier" ''

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 ...

''. The film, entitled '' Target Unknown'', was released by Universal in 1951 with a screenplay by Medford. It was directed by

George Sherman George Sherman (July 14, 1908 – March 15, 1991) was an American film director and Film producer, producer of low-budget Western (genre), Western films. One obituary said his "credits rival in number those of anyone in the entertainment indus ...

with a cast led by Mark Stevens. The climax of the film is changed to an escape of the prisoners.

References

Notes Bibliography * Koppes, Clayton R. and Black, Gregory D. (1987) ''Hollywood Goes to War: How Politics, Profits and Propaganda Shaped World War II Movies''. New York, The Free Press .

External links

*
''Resisting Enemy Interrogation'' at AllMovie
* * *
'Resisting Enemy Interrogation' at the ''Library of Congress''
*
''Resisting Enemy Interrogation''
at the

National Archives and Records Administration The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an independent agency of the United States government within the executive branch, charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It is also task ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Resisting Enemy Interrogation Films about the United States Army Air Forces 1944 films American documentary films 1940s war drama films 1940s English-language films 1940s German-language films American black-and-white films First Motion Picture Unit films Articles containing video clips 1944 documentary films American war drama films 1944 drama films 1940s multilingual films American multilingual films Films directed by Robert B. Sinclair 1940s American films English-language documentary films English-language war drama films German-language American films