Clive Brook stars in this British wartime propaganda drama as Karl Roder, an Austrian doctor in Second World War Vienna who comes to realise that no matter how much the Germans patronise his practice, he is utterly opposed to everything they stand for.
At first the Doctor is interested in what the Nazis have to offer and this is reciprocated by the German overlords. They lionise Roder and treat him as if he were one of their own. However, as he begins to look around him, the Doctor sees the everyday cruelty of the regime as people he knows and loves become victims to the Nazis policies. This becomes even more pronounced when he sees that his wife, Irena (Diana Wynyard), is being seduced into National Socialism by the flattery of the Germans.
As a result of this, Roder decides to make a stand. He makes contact with engineer Hans Glaser (Derek Farr), who has his own reasons to hate the Germans, and together they set up a secret radio station that broadcasts propaganda against the Nazis, promising that one day things will improve in a Germany without Hitler. However, in taking a stand, Roder puts his own life at risk.
US Title: A Voice in the Night
production details
UK | 95 minutes | 1940
Director: Anthony Asquith
Writers: Anatole de Grunwald, Basil Woon, Jeffrey Dell, Louis Golding, Gordon Wellesley, Bridget Roland, Roland Pertwee
cast
Clive Brook as Dr. Karl Roder
Clifford Evans as Dressler
Morland Graham as Father Landbach
Diana Wynyard as Irena Roder
Joyce Howard as Elly Schmidt
John Penrose as Otto
Reginald Beckwith as Emil Fenner
Manning Whiley as S.S. Trooper
Pat McGrath as Kurt
Howard Marion Crawford as Kummer
Joan Hickson as Katie
Raymond Huntley as Rabenau
Hay Petrie as Sebastian
Bernard Miles as Capt. Muller
William Hartnell as Radio Location Aerial Operator
Muriel George as Hanna
Derek Farr as Hans Glaser
Marie Ault as Woman Customer
Martita Hunt as Frau Lehmann the Concierge
Ronald Squire as Rudolf Spiedler
Abraham Sofaer as Heini
Everley Gregg as Maria Tattenheim
Ben Williams as Nagel
Katie Johnson as Granny Schmidt
Gibb McLaughlin as Dr. Weiner
Adolf Hitler as Himself (archive footage)
George Hayes as Policeman
Bunty Payne as Erna
Wyndham Milligan as S.S. Guard
Ken Annakin as Radio Announcer (voice)
Ernest Butcher as Chestnut Seller
Mike Johnson as Fritz
Victor Wood