''The Dawn Express'' (aka ''Dawn Express'' and ''Nazi Spy Ring'' (working title) is a 1942 American film directed by

Albert Herman Albert Herman (1887–1958) was an American actor, screenwriter and film director. Herman was a prolific director, working mainly on low-budget movies for companies such as Producers Releasing Corporation. He is sometimes credited as Al Herman. S ...

. The film stars Michael Whalen,

Anne Nagel Anne Nagel (born Anna Marie Dolan; September 29, 1915 – July 6, 1966) was an American actress. She played in adventures, mysteries, and comedies for 25 years. She also appeared in television series in the 1950s. One book described her as "one ...

William Bakewell William Bakewell (May 2, 1908 – April 15, 1993) was an American actor who achieved his greatest fame as one of the leading juvenile performers of the late 1920s and early 1930s. Early years Bakewell was a native of Los Angeles, where he at ...

and

Constance Worth Constance Worth (born Enid Joyce Howarth; 19 August 1911 – 18 October 1963) was an Australian actress who became a Hollywood star in the late 1930s. She was also known as Jocelyn Howarth. Early life and career She was born in Sydney, Austral ...

Plot

In the middle of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Nazi Capt. Gemmler is in need of a powerful chemical formula to improve the energy output of ordinary gasoline. In his quest for this formula he finds two individuals that he thinks will be of use and who are already involved in such a project. Using his secret agents, Gemmler has them kidnapped and then murdered when they cannot help him. Next he targets two others more closely involved: the chemist and playboy Tom Fielding and his co-worker, Robert Norton, who is engaged to Tom's sister Nancy. The unsuspecting Tom goes to a nearby tavern one night, where he meets a Polish refugee named Linda Pavlo and strikes up a conversation with her. The following morning Tom is late for work and Robert warns him to be careful of such encounters. The president of the chemical company where they work, Franklyn Prescott, now gets a visit from a government agent, James Curtis, and is told that there has been a double murder in another chemical plant. Prescott is not worried, but refers to his security plan: the plant is only working on one half of the precious formula, while another plant on the East Coast is working on the other half. Curtis breaks the news to Prescott that the East Coast plant has been compromised and sabotaged by George Pembroke, one of its own chemists now identified as working for the Nazis under the name of Karl Schmidt, who stole half of the formula,. In the night, when Tom and Robert return to the same tavern as before, Curtis' agents follow them there. Tom meets Linda again, and since she is actually a Nazi agent he is lured into a room where Gemmler is waiting. Gemmler threatens to hurt both Tom's mother and his sister Nancy if they do not play along and give him the formula. When Tom leaves the tavern that night, he is again followed by one of Curtis' men, but one of Gemmler's spies (in the disguise of a blind beggar) murders the agent. The following day Prescott and Curtis talk to Robert, explaining their theory that Tom, in an act of treason, has murdered the agent. Robert does not believe it, claiming Tom is innocent. What none of them are aware of is that Tom's sister Nancy is eavesdropping on their conversation. After Prescott and Curtis have left, Tom and Robert talk about what is going on; later that night Tom meets once more with Linda at the bar. This time she offers him $100,000 in exchange for the formula. After Tom's meeting with Linda, he, Robert and Nancy team up to try to frame the Nazi spies and get rid of them once and for all. Tom goes to the chemical plant to retrieve the formula and gives it to Robert. He in turn brings the formula to his meeting with Linda and is escorted to Gemmler's office. Suddenly, Tom appears at Gemmler's office and starts arguing over the payment. This results in Gemmler withholding payment entirely. Robert is knocked out by Gemmler's goons. The spies bring Tom with them to the airport, where Gemmler's contact, Karl Schmidt, is about to arrive on 'the Dawn Express'. The government agents have followed Tom and his party, but are too late to catch Gemmler before he leaves for the airport. They do, however, arrest Linda and a few other collaborators lingering at Gemmler's office. At the airport, Gemmler forces Tom into the aircraft and it takes off. Schmidt decides to test the formula while they are in mid-air. Tom, who knows that the future of his country and of his family is at stake, has deliberately brought along an unstable compound to mix with the chemical ingredients brought by Schmidt. The aircraft explodes, leaving no survivors, with Tom sacrificing himself to prevent the formula from reaching its destination.

Cast

* Michael Whalen as Robert Norton *

as Nancy Fielding *

as Tom Fielding *

as Linda Pavlo *

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 horr ...

as Capt. Gemmler *

Jack Mulhall John Joseph Francis Mulhall (October 7, 1887 – June 1, 1979) was an American film actor beginning in the silent film era who successfully transitioned to sound films, appearing in over 430 films in a career spanning 50 years. Early years Mu ...

as Chief Agent James Curtis * George Pembroke as Prof. Karl Schmidt *

Kenneth Harlan Kenneth Daniel Harlan (July 26, 1895 – March 6, 1967) was an American actor of the silent film era, playing mostly romantic leads or adventurer types. Early life Harlan was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of George W. Harlan and ac ...

as Agent Brown *

Robert Frazer Robert Frazer (born Robert William Browne, June 29, 1891August 17, 1944) was an American actor who appeared in some 224 shorts and films from the 1910s until his death. He began in films with the Eclair company which released through Universal ...

as John Oliver * Hans von Morhart as Heinrich, kidnapper * Michael Vallon as Argus, blind spy (credited as Michael Vallin) * William Costello as Otto - Tavern spy *

C. Montague Shaw Charles Montague Shaw (23 March 1882 – 6 February 1968) was an Australian character actor, often appearing in small supporting parts in more than 150 films. Shaw was born in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. He began his acting care ...

as Franklyn Prescott (Uncredited)

Production

Principal photography on ''The Dawn Express'' with the working title of ''Nazi Sky Ring'', began January 30, 1942, at Sunset Studio. Stock footage of a

Douglas DST The Douglas DC-3 is a Propeller (aircraft), propeller-driven airliner manufactured by Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II. It was developed as a larger, improved ...

was used. ''The Dawn Express'' was typical of the films produced early in World War II that concentrated on enemy espionage. Often rushed into production as

B films B, or b, is the second Letter (alphabet), letter of the Latin-script alphabet, used in the English alphabet, modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''English ...

, the plot was usually grafted onto

mystery Mystery, The Mystery, Mysteries or The Mysteries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters *Mystery, a cat character in ''Emily the Strange'' Films * ''Mystery'' (2012 film), a 2012 Chinese drama film * ''Mystery'' ( ...

western film The Western is a genre set in the American frontier and commonly associated with folk tales of the Western United States, particularly the Southwestern United States, as well as Northern Mexico and Western Canada. It is commonly referred ...

Reception

''The Dawn Express'' was not critically reviewed, as the film was a low-budget production that, other than featuring the steady and reliable Nagel, who appeared in a bevy of "light leading roles" during this period, had little to offer. ''The Dawn Express'' is in the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, ...

and is now preserved in many online sites."Dawn Express (1942)."
''Public Domain Movies''. Retrieved: February 22, 2017.

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Koppes, Clayton R. and Gregory D. Black. '' Hollywood Goes to War''. New York: The Free Press, 1987. . * Quinlan, David. ''Quinlan's Film Stars''. Washington, D.C.: Brassey's, 1996. .

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dawn Express 1942 films American aviation films American black-and-white films Producers Releasing Corporation films 1942 drama films American drama films Films directed by Albert Herman World War II films made in wartime 1940s English-language films