''Before Winter Comes'' is a 1969 British

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

war film War film is a film genre concerned with warfare, typically about navy, naval, air force, air, or army, land battles, with combat scenes central to the drama. It has been strongly associated with the 20th century. The fateful nature of battle s ...

directed by J. Lee Thompson from a screenplay by

Andrew Sinclair Andrew Annandale Sinclair FRSL FRSA (21 January 1935 – 30 May 2019) was a British novelist, historian, biographer, critic, filmmaker, and a publisher of classic and modern film scripts. He has been described as a "writer of extraordinary flu ...

Plot

''Before Winter Comes'' takes place in the immediate aftermath 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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. British Major Giles Burnside (

David Niven James David Graham Niven (; 1 March 1910 – 29 July 1983) was a British actor, soldier, memoirist, and novelist. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance as Major Pollock in '' Separate Tables'' (1958). Niven's other roles ...

) is assigned to an refugee camp in occupied Austria; his mission is to send the groups of displaced civilians to either the Russian zone or the American zone. Burnside is a by-the-book officer but he runs into trouble with the translation of the many different languages. However, one of the refugees, Janovic (

Topol Topol may refer to: Missiles * RT-2PM Topol, a Russian intercontinental ballistic missile in service from 1985 * RT-2PM2 Topol-M, a Russian intercontinental ballistic missile in service from 1997 People * Topol (surname) * Chaim Topol, Israeli a ...

), can speak many languages and is willing to help. Janovic quickly conveys Burnside's orders and helps the camp run smoothly. Janovic runs into romance with a lovely innkeeper, Maria (

Anna Karina Anna Karina (born Hanne Karin Blarke Bayer; September 22, 1940 – December 14, 2019)

), until he discovers her affair with Burnside. Meanwhile, Janovic is found to be a

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian language, Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist R ...

deserter, who should be returned to the Soviet authorities to be executed. Burnside offers to help him escape, but Janovic cannot decide whether to trust him. During a down moment Major Burnside tells a story to Pilkington about a brave Major who tried to defuse a bomb on a bridge by walking into enemy fire. He describes it as a chance to win a medal for bravery. As he finishes, the story switches to a general who reveals that Burnside was the major in question and his "brave" mistake led to the death of some 200 men and his posting to the camp. Jovanovic makes a vain attempt at escaping to Switzerland but is captured by Americans and returned to Burnside. As Burnside organises his release to Linz and freedom, he is contacted by the British army who inform him that Jovanovic is to be sent to Freistadt (and his death) to prevent any conflict with the Russians. Burnside reluctantly sends Jovanovic to Freistadt but conceals it by labelling the truck as Linz. At the last moment, Liuetenant Pilkington arrives and threatens to stop the truck but is ordered not to intervene. Pilkington races after Jovanovic but is too late. The film ends with Burnside being assigned to Indonesia and another camp, denied the chance to rejoin his unit. Pilkington visits Maria and breaks down angrily at Burnside. Burnside is commended by his sergeant for being a fine officer while the film ends with Jovanovic in a truck surrounded by Russian soldiers, his fate unknown.

Cast

as Major Burnside *

as Janovic *

Anna Karina Anna Karina (born Hanne Karin Blarke Bayer; September 22, 1940 – December 14, 2019)

as Maria *

John Hurt Sir John Vincent Hurt (22 January 1940 – 25 January 2017) was an English actor whose career spanned over five decades. Hurt was regarded as one of Britain's finest actors. Director David Lynch described him as "simply the greatest actor in t ...

as Lieutenant Pilkington *

Anthony Quayle Sir John Anthony Quayle (7 September 1913 – 20 October 1989) was a British actor and theatre director. He was nominated for an Oscar and a Golden Globe for his supporting role as Thomas Wolsey in the film '' Anne of the Thousand Days'' (1969 ...

as Brigadier Bewley *

Ori Levy Ori or ORI may refer to: People * Ori (Hebrew), a Hebrew given name, and a list of Israeli people with the name * Ori Kowarsky (born 1970), Canadian filmmaker and lawyer * Ōri Umesaka (1900–1965), Japanese photographer * Amos Ori (born 195 ...

as Captain Kamenev * John Collin as Sergeant Woody *

Karel Stepanek Karel may refer to: People * Karel (given name) * Karel (surname) * Charles Karel Bouley, talk radio personality known on air as Karel * Christiaan Karel Appel, Dutch painter Business * Karel Electronics, a Turkish electronics manufacturer * Gr ...

as Count Kerassy *

Guy Deghy Guy Deghy (born Gedeon Aladar Istvan Deghy; 11 October 1912 – 25 February 1992), was a Hungarian-born actor who appeared largely in British films and television, as in the 5th episode of the first season of '' The Saint'' depicting Inspector ...

as Kovacs * Mark Malicz as Komenski * Gertan Klauber as Russian major *

Hana Maria Pravda Hana Maria Pravda (, Becková; after first marriage, Munk; after second marriage, Pravda; 29 January 1916, Prague − 22 May 2008, Oxford) was a Czech actress. Biography Hana Becková was born in Prague, 29 January 1916. She trained in Leningrad ...

as Beata * George Innes as Bill * Tony Selby as Ted * Hugh Futcher as Joe * Chris Sandford as Johnny *

Colin Spaull Colin J. Spaull (born 19 May 1944) is a British actor noted for his television work. Trained at what was then the Italia Conti School, now the Conti Academy of Theatre Arts, his credits include: ''Z-Cars ''Z-Cars'' or ''Z Cars'' (pronounce ...

as Alf * Larry Dann as Al *

Jeffry Wickham Jeffry Wickham (5 August 1933 – 17 June 2014) was an English stage, film and television actor. He served as President of the actors' trade union Equity from 1992 to 1994 and was the father of the actress Saskia Wickham and Rupert Wickham. ...

as Captain Roots * Alysoun Austin as A.T.S. driver *

John Savident John Savident (born 21 January 1938) is a retired British actor, known for his numerous television roles, including his portrayal of Fred Elliott in the soap opera '' Coronation Street'' from 1994-2006. He is also known for his performance as ...

as British corporal

Production

The film was based on a short story ''The Interpreter'' which had appeared in ''The New Yorker''. Screenwriter Andrew Sinclair says David Niven insisted on a title change as he did not play the interpreter. J. Lee Thompson said he made the film to return to more intimate dramas of earlier in his career such as ''Woman in a Dressing Gown''. Niven's fee was $250,000. It was an early screen role for Topol, who had become famous playing ''Fiddler on the Roof'' on stage in London. J. Lee Thompson called Topol "the Frank Sinatra of Israel, rugged, handsome, a Clark Gable type or a European version of Burt Lancaster." Filming took place south of Salzburg. John Hurt recalled "Niven was very helpful" during the shoot "because Chaim (Topol) was being difficult and tricksy."

Release

The film opened at the Sutton Theatre in New York City on 24 March 1969 and grossed $17,846 in its first week.

References

External links

*
Before Winter Comes
at

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