Resisting Enemy Interrogation


Resisting Enemy Interrogation is a 1944 United States Army docudrama training film, directed by Robert B. Sinclair and written by Harold Medford and Owen Crump. The cast includes Arthur Kennedy, Mel Tormé, Lloyd Nolan, Craig Stevens and Peter Van Eyck. Resisting Enemy Interrogation was intended to train United States Army Air Forces 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 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 use various methods to discover this information, some of them quite subtle. While interviewing Lieutenant Frank L. Williams, Jr. and Captain James Spencer, the two airmen at first resist any probing for information. Other members of the crew include Sergeant Alfred Mason 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 officers and a nurse use their positions to extract information from the prisoners. Each airman eventually provides useful information because of their arrogance, fear or naivety. 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, 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
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. 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, Lockheed Hudson, Martin B-26 Marauder and North American B-25 Mitchell bombers were featured in the aerial combat sequence. The German aircraft were a combination of stock footage and models of the Messerschmitt Bf 109 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 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." The film, entitled Target Unknown, was released by Universal in 1951 with a screenplay by Medford. It was directed by George Sherman with a cast led by Mark Stevens. The climax of the film is changed to an escape of the prisoners.