The Hour Before The Dawn (1944)

Set in England on the eve of WWII, a seemingly typical British family is notable for two things. The son (Franchot Tone) is a pacifist and the household's nanny (Veronica Lake) is a Nazi spy. Based on the novel by W. Somerset Maugham (OF HUMAN BONDAGE) and directed by Frank Tuttle (THIS GUN FOR HIRE). A film with a pacifist protagonist seems risky for a movie released during WWII and indeed, the film flopped at the box office. It doesn't help that a miscast Veronica Lake has difficulties with her German accent. She's deglamorized and with the exception of one scene, for most of the film she wears frumpy clothes and wears her braided hair tightly wound on her head. But as lovely as she was, she was never much of an actress and she brings nothing to the part. You pretty much know where the movie is going and by the film's end, Tone's pacifist beliefs -big surprise- have taken a turn. The subtle score is by Miklos Rosza. With John Sutton, Binnie Barnes and Henry Stephenson.