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DramaComedy

Before Winter Comes

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Drama/Comedy set in a refugee camp in occupied Austria after World War II. A shrewd multi-lingual interpreter who mediates between Russian and British military brass enters into a friendly rivalry with British Major Giles Burnside, who is in charge of assigning the displaced persons into either the American or Russian zones.

Release Date : 1969-01-17

Language :EnglishRussianGerman

Adult : false

Status : Released

Production Company : Windward

Production Country : United Kingdom

Alternative Titles :

Cast

David Niven

Character Name : Major Burnside

Original Name : David Niven

Gender : Male

Topol

Character Name : Janovic

Original Name : Topol

Gender : Male

Anna Karina

Character Name : Maria

Original Name : Anna Karina

Gender : Female

John Hurt

Character Name : Lieutenant Pilkington

Original Name : John Hurt

Gender : Male

Anthony Quayle

Character Name : Brigadier Bewley

Original Name : Anthony Quayle

Gender : Male

Ori Levy

Character Name : Captain Kamenev

Original Name : Ori Levy

Gender : Male

John Collin

Character Name : Sergeant Woody

Original Name : John Collin

Gender : Male

Karl Stepanek

Character Name : Count Kerassy

Original Name : Karl Stepanek

Gender : Male

Guy Deghy

Character Name : Kovacs

Original Name : Guy Deghy

Gender : Male

Mark Malicz

Character Name : Komenski

Original Name : Mark Malicz

Gender : Male

Gertan Klauber

Character Name : Russian Major

Original Name : Gertan Klauber

Gender : Male

Hana Maria Pravda

Character Name : Beata

Original Name : Hana Maria Pravda

Gender : Female

George Innes

Character Name : Bill

Original Name : George Innes

Gender : Male

Tony Selby

Character Name : Ted

Original Name : Tony Selby

Gender : Male

Christopher Sandford

Character Name : Johnny

Original Name : Christopher Sandford

Gender : Male

Constantine Gregory

Character Name : Russian Corporal

Original Name : Constantine Gregory

Gender : Male

Hugh Futcher

Character Name : Joe

Original Name : Hugh Futcher

Gender : Male

Colin Spaull

Character Name :

Original Name : Colin Spaull

Gender : Male

Larry Dann

Character Name :

Original Name : Larry Dann

Gender : Male

Jeffry Wickham

Character Name :

Original Name : Jeffry Wickham

Gender : Male

John Savident

Character Name :

Original Name : John Savident

Gender : Male

Albert Shepherd

Character Name :

Original Name : Albert Shepherd

Gender : Male

Bruno W. Pantel

Character Name :

Original Name : Bruno W. Pantel

Gender : Male

Hans Epskamp

Character Name :

Original Name : Hans Epskamp

Gender : Male

Nora Minor

Character Name :

Original Name : Nora Minor

Gender : Female

Liselotte Quilling

Character Name :

Original Name : Liselotte Quilling

Gender : Female

Harry Kalenberg

Character Name :

Original Name : Harry Kalenberg

Gender : Male

Eduard Linkers

Character Name :

Original Name : Eduard Linkers

Gender : Male

Gisela Fritsch

Character Name :

Original Name : Gisela Fritsch

Gender : Female

Reviews

C

CinemaSerf

@Geronimo1967

2023-06-03

David Niven stars in this rather unremarkable post-war comedy drama set in an Austrian camp that sorts out and repatriates displaced people. He leads the British contingent with Ori Levy ("Capt. Kamenev") his Russian counterpart with whom he has an uneasy sort of truce. Topol is their charismatic interpreter/peace broker "Janovic" who oils the wheels of their procedures - but he has a secret and when Niven and the Russian find out, he finds life becomes quite precarious. The comedy struggles, to be honest - Niven tries hard, but Topol too hard - neither seem to really want to be here. The presence of the naively optimistic young "Lieut. Pilkington" (John Hurt) and the cynical "Brig. Bewley" (Anthony Quayle) - who is aware of an incident in Niven's past, suggests that there is an underlying message in the film, but nothing really hits home. There are duty versus compassion clashes, and imperialist versus communist ones too - but the setting and characterisations don't support any real substance to these, and the films flails a bit before an ending that is surprisingly robust.