British government awarded him with a gold medal, ribbon, and citation as an honorary officer of the Order of the British Empire. By an order from Winston Churchill, all the films in the Why We Fight series were to be shown in all public theaters throughout Britain. From the U.S., he received the United States Legion of Merit and a Bronze Star Medal. Post-war films Hollywood At the end of the war, Litvak returned to filmmaking with The Long Night (1947), a flop thriller at RKO. He directed Barbara Stanwyck and Burt Lancaster in Sorry, Wrong Number, a role which film historian James Robert Parish states is Stanwyck's "greatest screen triumph." Litvak directed using a "variety of surrealistic and expressionistic devices," notes Film Noir magazine. "Litvak isn't afraid to use close-ups either. And his players not only stand up to this relentless probing but offer some of the greatest performances of their lives.". Stanwyck was nominated for the best actress academy award. Litvak was nominated in 1948 for a Best Director Oscar for The Snake Pit (1948), starring Olivia de Havilland. The film was nominated for Best Actress, Best Screenplay and Best Musical Score. To prepare de Havilland for her role as a mental patient, she and Litvak spent months observing actual patients at mental hospitals. Litvak had purchased the pre-publication rights to the story which is based on a fictionalized autobiography. Europe In the 1950s, Litvak began filming in Europe. In 1951, his war film Decision Before Dawn filmed on location in Germany was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture. Thousands of French admirers of the film signed a huge scroll which they sent to AMPAS, insisting that the film be given an Oscar. It was Oskar Werner's first acting role in an American film. Among his productions there was Act of Love (1953) with Kirk Douglas filmed in Paris, and The Deep Blue Sea (1955) with Vivien Leigh and Kenneth More shot in England. He directed Anastasia, filmed in Paris in 1956, starring Ingrid Bergman, Yul Brynner and Helen Hayes. The film was Bergman's first U.S. film after a seven-year absence from Hollywood, which she left after her scandalous affair with director Roberto Rossellini became news. Twentieth Century Fox conducted a poll and found that the public still had negative feelings toward Bergman. Litvak, however, felt she would be an excellent actress for the part and