The Man Who Never Was
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Movie Reviews of The Man Who Never Was
Movie Review: Timeless story of wartime deceit
Summary: 5 Stars
When I found this movie was available on DVD I had to buy it. The story is so fantastic and yet it is based on fact. The English cast play their parts in such a believable way. Stephen Boyd is excellent as the spy - bringing a very deadly edge to the story. There are no CGI effects in this movie - it was made in the 1950's. Never the less it is an extremely entertaining and involving film. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys a well told World War II story.Movie Review: Fine account of elaborate wartime hoax... Good DVD from Fox
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a fine movie of wartime espionage, disinformation and deception. Based on the book by Lt. Cmdr. Ewen Montagu, it tells of British Naval Intelligence's attempt to deceive the Germans about the planned 1943 invasion of Sicily. Trying to draw as many German troops away from Sicily as possible, they concocted a plan to have a dead body wash ashore in Spain, with papers purportedly from Allied High Command indicating that the invasion would go by way of Greece or Sardinia instead of Sicily. The subterfuge succeeded. The Germans embarked on a massive build up of defences around Sardinia and the Greek Peloponnesus, thinning out their defences on Sicily. The hoax affected not only the Sicilian offensive but had effects across the entire European theater. Hitler swallowed it whole. Field Marshall Erwin Rommel was sent to personally supervise the defence of Greece. The 1st Panzer Division was withdrawn from France. Two other Panzer divisions were withdrawn from the Russian front just when they were needed at the crucial Battle of Kursk. Operation Mincemeat, as it was called, was one of the most ingenious and successful hoaxes perpertrated by the Allies during the Second World War.
This is a war movie with little battlefront action. It concentrates on the quiet background work of the Intelligence Service. The first half of the movie deals with the hatching of the plan, the procurement of the dead body, the faking of the dead man's history and the drawing up of his elaborate cover story. The fictional officer is christened "Major William Martin" of The Royal Marines. The second half starts when the Germans fall for the ruse and send a spy over to England to check out its veracity. There follows a cat and mouse game as the British try to tie up loose ends and fill in the fake history they have put together for the dead man, including his purported girlfriend. The movie is always absorbing, often rivetingly so. It is one of the few WW2 espionage films that have stood the test of time. The fact that it was a true story makes it doubly interesting.
Fox have released a barebones edition of the film on DVD. It contains both the widescreen version in its original 2.55:1 Cinemascope (enhanced for widescreen TV) and a fullscreen pan-&-scan version. The widescreen version strangely is placed on the unmarked flipside of the double-sided DVD. Picture quality is fine, very good in fact if you consider this film dates from 1955. There is very little dirt, speckling or any print damage. Colors are strong and bright. Skintones look natural. Black levels are well rendered. The pan-&-scan version version looks terrible in comparison, with a claustrophobic, darker image, heavier grain and a softer picture overall. Sound is available in the original English 2.0 mono, a 4.0 Surround remix as well as alternate Spanish and French 2.0 mono tracks. A single theatrical trailer is all that's included. A fine memento of wartime subterfuge and deception with solid acting and direction from a time when there was still a viable British Film Industry.
Note: The grave at Huelva, on the southern coast of Spain still bears the name "Major William Martin". The real identity of the dead man was kept secret for over 50 years. It was only in 1996 that he was finally identified as a homeless alcoholic Welshman. Today, across the bottom of the white marble tombstone is an added epitaph, finally revealing his identity, "Glyndwr Michael served as Major William Martin".
Movie Review: A Taut, Clever, Well Made WWII Thriller
Summary: 4 Stars
In the Fifties Britain produced a number of well made WWII movies that recaptured the valor and victories of British arms. The war was past and the civilian deprivations that had lasted well after the war were going away. It was time to celebrate what Britain had accomplished. The Man Who Never Was is among these movies. It tells the true story of Lt. Cmdr. Ewen Montague (Clifton Webb), a barrister who now is in Naval Intelligence, who has been charged to come up with a scheme that will convince the Germans that the Allies will not mount a major effort to invade Sicily. His solution is named Operation Mincemeat, and involves using a body as a decoy. I won't go into the details because the fun is in seeing just how Montague and his small staff, an aide and a secretary, go about it. But having accomplished their assignment, they are faced with the likelihood that the Germans will try hard to verify what they are being led to believe. The second half of the movie is a tight little drama where Montague has to outwit an Irishman who has become a German agent.
Webb is quite effective playing Montague. There's almost none of the prissiness he brought to most of his roles. He's quiet, determined and smarter than many around him. He has a sharp tongue but seldom shows impatience. It's a nice job. Gloria Grahame plays a young woman who provides an important piece of evidence establishing the body's history, and then unknowingly faces the Irish agent.
In my view, this is a very watchable film that keeps moving at a good pace. Ronald Neame was an experienced, effective director who knew what he was doing. Two of his best films and well worth watching are The Horse's Mouth and Tunes of Glory.
And for those who appreciate a stiff upper lip and immaculate British manners, here are some of those Fifties WWII movies to track down: The Colditz Story, Ice Cold in Alex, The Battle of the River Platte, Ill Met by Moonlight, I Was Monty's Double, Above Us the Waves, The Cruel Sea. I like them all.
There are no extras to speak of. The DVD picture looks very good
Movie Review: The Body on the Beach
Summary: 3 Stars
The body of a dead British officer washes ashore on a Spanish beach; he has on him documents alluding to British forces landing in Greece. Before the Nazis rush from Sicily (where the Brits actually will land) to Greece, they send an agent to London to determine if the intelligence is genuine. That's the intrigue in this intriguing docudrama financed by Hollywood (thus the miscasting of Clifton Webb and Gloria Grahame) but made by English director Ronald Neame on real locations using English actors.
Cast against type, Webb is suitably correct. Grahame, an Oscar winner for "The Bad and the Beautiful," however, is embarrassing in a key but contrived role as a librarian whose flyer lover is killed. As the Nazi agent snooping around London, the handsome Stephen Boyd dominates the last quarter of the film with steely charm, reminding us again what a loss his early death was to films in the 1950s. And it's nice to see Sir Cyrl Cusack and Joan Hickson (later Miss Marple on television) in bit parts.
What's not so nice (in the version I saw) is the shameful DVD transfer, which begins and ends in the original Cinemascope but throughout reformats to full screen, diminishing the reach of the actual locations and the re-creation of wartime London. This true story, especially the invention of a non-person's whole life, ranks with John LeCarre's tales and "Five Fingers" (still unreleased on DVD) as one of Hollywood's better espionage films. "The Man Who Never Was," considering what he achieved, deserved more respect.
Movie Review: Good as Ever
Summary: 5 Stars
I first saw this movie as a kid when it came out. The opening is magisterial: a body washed up on a lonely Cinemascope beach at dawn, and a mature male, Scottish accented voice-over reciting the doom-laden lines:
"Last Night I dreamed a deadly dream,
That beyond the Isle of Skye,
I saw a dead man win the fight
And I think that man was I."
The scene and the words stayed with me through the years to this day. I have just watched the DVD. The movie remains taut, swift, detailed, unfussy, truly a remarkable yarn very well told and acted. No gore, no chases, no explosions, the tech is low, the methods rigorously parsed and distilled, but at the core remaining improvisatory, as one reads they were during the war. This film sees itself as having no need to impress in any way other than by having believable, life-sized characters, develop the tale efficiently and well. So refreshing, these days.
The movie hasn't aged. Seeing it as a kid led me to read the book. I don't think I will re-read it, but I can certainly envision playing the DVD again and sharing it with friends. Clifton Webb is superb in a role which illustrates what a multifaceted, wonderful actor he was. He has a way of showing brains and wisdom without calling attention to himself. The sort of behaviour one would expect from a consummate intelligence operative. Good script and top-notch acting.
Notwithstanding Cinemascope and the war-pic trappings, this is an economical, concise film which tells a gripping tale and goes by fast. But that poem and that body on the lonely beach linger in the imagination.