The Man Who Never Was

This is a great movie about WWII. I know we don't have scenes of battles and violence, but maybe this is one of this movie's advantages. I don't think blood and shots are really necessary to make a film about a war. Wars are not only made of guns and soldiers, but also of officers who make plans and articulate attacks while they're in secret rooms using every kind of ways to confuse the enemy. In this movie it is decided that British forces would use a corpse with false documents attracting Nazis attention to Greece while the Allied Forces would land in Italy. Easy, but fascinating plot! Watch it!

My rate 8/10

The Man Who Never Was (1956)

A straight up insider, realistic yet slick wide screen view of a particular British undercover mission in WWII. There, in one sentence, said it all. It's a very very good film, but depends on its ordinary flair to survive, which means its flair remains a bit ordinary. Some great acting, fast editing, and a final third with a surprise twist that keeps you really watching. And it's based on fact, which adds yet another tilt.

I watched it at first because I wanted to see Gloria Grahame, who can be simply astonishing in her slightly off beat roles. And she comes through to a degree here--she doesn't have a lot of screen time, and her role is partly to be saucy (as usual) but partly to be upset and crying, which she does really well. I love the drama built into World War II, in any form, though combat films are less interesting than civilian ones to me, and this was mostly on the home front, London after the Blitz but while some overhead bombing was still apparently going on (it is heard in one scene).

As a look at secret service work, or what might now be called a Special Ops mission, it's really quite believable. I suspect, being only a decade after the event happened, there was an attempt to make it honest, but beyond that, it feels honest. The people are determined and flawed and yet very smart and a little lucky. What seems like a turning point in the invasion of Europe by the Allies really seems to hinge on the intuition of one or two people, and the ad lib genius of one American girl on the spot (which I assume is fiction, but who knows?).

If you want to relax but never be bored, this is a terrific movie. Though technically an American production, it's thoroughly British, from the source book to the cast to the setting, of course, in London. The British director was originally a cinematographer, which might account for the solid (if unsensational) visual sense of it all. It's not a breakthrough, moving, or memorable film, surely, but as high quality entertainment with a toe in important history it excels.

Interesting, absorbing tale based on an actual British Intelligence operation during World War II. The casting (Clifton Webb is perfect in the lead role) was top notch, and the impeccable attention to even minor details was extraordinary. A fan of 'blood and guts' movies would be well advised to look elsewhere...this well-crafted little gem is for the connoisseur.

Stephen Boyd gave a very good performance as an Irish secret agent working for the Nazis. In several scenes, he could barely contain his contempt for the English people he encountered during his mission in London. At one point, after setting himself up for capture by counter-intelligence agents, he awaits their arrival with his Luger pistol, obviously hoping for a bloody showdown, and when the agents fail to appear, he is both relaxed and also angry at not getting to kill anyone. Subtle, yet amazing.

9 out of 10.

"The Man Who Never Was" is a wonderfully suspenseful, well-done World War II drama starring Clifton Webb, Gloria Grahame, and Stephen Boyd. Superbly directed by Ronald Neame, the film is based on a true story - the planting of a dead body washed onto the Greek shore, which carries papers which will redirect the Axis away from an invasion of Italy planned by the Allies. In order to carry out this hoax, the Allies need the body of a man who died of pneumonia, which will mimic a drowning and fool the Nazis. The scene where such a man is located and Clifton Webb talks to the father is one of the most touching of the film, as is the poignant ending.

For all the accolades about his acting, it still seems that Clifton Webb is under-appreciated today - he goes from a vicious, fey gossip in "The Razor's Edge" to a difficult husband in "Titanic" to a strong, decisive, distinguished member of British Intelligence in this movie flawlessly. He is perfect as Montague. Stephen Boyd is excellent as an Irishman working undercover for the Nazis who appears in London to verify the existence of the dead soldier, who is given a fake identity. Gloria Grahame plays a woman who unexpectedly falls in love and winds up as part of the plot. She turns in a heartbreaking performance. The rest of the cast is uniformly good.

The movie's excitement comes not from action but from the tension of the situation. It's filmed in beautiful color. An excellent movie.

It's around Labor Day of 1943, the Afrika Korps has been kicked out of North Africa, what to do next for the Allies. In point of fact the next logical thing to do was what was done, invade Sicily and clear the route to the Suez Canal and take the pressure of the embattled British forces in Malta.

But there were policy differences because Americans wanted a cross channel invasion back then as the quickest way to defeat Hitler. So the Germans did in fact have to be vigilant on all fronts.

The Man Who Never Was is a true story on a particular intelligence gambit that was tried. A dead body was washed up in neutral, but Axis led Spain. A body selected for the occasion and dropped deliberately by the British showing alternate plans to the Axis.

Not being complete dummies the Germans naturally think to check it out and they send an agent in, a Nazi sympathizer from Ireland played by Stephen Boyd.

The whole idea was cooked up by Admiral Ewen Montagu played here by Clifton Webb who drops his usual acerbic manner and delivers a very good performance against type. Boyd's no fool and it becomes a battle of wits when the Allies learn of his presence in London.

In fact a certain sad, but serendipitous event in the life of Gloria Grahame who is Webb's secretary's roommate plays a key role in the proceedings.

The Man Who Never Was is a very good wartime espionage drama that still holds up very well for today's audience.