Hell, Heaven or Hoboken

With some considerable dramatic license the story of one of the best intelligence operations of World War II is told in I Was Monty's Double. The film is based on the book by actor F.E. Clifton James who plays himself and Bernard Law Montgomery as he did for a fateful few weeks in World War II.

John Mills and Cecil Parker two officers from British Intelligence become James's handlers in the terminology we would use today. Mills while attending a service variety show sees James do a walk on as Field Marshal Montgomery and is struck by the audience reaction to him. The germ of an idea comes to Mills to have the actor play Montgomery for the widest audience possible, to give him a grand tour of the various fronts of the war. This in order to divert Nazi attention from the United Kingdom where the cross channel invasion is being prepared and Montgomery very much a part of the planning. In fact you can see some of his real role there in the TV mini-series Ike and in The Longest Day.

Of course James carried the masquerade off beautifully. My favorite scene is James at a press conference in Cairo with allied war correspondents where he's at first hesitant with this cynical bunch, but grows in confidence and wins them over with a speech that you might have seen the real Bernard Law Montgomery deliver during his lifetime.

Two others who give noteworthy performances in the film are Michael Hordern as the Governor General of Gibraltar and Marius Goring who is a German agent whom Mills, Parker and James deliberately give misinformation to in order to confirm how effective the plan is working.

The whole business in the end is pure fiction which I won't reveal, but that doesn't detract from making this a first rate account of an amazing adventure. One even Stephen Spielberg would envy.

At the fag-end of the 50's, a generation of long-demobbed soldiers were still trying to cut it in uniform, in a spate of cheap black-and-white war films. More convincing than most was the unknown star of this true story, a minor Australian actor who had been rejected by the entertainment services, and was reluctantly pen-pushing in the pay office, when someone noticed that he was a dead ringer for Montgomery.

This was in the run-up to D-Day, when the allies were desperate to draw enemy attention away from Normandy as the obvious invasion zone. Might a Monty-lookalike be able to fool German intelligence by touring North Africa, as though preparing for a big Mediterranean landing instead?

The actor in question, M.E. Clifton James, is secretly employed as a driver on Monty's staff, in order to get close enough to study his speech and mannerisms. But he doubts his own ability to replicate the character and personality of the great man, not least because 'Jimmy' is a chain-smoking alcoholic. Eventually, jolly optimist John Mills persuades him to go through with it, and suddenly he's stepping off a plane in Gibraltar, under scrutiny from enemy agents (one of them brilliantly sinister, as played by Marius Goring), as well as certain officers who remember Monty from before the war.

Defying many attempts on his life, Jimmy overcomes his desperate shyness, and learns to take massed salutes from whole armies. Then all too soon, D-Day has come and gone, his one brief star-performance is over, and it's back to the humble pay office. Except... they felt it necessary to bolt-on a false ending, about which we can reveal nothing, except that it never happened.

As for the real-life outcome, we have to face the disappointing fact that it was only part of a much larger decoy operation, which did throw the enemy into some confusion, but reports of Jimmy's own effort reaching Hitler's desk seem to be wishful thinking.

The film displays some recognisable weaknesses of those low-budget productions. The over-long opening section is taken up with John Mills' various flirtations, whose only consequence for the story is that his humourless boss (Cecil Parker) decides to replace their seductive secretary with the ugly-beautiful Barbara Hicks, in some ways more arresting. And the way Mills and Parker chat freely in public about top secret plans will grate on the ear of anyone who has worked in intelligence. No war-film of its day was complete without the stuffed-shirt spoilsport Allan Cuthbertson, who duly pops-up here, as does the perennial plug-ugly sergeant Anthony Sagar. Jimmy's one meeting with Monty is awkwardly dodged; we simply cut away from him on the steps of the general's caravan, although split-screen techniques had long since enabled an actor to shake hands with his own double (try the 1937 'Prisoner of Zenda').

None of this really detracts from the joy of the film, principally the deeply-believable performance of a professional actor, acting himself acting Monty. Sympathy and charm shine through this modest man, who seems to have been shabbily treated after the war, when he was reduced to the dole. Hopefully this popular film brought a little benison for the five short years that remained to him.

This is a wonderful war film--mostly because it is NOT about fighting and shooting--we certainly have had a lot of that sort of film. I like films that show a different side--the seldom-known acts of heroism such as the film "Dam Busters" or "The Man Who Never Was". In "Hell, Heaven or Hoboken" (a badly renaming of "I Was Monty's Double"), you have the true story about a regular enlisted man and actor who was chosen to imitate General Montgomery--the leader of the British forces during WWII. The plan was to have the double go on a tour of North Africa around the same time as the Normandy invasion in Northern France--so that the Germans would assume the assault would come from the South as well as much later. This film is about the formation and execution of this ultra-top secret plan. It's filled with tension and is very, very watchable--much of it due to good writing, direction and excellent acting (it sure didn't hurt having John Mills and Cecil Parker along with the real-life double, M.E. Clifton-James in this leading role).

I say watch this interesting film--it's a dandy. However, I did have one problem with the film--albeit a minor one and one more for history buffs like myself. The film used a lot of stock footage--most of it reasonably good. However, some of it was way too grainy and scratchy and made the film look cheap in spots--such as the footage of Bf-109s and Spitfires scrambling. Also, SOME of this real-life story is NOT real-life--such as the very exciting finale involving Nazi commandos! Still, a lovely little film and there's an awful lot to like!

Apparently using doubles as decoys to fool the enemy is nothing new. It takes place even now.

During World War 2 there were several Winston Churchill lookalikes in good employment.

I first saw this film as a kid and thought it was fantastically entertaining. The film takes place a few months before the D-Day landings are due to take place.

The British government wants to have a campaign of misinformation and spread rumours that the landings might take place at a locations other than Normandy

Clifton James was an actor who had an uncanny resemblance to General Montgomery and is enticed by John Mills to impersonate the man himself in order to dupe the Germans.

The film is a straightforward adaptation of James real life story although more tension and humour has been added as well as a kidnapping storyline at the latter part of the movie which did not actually occur.

Also in real life James was fond of a drink and smoke unlike the real Monty.

It is a shame that Clifton James did not get more acting roles after the war although this film does mark his contribution to the war effort.

"I Was Monty's Double" is based on the book of the same name, by M. E. Clifton James, an Australian actor in the service who is drafted to impersonate General Montgomery. Though some dramatic license is taken, what makes the film fun is that James plays himself and the historical events are true.

In order to make the Nazis believe that D-Day is taking place in Gibraltor, James, who makes an appearance at the end of a show as Montgomery, is asked to impersonate the general.

He bears a strong resemblance - so strong, in fact, that when he comes out onto the stage, he gets a standing ovation and rousing cheers. His recruiters, played by John Mills and Cecil Parker, are hoping the troops have the same reaction.

They arrange for James to be assigned as a driver so that he can observe Montgomery at close quarters and copy his mannerisms. James, however, finally tells Harvey and Logan (Mills and Parker) that he can't do it. He's never led a command.

Logan is dumbstruck. "You won't be doing any actual commanding," he objects. A consummate actor, James replies, "You don't understand. I have to have it inside." However, he's so good that he is able to find the ego and leadership qualities internally to carry it off.

The film is directed by John Guillerman with emphasis on the humor. Marius Goring plays a Nazi spy who thinks he's in tight with the Allies on Gibraltor. "We feed him all kinds of garbage," the top brass says. "He's faster than calling Berlin." The whole bit at the end is fiction, but it doesn't deter from a fascinating story. Highly recommended.