Hell, Heaven or Hoboken

"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.

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.

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!

When the British intelligence service is faced with the challenge of convincing the Germans that they intend to invade from North Africa they are stumped - the attack is clearly going to come across the channel into France, they know it and the Germans' know it. However, when Major Harvey visits a theatre he happens upon an actor who impersonates General Montgomery as part of the show. Within days Corporal Clifton-James is recruited to impersonate Monty in the Mediterranean in order to trick the enemy into thinking an attack is due from that direction.

I only found out about this film after hearing the Goon show's spoof `I was Monty's treble'; at that time I was vaguely aware of the history, but not of the details and not of this film. The film is based on the memoirs of the events from the point of Clifton-James himself and are reasonably factual, despite the fact that the film has an enjoyably comic tone to it for the majority. What it does do very well is to portray him as a real person; his reluctance to take the job, his nerves, his insecurity and so on - at no point is he a strong-jawed, guns-blazing hero, instead he is a man doing what he needed to do in wartime. This really helps the film and is actually complimented by the comic tone.

What helps it even more is the presence of Clifton-James as himself. His performance is very normal - by which I mean he never plays to the fact that he is a hero, he comes across as a very unassuming gentleman, as I find those who serve in the military in a low/medium rank for some time tend to be. In both his book and this film he could have made himself look more heroic and less reluctant but he never does. Mills is excellent in the supporting role and enjoys a more comic touch than many of his war films allow him. The support cast are just as good and it is fun to see so many well known faces including Cecil Parker, Sid James, Leslie Philips and John Le Mesurier sending up the profession of acting! Of course it is Clifton-James who is the draw even alongside these big names; he is a true hero - and it's impossible to forget that as you watch this, these are not fictional risks, he lived this for the greater good.

And it is this that made the film so fascinating to me. Many flag waving films will miss this point, but heroism is often not natural; it often comes forced onto people and is found in the most unlikely of places. In this film we see first hand how an ordinary man with no real confidence or ability is called and rises to the challenge, not because it is his dream or desire but because his country needs him and needs must. Although he plays it quite light here, I will always remember what he did and who he was - I shall be looking for his book on the internet once I finish writing here.

Overall this is a tremendously fun war movie. It lacks action until the end and focuses on Clifton-James as a person as he goes from put upon little actor in the military to one of the most important people in the Normandy landings. A fascinating story, a real inspiration and a funny film to boot - should be seen by as many people for as long as possible. Lest we forget.

I was particularly tickled by the sight of James,as himself,during his training in a sequence where he observes himself,as Monty in order to study his demeanour,walk & mannerisms, before the real masquerade. Now that's acting! The news theatre at the end where Mills & James watch the newsreel was clearly the former Times by Baker St underground & close to Madame Tussauds. Would make a good double feature to support "The Man Who Never Was" - a similar intelligence con to mislead the Nazis on plans for the invasion of Europe. Probably the biggest laugh comes from the icy and withering remarks of John Le Mesurier (as James' adjutant)on his contempt for the acting profession, in a brief early scene where he initially reports for "duty" as a lowly corporal.