This intelligent and absorbing movie depicts the true-life story of how the British tricked Hitler into dispersing German forces from Sicily to nearby Greece and other Mediterranean locales just prior to the 1943 Allied invasion. Time is running out on the Allies and the British Admiralty foresees a massive casualty rate. Lt. Commander Montagu conceives an audacious plan to fake the unforeseen' death of a fictitious British major whose body must be found in Axis territory carrying papers indicating the upcoming invasion's 'true' location. Knowing that German Intelligence will view the body and papers as part of an elaborate ruse, meticulous attention to every detail is necessary for success. In the brilliantly low-key manner of so many classic British films,
“The Man Who Never Was” keeps your attention by showing the exhaustive measures taken by the brilliant British naval officer to convincingly create the necessary illusion.

Clifton Webb is perfectly cast as Lieutenant Commander Ewen Montagu, and is splendid as the tightly controlled and resourceful officer whose outrageous plan saved thousands of Allied lives. The charmingly handsome Stephen Boyd was nominated "Most Promising Actor" By BAFTA for his portrayal of the attractive German agent, 'Patrick O'Reilly'. Kudos to Gloria Grahame's fine sense of irony during her tearful scene in which 'Lucy Sherwood' convinces O'Reilly that "The Man Who Never Was", really WAS.

This film, that took home the BAFTA award for Best British Screenplay and was nominated for Best British Film and Best Film from any Source, is available at Amazon.com.

- 349th Heavy Weapons Crew

By forgottenfront on Unrecorded Date:

I originally watched "The Man Who Never Was" many years ago and remembered it as an excellent depiction of "Operation Mince Meat", the plan that, it is estimated, saved tens of thousands of lives during the invasion of Sicily.

Today I was able to watch it again and would like to add one correction to the previous commentator's review. It is that in real life, as in the movie, the corpse actually washed up on the coast of Spain, a country that was neutral, but which had its share of Nazi agents.

Collectors of well made and historically accurate, WWII movies won't be disappointed in "The Man Who Never Was".

- Mark E. Tiedemann