The Man Who Never Was (1956)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

Ronald Neame

Writers:

Ewen Montagu (book)
Nigel Balchin (screenplay)

Release Date:

9 May 1956 (France)

Genre:

War | Drama

Tagline:

The most fiendish plot ever conceived! The most amazing "human being" ever created! The most diabolical phantom--

Plot:

True story of a British attempt to trick the enemy into weakening Sicily's defenses before the 1943 attack, using a dead man with faked papers.

Plot Keywords:

Dead Body | Spain | False Identity | Air Raid | Europe

Awards:

Won BAFTA Film Award. Another 4 nominations

Cast

Clifton Webb	...	Lt. Cmdr. Ewen Montagu
Gloria Grahame	...	Lucy Sherwood
Robert Flemyng	...	Lt. George Acres
Josephine Griffin	...	Pam
Stephen Boyd	...	Patrick O'Reilly
Laurence Naismith	...	Adm. Cross
Geoffrey Keen	...	Gen. Nye
Moultrie Kelsall	...	The Father
Cyril Cusack	...	Taxi driver
André Morell	...	Sir Bernard Spilsbury
Michael Hordern	...	Gen. Coburn
Allan Cuthbertson	...	Vice-Admiral
Joan Hickson	...	Landlady
Terence Longdon	...	Larry (as Terence Longden)
Gibb McLaughlin	...	Club porter
Miles Malleson	...	Scientist
William Russell	...	Joe
William Squire	...	Lt. Jewell
Richard Wattis	...	Shop assistant
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ronald Adam	...	Adams (uncredited)
Gordon Bell	...	Customs officer (uncredited)
Michael Brill	...	Doctor (uncredited)
Robert Brown	...	French (uncredited)
D.A. Clarke-Smith	...	Consul Laurence (uncredited)
Wolf Frees	...	Adm. Canaris (uncredited)
Everley Gregg	...	Club matron (uncredited)
Lloyd Lamble	...	Passport officer (uncredited)
Ewen Montagu	...	Air Marshal (uncredited)
Brian Oulton	...	Wills officer (uncredited)
Cicely Paget-Bowman	...	Secretary (uncredited)
Michael Peake	...	Sailor on Submarine (uncredited)
François Périer	...	Clerk of British Embassy (uncredited)
Gerhard Puritz	...	German colonel (uncredited)
Peter Sellers	...	Churchill (voice) (uncredited)
John Welsh	...	Bank manager (uncredited)
Peter Williams	...	Adm. Mountbatten (uncredited)

Directed by
Ronald Neame

Writing credits
Ewen Montagu		(book) (as The Hon. Ewen Montagu C.B.E. D.L. Q.C.)
Nigel Balchin		(screenplay)

Produced by
André Hakim	....	producer
Bob McNaught	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Alan Rawsthorne

Cinematography by
Oswald Morris

Film Editing by
Peter Taylor

Art Direction by
John Hawkesworth

Makeup Department
Harold Fletcher	....	makeup artist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Gerry O'Hara	....	assistant director
Erica Masters	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Sound Department
Basil Fenton-Smith	....	sound mixer
Winston Ryder	....	dubbing editor
J.B. Smith	....	sound mixer

Visual Effects by
Tom Howard	....	photographic effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Arthur Ibbetson	....	camera operator
Derek V. Browne	....	clapper loader (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Sam Benson	....	wardrobe supervisor (uncredited)

Music Department
Muir Mathieson	....	conductor

Production Companies

• Sumar Productions

Distributors

• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation (1956) (USA) (theatrical)
• Fox Video (1991) (USA) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Bausch & Lomb  CinemaScope lenses by
• Sinfonia of London  music played by
• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation  registered proprietor of the trade mark CinemaScope
• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation  this film is made under licence from

Runtime:

103 min

Country:

UK

Language:

German | Latin | English | Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.55 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (Westrex Recording System) (magnetic prints) | Mono (optical prints)

Certification:

West Germany:12 | UK:U | Finland:K-16 | USA:Approved

Company:

Sumar Productions

Trivia:

Stephen Boyd was cast at short notice as the German spy after the original choice dropped out.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Lucy is sitting at the piano talking about Joe who O'Reilly mistakes for Wm Martin, she is holding a drink. The camera breaks to Pam and O'Reilly and when it returns to Lucy, she is no longer holding the glass.

Quotes:

Pam: I think my alleged friend wants a light.
Lucy Sherwood: Why am I always your "alleged friend"?
Pam: George has never been quite sure that you exist.
Lucy Sherwood: Oh, I exist all right. It's about all I do.
Lieutenant George Acres: [lighting her cigarette] There's no doubt about that!
Lieutenant Commander Ewen Montagu: This is very interesting. From his attitude in the office, one would never suspect that George was such a fast worker.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Back to the Beach (1987)

Soundtrack:

Bless 'em All

Interesting spy drama

Based on "Operation Mincemeat" during World War II, this film is an excellent example of a spy movie that is interesting without being gimmicky or melodramatic. An excellent cast is headed by the redoubtable Clifton Webb. The elaborate plot to trick Nazis by using a corpse masquerading as a dead Royal Marine officer is amazing in its detail. The film is all the more astonishing because it is based on the actual ruse to deceive the enemy into thinking that the invasion of Italy would take place in a location other than where it actually happened. A good film for espionage lovers.