The Man Who Never Was

1956

Action / Drama / War

9
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 84% · 8 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Upright 84% · 1K ratings
IMDb Rating 7.4/10 10 6223 6.2K

bank world war ii dead body cinemascope deluxe color

Plot summary

The true story of a British effort to trick the Germans into weakening Sicily's defenses before the 1943 attack. A dead soldier is dressed as a British officer and outfitted with faked papers showing that the Allies were intending to invade occupied Greece. His body is put into the sea where it will ultimately drift ashore and the papers be passed along to German Intelligence.

Director

Ronald Neame Photo
Ronald Neame

Top cast

Geoffrey Keen Photo
Geoffrey Keen as Gen. Nye
Carl Duering Photo
Carl Duering as German Agent
Gloria Grahame Photo
Gloria Grahame as Lucy Sherwood
Brian Oulton Photo
Brian Oulton as Wills Officer
720p.BluRay 1080p.BluRay
946.89 MB
1280*496
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 43 min
Seeds 5
1.72 GB
1920*752
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 43 min
Seeds 4

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by monticellomeadow 8 / 10

New Information Available

There is a book out this year (2010) by Ben Macintyre that sheds new light on Operation Mincemeat, based on some declassified documents. The movie does a good job of portraying the story for the screen. Macintyre reveals that the "body" that was dumped in the sea was a young impoverished Welsh coal minor who, either as suicide or out of hunger, ate some rat poison spread on bread in a London tenement as a vermin trap. When the body was recovered by the Spanish fisherman, the "papers" were almost given back to the British. They had to fabricate radio traffic on "compromised" lines to draw the attention of the Germans to the documents. "Oh, yoo-hoo! Look over here!" Lastly, the "papers" had the good fortune to fall into the hands of a Colonel in German intelligence who was a member of the German Resistance. He doubted their authenticity, but sold the Nazi hierarchy on their genuineness. He was hung by the SS in July of 1944 after the failed plot against Hitler.Just some interesting historical amplification for a fine 50-year old movie.
Reviewed by blanche-2 8 / 10

excellent World War II drama

"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.
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