This is an account of an intelligence operation designed to mislead the Nazis prior to the 1943 Allied invasion of
Sicily.
In an effort to convince the Germans to move their defences, Lt. Commander Montagu (Webb) creates a
false English officer and letters to indicate the British intend to land in Greece.
Montagu than plants
these documents on a dead man and has his body put in the sea off the coast of Spain, hoping the papers will fall
into German hands.
Then British Intelligence waits for Berlin to respond, then tries to stay one step ahead of the Nazi agent (Stephen
Boyd) dispatched to determine if the dead man is genuine.
This is a true story of ingenious deception of wartime espionage.
Although the film was a 20th Century Fox production, The Man Who Never Was was filmed in England using mostly
an English crew and cast (though the lead players were American).
It belongs to a tradition of English war films in which aspects of the war are treated with great precision.
The movie is based on a book by the same name about Operation Mincemeat, in which the British attempted to mislead the Germans about the intended invasion spot for D-Day by planting a corpse with fake papers on a beach in Spain, hoping that the Spanish would pass the papers onto the Germans. The entire movie is involved with the formation of the plan, and then creating the man who never was, creating his papers and personal effects.
Knowing that it was all based upon real events adds to the appeal of the film.
Clifton Webb, turns in a convincing performance as Lieutenant Commander Montagu, and Gloria Grahame is excellent as
the main female presence in the film.
You can spot Stephen Boyd in a small role, as a German agent sent to check out whether the man is genuine or not.
I rate The Man Who Never Was as an excellent World War II film. Why can't films be made like this anymore?
Recent World War II films are often not very accurate.