ThrillerWarDramaHistory

The Man Who Never Was

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

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.

Release Date : 1956-04-03

Language :EnglishLatinSpanishGerman

Adult : false

Status : Released

Production Company : Sumar Productions

Production Country : United Kingdom

Alternative Titles :

Cast

Character Name : Lt. Cmdr. Ewen Montagu

Original Name : Clifton Webb

Gender : Male

Character Name : Lucy Sherwood

Original Name : Gloria Grahame

Gender : Female

Character Name : Lt. George Acres

Original Name : Robert Flemyng

Gender : Male

Character Name : Pam

Original Name : Josephine Griffin

Gender : Female

Character Name : Patrick O'Reilly

Original Name : Stephen Boyd

Gender : Male

Character Name : Adm. Cross

Original Name : Laurence Naismith

Gender : Male

Character Name : Gen. Nye

Original Name : Geoffrey Keen

Gender : Male

Character Name : The Father

Original Name : Moultrie Kelsall

Gender : Male

Character Name : Taxi Driver

Original Name : Cyril Cusack

Gender : Male

Character Name : Sir Bernard Spilsbury

Original Name : André Morell

Gender : Male

Character Name : Gen. Coburn

Original Name : Michael Hordern

Gender : Male

Character Name : Vice-Admiral

Original Name : Allan Cuthbertson

Gender : Male

Character Name : Landlady

Original Name : Joan Hickson

Gender : Female

Character Name : Larry

Original Name : Terence Longdon

Gender : Male

Character Name : Porter

Original Name : Gibb McLaughlin

Gender : Male

Character Name : Scientist

Original Name : Miles Malleson

Gender : Male

Character Name : Joe

Original Name : William Russell

Gender : Male

Character Name : Lt. Jewell

Original Name : William Squire

Gender : Male

Character Name : Shop Assistant

Original Name : Richard Wattis

Gender : Male

Character Name : Adams

Original Name : Ronald Adam

Gender : Male

Character Name : French

Original Name : Robert Brown

Gender : Male

Character Name : Club Matron (uncredited)

Original Name : Everley Gregg

Gender : Female

Character Name : Passport Officer (uncredited)

Original Name : Lloyd Lamble

Gender : Male

Character Name : Wills Officer (uncredited)

Original Name : Brian Oulton

Gender : Male

Character Name : Bank Manager

Original Name : John Welsh

Gender : Male

Character Name : Winston Churchill (voice)

Original Name : Peter Sellers

Gender : Male

Reviews

CinemaSerf

@Geronimo1967

2024-08-11

A bit like "I Was Monty's Double" (1958), this is a clever tale of British counter-espionage based on a true story. An RNVR officer Ewan Montagu (Clifton Webb) hits on the idea of arranging for the body of a senior British officer to be washed up on the shores of Spain complete with a whole set of falsified documents designed to mislead the Nazis into thinking that Greece was a target for invasion from N. Africa and so as to encourage them to divide their forces. A solid British cast of Robert Flemyng, Geoffrey Keen and Laurence Naismith provide the military backbone to the story and Gloria Grahame plays along well when the Nazi's send a slightly oddly cast Stephen Boyd along as an Irishman charged with investigating whether or not the officer and his documents are real. Ronald Neame presents us with a well directed, scripted and scored depiction of a remarkable tale of human ingenuity and the cast deliver a solid and, at times, quite suspenseful wartime drama.